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UFC Needs To Make These Fights Before the End of 2026.
by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 8/10/2026 Quilan Salkilld vs Diego Lopes Zak Drapeau - Salkilld has been one of the biggest rising stars of the division because of his violence and striking. The test he had against Gamrot was to see if he could keep himself up against a relentless wrestler and instead, he showed us that he may be just as dangerous on the ground and COMPLETELY altered his prospect status to contender... and a strong one at that. At the same time

Sportz Nation Staff
2 days ago


Predicting Fight Night Gamrot vs Salkilld
by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 8/8/2026 In our FN Du Medic v Rodriguez Predictions, which you can find here Zak went 4-2 in picks with 3 methods for 7 points. Matt went 5-1 in picks with 2 methods for 7 points. Points To Date: Zak: 149 (100-54) Matt: 135 (88-60) *All odds courtesy of Caesar's Sportsbook on 8/7 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Graphic by UFC via UFC.com 8Mateusz Gamrot vs 12Quillan Salkilld (Salkilld -150) Zak Drapeau - I was talking to fr

Sportz Nation Staff
6 days ago


Fights to Make After Fight Night Medic v Rodriguez
by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 8/2/2026 Photo Credits to Ed Mulholland via Zuffa LLC Uros Medic vs Leon Edwards Matt Hylen - I really liked the call out Uros Medic made after his dominant TKO win over Daniel Rodriguez. With the run he has been on, he deserves a major step up in competition, which I believe Leon Edwards qualifies as. Medic could be a star in the making. He is beloved by not only his country but also the world. He gives fans what they want every
Zak Drapeau
Aug 4


Predicting UFC Fight Night Medic vs Rordriguez
by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 7/31/2026 In our FN Du Plessis v Usman Predictions, which you can find here, Zak went 5-1 in picks with 0 methods for 5 points. Matt went 4-2 in picks with 3 methods for 7 points. Points To Date: Zak: 142 (96-52) Matt: 128 (83-59) *All odds courtesy of Caesar's Sportsbook on 7/23 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 14Uros Medic vs 15Daniel Rodriguez (Medic -400) Zak Drapeau - I realize Medic is the heavy favorite here and as of wr
Zak Drapeau
Aug 1


10 Fights to Make After UFC Fight Night Ankalaev vs Guskov
by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 7/27/2026 Photo Credits to Fadel Senna/ AFP via Getty Images Magomed Ankalaev vs Carlos Ulberg Light Heavyweight Championship Zak Drapeau - The way the top of the 205-division is set up, the original fight between Ankalaev and Rountree should've been either a #1 contender fight or even an interim title fight. Now that Ankalaev has gone through Bogdan Guskov in such dominant fashion, the only way to move forward is to give him a ti

Sportz Nation Staff
Jul 28


Predicting Fight Night Ankalaev vs Guskov
by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 7/24/2026 Photo Credits to UFC via ufc.com In our FN Du Plessis v Usman Predictions, which you can find here, Zak went 4-2 in picks with 3 methods for 7 points. Points To Date: Zak: 137 (91-51) Matt: 121 (79-57) *All odds courtesy of Caesar's Sportsbook on 7/23 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1Magomed Ankalaev vs 10Bogdan Guskov (Ankalaev -550) Zak Drapeau - If Ankalaev was already a huge favorite against Rountree, he

Sportz Nation Staff
Jul 25


Fights to Make After UFC Oklahoma City
by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 7/20/2026 Photo by Jeff Bottarri via Zuffa LLC Dricus Du Plessis vs 1Khamzat Chimaev 2 DDP claimed that after a "performance like that", he deserves another title shot but I think it puts him perfectly even with Chimaev as the next contender after Imavov gets his title shot. Obviously, the first matchup between these two didn't quite go to DDP's plans so a rematch should be welcomed by him for redemption and in either man's case,
Zak Drapeau
Jul 20


Predicting Fight Night Du Plessis vs Usman
by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 7/17/2026 In our UFC 329, which you can find here: Zak went 4-3 in picks with 2 methods for 6 points. Matt went 3-4 in picks with 2 methods right for 5 points. Points To Date: Zak: 130 (87-49) Matt: 121 (79-57) *All odds courtesy of Caesar's Sportsbook on 7/16 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Graphic by UFC via wikipedia.org 2Dricus Du Plessis vs 9Kamaru Usman (Du Plessis -225) Zak Drapeau - Kamaru Usman may be the

Sportz Nation Staff
Jul 18


UFC Matchmaking After UFC 329
by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 7/13/2026 Photo Credits to Chris Unger via Zuffa LLC 4Max Holloway vs 4Jack Della Maddelena Matt Hylen - Unfortunately, there is not much to say about the performance of Max Holloway other than the fact that the fight as a whole was extremely anticlimactic. However, in his post-fight interviews, it seemed to me like Max Holloway wanted to see what he could do in the Welterweight division. Since he was not able to see that in this

Sportz Nation Staff
Jul 13


Predicting UFC 329
by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 7/9/2026 Photo Credits to Steve Marcus via Getty Images In our FN Fiziev vs Torres Predictions, which you can find here: Zak went 5-1 in picks with 3 methods for 8 points. Matt went 3-3 in picks with 2 methods right for 5 points. Points To Date: Zak: 124 (83-46) Matt: 116 (76-53) All odds courtesy of Caesar's Sportsbook on 7/10 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Conor McGregor vs 4Max Holloway (Holloway -210) Zak Drapeau - It'

Sportz Nation Staff
Jul 10


UFC Midyear Awards
by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 7/7/2026 Photo Credits to Chris Unger via Zuffa LLC UFC Male Fighter of the Year Current: Justin Gaethje Honorable Mention: Sean Strickland Zak Drapeau - Fighter of the Year is awarded for a number of reasons that are subjective to every voter and usually have to do with the number of wins, number of title wins, and the way you win. Justin Gaethje has checked all of those boxes. In his first fight of the year, Gaethje had arguably

Sportz Nation Staff
Jul 7


Matchmaking After Fight Night Baku: Fiziev KOs Torres
by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 6/29/2026 Photo Credits to Jeff Bottari/ Zuffa LLC via Getty Images 11Rafael Fiziev vs 9Dan Hooker Zak Drapeau - Fiziev is definitely a better fighter when in front of his home country of Azerbaijan because he looked phenomenal this weekend. His leg kicks were razor-sharp and set up the knockout spinning head kick beautifully. I don't think this win automatically brings him back to a path to the title, but it definitely keeps him

Sportz Nation Staff
Jun 29


Predicting Fight Night Baku: Fiziev v Torres
by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 6/26/2026 Graphic Credits to UFC via sports.yahoo.com In our FN Kape v Horiguchi, which you can find here: Zak went 6-0 in picks with 5 method for 11 points. Matt went 4-2 in picks with 3 method right for 7 points. Points To Date: Zak: 116 (78-45) Matt: 111 (73-50) All odds courtesy of Caesar's Sportsbook on 6/25 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 11Rafael Fiziev vs 15Manuel Torres (Pick 'Em) Zak Drapeau - What a war we have i

Sportz Nation Staff
Jun 26


Matchmaking After Fight Night Kape v Horiguchi
by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sports Nation - 6/23/2026 Photo Credits to Chris Unger via Zuffa LLC Manel Kape vs WINNER of Van v Pantoja Matt Hylen - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Kyoji Horiguchi vs WINNER of Almabayev v Johnson Zak Drapeau - Horiguchi is in a vulnerable state of his career after being dismantled this weekend and will be turning 36 years old soon but still has a lot to give this division. After tearing up promotions around the world and then dazzl

Sportz Nation Staff
Jun 23


Predicting UFC Fight Night Kape vs Horiguchi
by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 6/19/2026 Graphic Credit to UFC via f4wonline.com In our UFC Freedom Predictions, which you can find here: Zak went 4-3 in picks with 2 method for 6 points. Matt went 3-4 in picks with 1 method right for 4 points. Points To Date: Zak: 105 (72-45) Matt: 104 (69-48) All odds courtesy of Caesar's Sportsbook on 6/18 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2Manel Kape vs 5Kyoji Horguchi (Kape -155) Zak Drapeau - This is a terrific matchup tha

Sportz Nation Staff
Jun 19


Matchmaking After UFC Freedom 250
by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation Photo Credits to Chris Unger via Zuffa LLC Justin Gaethje vs Arman Tsarukyan Zak Drapeau - Captain America Justin Gaethje just had what some fans would honestly call, the greatest moment in UFC history. One of the most beloved and exciting fighters in UFC history finally became Undisputed Champion after putting on one of the overall best fights of the year and maybe in UFC history. Gaethje’s moment and era of UFC Champion is already

Sportz Nation Staff
Jun 16


Predicting UFC 250 Freedom at the White House
by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 6/12/2026 Graphic Credits to UFC via mmamania.com In our FN Muhammad v Bonfim, which you can find here: Zak went 3-3 in picks with 2 method for 5 points. Matt went 2-4 in picks with 1 methods right for 3 points. Points To Date: Zak: 99 (68-42) Matt: 100 (66-44) All odds courtesy of Caesar's Sportsbook on 6/10 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ CIlia Topuria vs ICJustin Gaethje Lightweight Championship (Topuria -600) Zak Dra

Sportz Nation Staff
Jun 12


Sportz Nation Panel Predictions for the 2026 World Cup
by Zak Drapeau, Matt Hylen, Joel Piton and Will Gilhooly Sportz Nation - 6/10/2026 Photo Credits to ESPN Illustrations Zak Drapeau - So if you've seen my World Cup Group Stage Predictions article, you know I am extremely high on a few teams. Those teams include France, England, Spain, Portugal, and Japan. I believe they'll all walk out of the Group Stages as their group's winner and move on to the knockout stage, where the real fun begins. The 2026 edition of the World Cup kn

Sportz Nation Staff
Jun 10


Matchmaking After UFC Fight Night Muhammad vs Bonfim
by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 6/9/2026 Photo by Chris Unger/ Zuffa LLC Gabriel Bonfim vs Michael Morales Matt Hylen - If this were to happen, it would be must-see TV. With Gabriel Bonfim’s win over Belal Muhammad, it propels him right into that top-7 range that could definitely warrant a fight against a legit contender. With the welterweight division so crowded at the top, it is safe to say that both Bonfim and Michael Morales need one more fight before making

Sportz Nation Staff
Jun 9


5 BOLD Predictions for the F1 Monaco Grand Prix
Photo graphic by Marcelo Kananie Marmo/Behance Round 6 of the 2026 F1 season is underway in Monaco. The pinnacle of motorsport, Monaco is always circled on the calendars of teams, drivers, and fans alike. This iconic street circuit, known for its tight and slow corners and narrow width, is known to be the toughest test for the drivers throughout the entire season. With overtaking so challenging around this circuit, qualifying is everything. Coming into qualifying, it seemed a

Matt Hylen
Jun 6
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