by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 8/17/2026 Photo Credits to Derik Hamilton via Associated Press Islam Makhachev vs Carlos Prates Matt Hylen - There's only one man, now that Ian Machado Garry got his shot, that deserves a shot at the title and that's Carlos Prates. Sure, Michael Morales was the backup fighter for the Makhachev/Garry fight, but his resume still needs one more top contender before getting a shot over Prates. Now, do I think Prates is stylistically t

by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 8/14/2026 In our FN Gamrot vs Salkilld Predictions, which you can find here, Zak went 3-3 in picks with 1 method for 4 points. Matt went 4-2 in picks with 1 method for 5 points. Points To Date: Zak: 153 (103-57) Matt: 140 (92-62) *All odds courtesy of Caesar's Sportsbook on 8/11 Graphic Credits to UFC via eventbrite.com _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Islam Makhachev vs Ian Machado Garry Welterweight Championship (Makhac

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

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 8/11/2026 When I made this list in 2022 which you can find here, I had Shavkat, Du Plessis, Chimaev, Pereira and Topuria, so I can't wait to see where this group of prospects will climb to by 2030. Honorable Mentions: - Ion Baraniewski - Mairon Santos - Ethyn Ewing _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Photo Credits to Jeff Bottari via Zuffa LLC #10 Tommy McMillen Division Lightweight Age 28y, 239d UFC Record 2-0 Finishes 2 McMillen j

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

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

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

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

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

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,

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

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

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'

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

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

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

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

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

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 6/17/2026 Photo Credits to Kent Nishimura-Pool via Getty Images White House Setting and Atmosphere First things first, for all the hype that was surrounding this event from the fact that a lot of people considered it ludicrous, unpatriotic and a tax payer's worst nightmare... This will not only be 2026's Fight Card of the year but one of the best of all time. The event started off in considerable panic when around 6:00 pm EST, (or 2 hour before

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