UFC Fight Night: Sterling vs. Zalal Predictions

UFC Fight Night 274: Sterling vs. Zalal takes place on Sunday (AEDT) at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, United States. – 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!

Aljamain Sterling vs. Youssef Zalal Prediction

Former UFC bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling is currently 2-1 since moving up to 145lbs and earned a unanimous decision win over Brian Ortega last time out. Next up he takes on Youssef Zalal, who has won all five of his fights since returning to the promotion.

Beating Ortega looks good on paper for the 36-year-old Sterling, though in reality there were mitigating circumstances that affected the outcome. That’s because Ortega’s stubbornly refused to call off the fight despite going unconscious for 30 minutes the day before during a badly botched weight-cut. As a result, Sterling ended up coasting to a win over a zombified version of Ortega who offered nothing in the fight. Still, Sterling’s CV already has wins over lots of big names though, particularly down at bantamweight. He’s a well-rounded, athletic fighter who is at his best on the mat with his trusty wrestling ability and assured grappling that enables him to control the action, pass the guard and hunt for submissions. Sterling also has solid technical striking that relies more on volume and conditioning than raw power. As such the majority of Sterling’s 23 career wins have come by decision, though he does have thee TKO and eight submission wins to his name too.

Zalal is an interesting case in that he only mustered a 2-3-1 run in his first UFC stint between 2020-2022, but after a few more wins on the regional scene he returned in 2024 and has gone unbeaten since, including his latest victories over experienced veterans Calvin Kattar and Josh Emmett. Like Sterling, the 29-year-old Zalal doesn’t have a great deal of stopping power on the feet, but he does have fast hands, nimble footwork and a good kicking game. He’s doesn’t stay as active as Sterling with his strikes, but he has proven to be sound defensively and has never been finished, including being one of only two fighters to take Ilia Topuria to the scorecards. Meanwhile he has capable wrestling, but his skilled grappling is the real stand-out, with four of his 10 career submission wins coming during his current five-fight winning streak in the Octagon.

This is a well-matched fight stylistically and should be very competitive, but with Zalal still being in his prime years and a bit bigger physically too, I can see him just edging out the action here to win a close decision.

Youssef Zalal to win by decision

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Norma Dumont vs. Joselyne Edwards Prediction

Norma Dumont has risen to No.3 in the women’s bantamweight rankings after securing six wins in a row and now goes up against the No.11 placed Joselyne Edwards, who has won her last four bouts.

The 35-year-old Dumont has a very solid 9-2 UFC record overall, including stints at both featherweight and bantamweight. Her last three fights have been at 135lbs though, during which time she’s claimed some of her most notable wins to date, beating a former champion in Germaine de Randamie, as well as Irene Aldana and Ketlen Vieira. Dumont is a physically sturdy fighter who likes to operate in the clinch and will use her good offensive wrestling to work for takedowns and control her opponents on top. Dumont is a capable technical striker too, but she lacks a cutting edge and killer instinct, with no finishes on the feet in her career, and only two via submission.

Edwards is an athletic 30-year-old striker whose long limbs will afford her an extra 3″ in reach here. She has good speed, mixes her punches and kicks nicely and has respectable power with 7 finishes via strikes, including KO and TKO wins in her current four-fight winning stretch. Other aspects of her game were a weakness earlier in his UFC run though, and so some fighters have been able to take her down too easily. As such Edwards only went 4-4 at the start of her UFC run, but she has made some improvements since to try to round out her game, and her other two wins lately came via submission.

Edwards will look to be quicker and more offensively active in this fight, but I think stylistically Dumont has what it takes to stifle that and exploit her weaknesses with her clinch-work and wrestling to win by decision.

Norma Dumont to win by decision

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Rafa Garcia vs. Alexander Hernandez Prediction

Rafa Garcia won both of his UFC bouts last year and now goes up against Alexander Hernandez, who is on a four-fight winning streak.

The 31-year-old Garcia is a former Combate Americas lightweight champion who has gone 6-4 in the UFC over the past five years. He’s a tough, well-conditioned all-rounder who is at his best as a grappler with eight submissions to his name and very capable wrestling. He’s also a gritty striker who will press the action aggressively with volume, though he lacks finishing power and isn’t the most convincing defensively. The trend so far for Garcia in the UFC has been that he’s competitive against mid-level opposition, but his most notable wins came against veteran’s like Clay Guida and Vinc Pichel who were well into their 40’s by that stage, and he’s usually came off 2^nd best when facing opposition closer to the top 15 rankings.

For much of his UFC run the 33-year-old Hernandez felt like a fighter who had his limitations, but should have fared better than the 6-7 run he’d mustered in the Octagon by early 2024. And since then he’s started to show that he can realize some of his potential with a nice four-fight unbeaten run that’s culminated in TKO wins over Chase Hooper and Carlos Ferreira. Hernandez is physically strong, packs a punch with his good boxing ability and will add in kicks too, while he will also use his wrestling too. His energetic approach can lead to his cardio suffering at times, but he still has an 8-4 record in fights that go to the scorecards. However, while he’s usually quite durable, he has been stopped a few times by strikes during his UFC run.

This one should be a good battle and it’ll be interesting to see how Hernandez holds up against Garcia’s pace, but I think he has the advantage in speed and power, enabling him to rack up more damage in the early rounds to emerge with a decision victory.

Alexander Hernandez to win by decision

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Davey Grant vs. Juan Adrian Luna Martinetti Prediction

Davey Grant went 1-1 last year and now faces Contender Series recruit Juan Adrian Luna Martinetti, who will make his UFC debut after compiling a 17-1 record.

Grant is now 40-years-old, but for the most part he’s holding up pretty well as before his 1st round submission loss to Charles Jourdain last time out he’d won a couple of fights on the scorecards, and he’s still never been finished by strikes. He’s never been the quickest or most polished striker, and he’s naturally slowing down with age, but he still has quite a robust offensive game with impactful boxing, solid kicks, and he’ll threaten with spinning attacks too. He doesn’t have many finishes via strikes on his overall record, but he has delivered 3 KO wins in the Octagon. Meanwhile he also has capable offensive wrestling and grappling, though all but one of his seven submission finishes came on the regional scene, while four of his five defeats by submission were in the Octagon.

The 30-year-old Martinetti has enjoyed success on the regional circuit and his only career loss came nine years ago, but that has to be balanced out by the fact he’s not really fought anyone of any real note. That being said, he made an immediate impression in his Contender Series debut last October by getting into an all-action back-and-forth slug-fest with Mark Vologdin, which he won by unanimous decision. So there’s no doubting his heart, toughness and conditioning, and he’ll use that to apply plenty of striking pressure behind his high-volume offense, while also doing good work in the clinch too. Despite all that he only has four finishes via strikes though. Meanwhile, his wrestling isn’t convincing, but he does have six submission wins to date and has solid ground-and-pound too.

This is a big step up in competition for Martinetti, and I can see a tough, wily veteran like Grant still having enough left in the tank to best him in the striking department over three rounds to win by decision.

Davey Grant to win by decision

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Montel Jackson vs. Raoni Barcelos Prediction

Montel Jackson lost by split-decision to Deiveson Figueiredo last time out, ending a five-fight winning streak. Now he goes up against Raoni Barcelos, who has been in fine form lately, winning four fights in a row.

Jackson is very big for a bantamweight and will hold a 3″ height and very significant 8.5″ reach advantage over Barcelos on Saturday night. The 33-year-old Jackson is a patient technical boxer with good speed and notable power that’s led him holding the UFC 135lb record for knockdowns (11), as well as having three first round finishes via strikes in the Octagon. Jackson is capable of going the distance too and has never been finished in his career, but while he can initiate the occasional takedown, there has been times when he’s been outwrestled.

Barcelos is about to turn 39-years-old, and between 2021-2023 it looked like age was catching up to him as he lost four out of five fights. However, since then Barcelos has been back to his best, beating highly regarded prospect Payon Talbott as well as established veterans like Cody Garbrandt and Ricky Simon. So while he’s not quite as fast or relentless as he once was, Barcelos is aging well, with good athleticism and pace for his age to go along with his well-rounded skill-set. He’s quite crafty on the feet, setting up his volume striking nicely, while he does a good job of transitioning smoothly from strikes to takedowns too. Once on the mat, Barcelos is a skilled grappler and has good ground-and-pound, though he actually only has three submission wins. Meanwhile he’s only ever been finished by strikes once (via a body kick) and once by submission well over a decade ago, and has a 10-3 record in fights that go the distance.

This is an intriguing fight, with Jackson having the power advantage, long reach and solid defensive capabilities, while the Brazilian’s aggressive pace and output, better ground-game and versatility could also prove decisive. In the end I’ll go with Barcelos to outwork Jackson on the feet and mat to win by decision.

Raoni Barcelos to win by decision

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Marcus Buchecha vs. Ryan Spann Prediction

Marcus Buchecha will attempt to get his first UFC win at the third attempt when he goes up against Ryan Spann, who went 1-1 in the Octagon last year.

The 36-year-old Buchecha is an elite BJJ hall-of-famer who crossed over to compete in heavyweight MMA for ONE FC back in 2021. He put together a 5-1 record there, before signing for the UFC last year. Things haven’t gone well since then though as Buchecha last by unanimous decision to Martin Buday in his debut and then only drew with Kennedy Nzechukwu due to his opponent being deducted a point for an eyepoke. A big problem for Buchecha is a familiar one in that his lack of wrestling means it’s challenging for him to get the fight to the mat to do what he does best. Additionally he’s not got a lot to offer on the feet and struggles with his cardio over three rounds.

A long-time 205lb’er in the UFC, the 34-year-old Spann is now competing up at heavyweight. Spann was a big, athletic and rangey light-heavyweight, so the transition up a division has been fairly comfortable, but he’s had mixed results so far, being KO’d in his divisional debut, before earning a submission win. He’s a fighter who has always leaned on his athleticism and physicality on the feet with good reach and solid power, but he’s more dangerous using his wrestling to bring his grappling into play, with 14 submission wins to his name. Spann’s achilles heel however is that he’s prone to poor decision-making and defensive lapses, both on the feet and on the mat, and that has frequently lost him fights during his 23-11 career.

There’s always the chance that Spann somehow blunders his way into a Buchecha submission here, but I think it’s more likely that he’s able to keep the action upright and outstrikes his opponent over three rounds to win by decision.

Ryan Spann to win by decision

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UFC Fight Night 274: Sterling vs. Zalal Prelims

(Predicted winners in bold)

Rodolfo Vieira vs. Eric McConico
Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Michelle Montague
Jackson McVey vs. Sedriques Dumas
Jafel Filho vs. Cody Durden
Francis Marshall vs. Lucas Brennan
Max Griffin vs. Victor Valenzuela
Talita Alencar vs. Julia Polastri

MMA Writer

Ross Cole

Ross Cole is one of the most prolific mixed martial arts writers in the world.

Having written more than 22,000 MMA news stories for MMA Insight, which he founded in 2009 as a way to channel his passion for the sport of mixed martial arts.

Few people know the UFC and the sport of MMA like Ross, and he has built a solid reputation for being one of the best MMA tipsters in the world.

You can read more of Ross's work at MMAInsight.com.