UFC Fight Night 258: Imavov vs. Borralho takes place on Sunday (AEDT) at the Accor Arena in Paris, France. – and we’ve got our UFC predictions for all the fights below, and you can place your bets with the best betting sites Australia has to offer!
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UFC Fight Night 258 Predictions
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Nassourdine Imavov vs. Caio Borralho Prediction
The winner of this weekend’s main event could be the next title challenger at middleweight, with No.2 contender Nassourdine Imavov on a four-fight winning streak, while the No.7 ranked Caio Borralho is a perfect 7-0 in the Octagon so far.
Originally hailing from Dagestan, the 30-year-old Imavov has lived in France for much of his life, so he’ll be very much at home on Saturday night. Imavov is a sturdy, physically strong all-rounder who has TKO’d both Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier during his current winning run, as well as besting Brendan Allen and Roman Dolidze on the scorecards. Imavov maintains distance well on the outside with his jab and push kicks, and delivers an assured selection of punches and kicks behind it, while mixing in knees and elbows at closer quarters. He’s not a particularly fast starter or big one-punch finisher, but he does have respectable power and volume to break down opponents over time, and is durable too. Meanwhile, Imavov also has solid wrestling and good ground-and-pound, but doesn’t have much in the way of a submission threat.
The 32-year-old Borralho is a fighter who is used to winning, holding a 17-1 (+1nc) record, with his only defeat coming over a decade ago in the fledgling stages of his career. He’s an athletic, well-conditioned fighter with a good mix of strength and speed who is comfortable wherever the fight goes. He is at his best on the mat though with very good wrestling ability and a well-versed grappling game to go with it. He tends to focus more on control when on top to good effect, and though he only has a few submissions on his record it feels like there’s still more to come from him in that regard. On the feet Borralho doesn’t have much in the way of volume, but he moves well and is fast and accurate when he does engage.
This is an intriguing fight as these are two well-matched fighters who have both built a strong case to challenge for the title. I’d say Borralho has the better cardio and the wrestling edge, but I think Imavov can still be competitive there for the most part, and meanwhile he has the advantage on the feet with better volume and combination work. With Imavov also having the home advantage I’ll take him to emerge with a closely fought decision victory here.
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Benoit Saint Denis vs. Maurcio Ruffy Prediction
Benoit Saint Denis ended a two-fight losing slump with a submission victory in May and now takes on Mauricio Ruffy, who has won all three of his fights in the UFC.
The 29-year-old BSD was one of the most exciting rising stars at 155lbs heading into last year, but back-to-back KO and TKO losses to Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano i followed to derail his hype train. As such his subsequent victory a few months ago was a much-needed confidence boost, but given that it came against a newcomer in Kyle Prepolec who’d been brought in on a week’s notice, it still feels like doubts remain heading into this fight. A big part of that is due to the ‘God Of War’ having the kind of aggressive, offensively-orientated style that’s relied on his toughness to be able to eat shots while landing his own, which becomes a real problem now that his durability has become a concern. BSD isn’t just all about hard-hitting punches and kicks though as he does have respectable offensive wrestling, and his good grappling ability has actually led to considerably more submission wins over the course of his career than via strikes.
The 29-year-old Ruffy is only a few fights into his UFC run after arriving from the Contender Series, but he’s already proven to be an exciting addition to the ranks with a 1st round TKO victory over Jamie Mularkey in his debut last year and a spinning-wheel KO finish of King Green back in March to go 12-1 in his career so far. A skilled technician on the feet with speed and power, Ruffy has shown good shot selection, timing and accuracy in his fights that’s led to 11 of his 12 career wins ending inside the distance via strikes. Ruffy could still benefit from tightening up his defense though and his ground game is largely untested, but hailing from the red-hot ‘Fight Nerds’ camp there’s no doubt he’ll be working on that.
I don’t think this is a good match-up for Saint Denis striking wise, but it would be interesting if he really focuses on his ground game here. However, I think we will see a lot of striking, and I feel Ruffy’s technique and accuracy will enable him to pick apart the all-too-hittable BSD, leading to a third round TKO finish.
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Bolaji Oki vs. Mason James Prediction
Bolaji Oki has gone 2-1in the UFC so far and now fights Mason Jones, who beat Jeremy Stephens in his return to the Octagon earlier in the year.
The 29-year-old Oki is a muscular lightweight with powerful strikes and solid accuracy. He works nicely to the body and actually stopped two opponent via body shots prior to arriving in the UFC. He’s yet to find a finish in his three bouts in the Octagon though, and there’s not a whole lot to his ground game.
Jones is a former Cage Warriors two-division champion who previously had a 1-2 run in the UFC that ended in 2022 and is hoping to make more of an impact this time around. Jones likes to battle it out on the feet with his natural aggression, solid boxing ability and good knees. He’s durable too and has never been finished in his career, but takes unnecessary risks by being too willing to eat strikes. Jones is a capable wrestler too and has some grappling chops, though his trio of submission wins came in the early days of his career.
This could be a fun scrap on the feet, but it would be dangerous for Jones to take big shots from a heavy-hitter like Oki for long. He’s not the most strategic fighter, so there’s no guarantees here, but I suspect he will take advantage of his advantage on the mat to get takedowns and control time to help ensure he emerges with a decision victory.
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Modestas Bukauskas vs. Paul Craig Prediction
Modestas Bukauskas has gone 5-1 in the UFC so far and now fights Paul Craig, who conversely has only won once in his last seven appearances.
Bukauskas’ second stint in the UFC has gone far better than the first, where he only mustered a 1-3 run before being released. After that he returned to the Cage Warriors promotion and continued to prove that he is a menace on the regional circuit by winning their 205lb title. There were doubts about whether he could replicate that the UFC level though, so the 31-year-old has done well to put together a nice run since. That being said, the quality of his opponent hasn’t been particularly high, with his biggest win being by split-decision over Ion Cutelaba last time out, and he was KO’d by Victor Petrino back in 2023. Still, he’s a big, physically strong 205lb’er with a background in kickboxing, showing off respectable technique and good power. He can mix in an occasional takedown, but that’s not likely to happen here and instead he’ll looking to fend off any attempts by Craig to get the fight to the mat.
The 37-year-old Craig is very much a known quantity at this stage as he’s never really shown any notable evolution over the years. Instead he continues to just fall back on his ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ card of having a dangerous submission game, although that is mostly based around an excellent triangle choke that has caught numerous opponents out over the years. Everybody is wise to it now though, and due the fact that Craig has poor striking ability and barely any wrestling chops he’s often just become a punching bag in recent times, and has been finished by strikes three times in the past three years.
I think we’ll see an all-too-familiar story play out here as Craig is unable to get the fight where he wants it and is completely outgunned on the feet, leading to a 2nd round TKO finish for Bukauskus, if not earlier.
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Rhys McKee vs. Axel Sola Prediction
Rhys McKee comes in off his first UFC win to fight the debuting Axel Sola, who holds an undefeated 10-0-1 record. Originally scheduled for the prelims, this fight has been bumped up to main card duties during fight week.
The 29-year-old McKee is another fighter who has found good success on the regional circuit, but struggled to make the step up to the Octagon. His first UFC run in 2020 came to a swift conclusion after suffering back-to-back defeats, but after a three-fight winning streak in the Cage Warriors promotion he returned in 2023, only to lose another two bouts. It took him just a round to finish Daniel Frunza last time out though, but beating a debuting fighter fresh off the Contender Series isn’t yet enough to suggest he can stick around in the Octagon for the long haul. Known as ‘Skeletor’ due to his long, very lean frame, McKee works nicely behind the jab from range and employs a volume-striking strategy that has proven to be effective regionally, with all 14 of his career wins coming inside the distance. The vast majority of those were via strikes, but he does have 3 submission stoppages too. He’s not as good defensively however, and that also extends to his weak takedown defense too, and his slight physique means he can be outmuscled.
The 27-year-old Sola steps up a weight class here to make his UFC debut in front of his home fans in France. He’s a fairly well-rounded fighter who has proven his gas tank by already having recent five-round experience under his belt. Sola can strike, but he is better when using his clinch-work, wrestling and grappling to get control of the action. He’s not fought the toughest opposition so far though, so like McKee he still has to prove he can deliver at the UFC level.
Sola has never been finished, but he can be hurt, so he’ll have to be careful here. That being said, I think he can make use of his ground advantage here to get the better of McKee and claim a decision win.
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Patricio Pitbull vs. Losene Keita Prediction
Former Bellator two-division champion Patricio Pitbull is 1-1 in the UFC so far as he now opens up the main card in Paris against the debuting Losene Keita, who holds a 16-1 career record.
Despite being one of Bellator’s biggest and most decorated stars over the years, the reality is that at 38-years-old and with 45 fights under his belt, Pitbull’s prime years are now in the rear-view mirror. That was evident during a lethargic decision loss to Yair Rodriguez in his debut, but he showed that he’s still far from a pushover by besting Dan Ige by unanimous decision in July. Clearly he’s hoping that he can now build some momentum as he’s back only a couple of months later. A short, stocky lightweight with well-rounded skills and a vast amount of experience, Pitbull certainly has the ability to be a success in the Octagon. On the feet he’s a good counter-striker and is equipped with hard-hitting punches and heavy leg kicks, which he pairs with a good wrestling game and significant submission threat, particularly via the guillotine choke. However, these days Pitbull is slower and notably less active offensively than in the past, and he’s not as durable as he once was.
Keita is a newcomer to the UFC, but he’s already created a buzz on the European regional scene, having won Oktagon’s featherweight title and then gone on to win four fights in their lightweight tournament to claim the 155lb title too. Now the 27-year-old ‘Black Panther’ drops back down to 145lbs to try to make a similar impact in his UFC debut. Keita is an athletic, muscular striker who is very fast and powerful when unleashing his punches and kicks. He uses feints nicely, works well to the body and can unleash blistering combinations at times. He can rely too much on his reaction speed to avoid strikes though, and he tends to load up on winging strikes a bit too much. There are also signs that his ground game may be more reliant on athleticism than technique, which is something that’s going to be challenged more at the UFC level.
Keita is a fun addition to the UFC roster, but even if Pitbull is in the twilight years of his career this is still a tough fight for the newcomer. I’d expect Keita to have a distinct speed advantage here and be more active on the feet, but there will be holes defensively for Pitbull’s counter-striking to exploit. However, I do feel Pitbull is wise enough to see the value in using his stronger ground game instead to gain the upper-hand here, and for that reason I’ll take him to spoil Kieta’s debut with a decision win.
UFC Fight Night 258 Prelims
(Predicted winners in bold)
William Gomis vs. Robert Ruchała
Oumar Sy vs. Brendson Ribeiro
Marcin Tybura vs. Ante Delija
Sam Patterson vs. Trey Waters
Brad Tavares vs. Robert Bryczek
Andreas Gustafsson vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov
Shauna Bannon vs. Sam Hughes
