UFC Fight Night Preview & Tips | Sunday 15 June

At 31-years-old and riding a six-fight win streak, Joaquin Buckley is hitting his stride and making a serious run towards the welterweight title. Buckley initially debuted in the organization as a stocky middleweight but ran into a persistent ceiling when dealing with the upper echelon of the division.

In fact, all four of Buckley’s losses came at middleweight. In contrast, he’s managed to go 6-0 on this welterweight campaign. Most recently, Buckley was in action tearing apart Colby Covington over three rounds.

Buckley drove home the point that he could handle a competent wrestler, forcing Covington to go 1 of 8 on takedown attempts. Predictably, the striking disparity was significant and Buckley rightly dominated on the feet.

The explosive fighter is not as recklessly chaotic as he once was, but still maintains a frightening level of speed and power. Buckley has always had the physicality to threaten opponents but with newfound dedication to game planning and pacing he has markedly improved his efficacy.

A powerhouse with timing and technique, Buckley has refined his overall skill set and is one of the emerging contenders in the division. Hot off the heels of beating Covington, he faces a similar match-up this weekend as he takes on an aged, but well-respected elite looking to prove relevancy.

The long reign of Kamaru Usman was both impressive and starkly halted. Like many legends, Usman found a period of relative dominance before it came crashing down thanks to a head kick heard around the world.

Usman started his career a mere 1-1 and immediately piled up 19 wins, including winning The Ultimate Fighter and capturing the welterweight title. Now on a three-fight losing streak, Usman has made respectable accounts of himself but failed to secure a victory.

Two losses to Leon Edwards proved the young man has his number. A strong majority decision effort against Khamzat Chimaev helped keep Usman’s stock afloat. But Usman enters this contest on a layoff of nearly two years, facing the most purely explosive opponent since he held the title.

Usman became a jack of all trades but his wrestling has degraded as a menacing threat over the years. He managed to get Edwards down several times but is likely to face stiff resistance doing the same to Joaquin Buckley.

On the feet, the older man is at a clear disadvantage. Usman is a surprisingly strong offensive boxer with heavy power in his right hand but isn’t defensively savvy, generally relying on a sturdy chin to back up mistakes. That lack of defense has only compounded with age, as his slowed reflexes exacerbate some technical shortcomings.

Kamaru Usman has always been a relatively intelligent fighter inside the cage and I do expect attempts at wrestling fairly early in the bout. Holding Buckley down and outputting enough consistent work to win 3 rounds is a tall task for the 38-year-old, though.

Over the five round distance, it stands to reason Buckley will find his timing and start holding Usman at the end of his range. With opposing trajectories and a bit of a stylistic nightmare for Usman, the main event of the evening should end with Buckley’s hand being raised and a demand for a title eliminator.

After losing her strawweight title in 2022, Rose Namajunas moved up in weight and has gone 2-2 since. Physical powerhouses in Manon Fiorot and Erin Blanchfield caused defeats while Amanda Ribas and Tracy Cortez fell victim to the slick veteran.

Namajunas is a fighter many are already familiar with and she is still as dynamic and borderline unpredictable as she ever was. Highly skilled and owning championship experience against legends in the sport, Namajunas has a deep repertoire but has struggled to put all those tools together in a cohesive way.

At this point, Namajunas has regressed in some ways as she settles into the flyweight division. Raw power has never been a strong asset of Namajunas but she has lacked force in her new division, showing even less finishing capability than prior.

Namajunas moves well and is quicker than the majority of the division, but she doesn’t put together the same consistent offense she once did. Oftentimes her output is relegated to single shots thrown at range, with time ticking off the clock in between intermittent attacks.

This strategy isn’t entirely negative for Namajunas even if it lacks excitement but at only 32-years-old, one has to wonder if Namajunas could be doing more. She may be forced to stay a bit busier against a young and hard charging Miranda Maverick.

8-3 in the UFC and riding a four-fight win streak, Maverick is surging and taking full advantage of advantageous matchmaking. Rebounding well from a one-sided loss to Jasmine Jasudavicius in 2023, Maverick has employed similar game plans against all of her subsequent opponents.

In each fight of her win streak, 27-year-old Maverick scored at least two takedowns. Though only one bout was finished on the mat, Maverick has found more consistent success sticking to her strengths and accumulating control time.

Maverick is not a horrible striker by any means and credit is due for improvements made in that area, but she is not going to win this contest by outpointing Rose Namajunas on the feet. Maverick’s best success both historically and going forward is by imposing her strength and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt on the mat.

In any case, Maverick finds a bit of an uphill battle here as she will need to not only chase down Namajunas but pin her, as well. Maverick could very well find some control time in this contest but it’s more likely Namajunas will pile up points at range.

Maverick isn’t likely to test the waters striking for extended periods of time, but I also don’t expect her to find overwhelming success with her wrestling. Maverick is competent in the department but Namajunas is not an easy woman to take down, especially early in a bout.

With only three rounds to worry about in this contest, Namajunas can stay focused, upright, and busy. Look for Namajunas to defend her status as the original queen of Colorado with a clean win over the younger woman.

Floating around the UFC since 2018, the expectations of Edmen Shahbazyan have varied quite a bit in that time. He kicked off his UFC stint with four straight wins but quickly ran into a ceiling as his inconsistent gas tank and occasional impatience landed him in precarious situations.

Shahbazyan is a hard-hitting finisher but often finds himself hurting opponents, emptying his gas tank, and falling victim to the consequences. Shahbazyan has managed to come out victorious more often than not – he holds a 7-5 record in the UFC overall – but is only 2-2 in his last four.

The front-loaded nature of Shahbazyan seems to be tied to him in an inseparable manner but he will be rolling the dice if he hopes to blow out Andre Petroski early in this bout. Though he’s favored to do so, Shahbazyan will have to contend with a man on an unlikely three-fight win streak.

Petroski has displayed a surprising level of versatility and cohesiveness, particularly over the course of his win streak. Most recently he beat Vieira on the feet but elected to mix in takedowns against Josh Fremd and Dylan Budka.

Though the names may not be top contenders, Petroski is applying his skills well and proving he can game plan effectively. That stands to be a very relevant factor here as Petroski has been finished in all of his losses – largely by KO/TKO.

Petroski will have the advantage down the stretch and should be able to carry himself successfully through rounds 2 and 3 – if he can make it that long. The opening five minutes will be tense for Petroski but I suspect he has the tools and experience necessary to navigate the choppy waters and come out the other side.

Competing in the bantamweight division at 38-years-old sounds like a nearly hopeless endeavor, but that hasn’t stopped Raoni Barcelos from upsetting a young prospect and picking up a two-fight win streak in the process.

Barcelos competed once in 2024 but it was his opening to this year that really turned heads. A monumental underdog, Barcelos took down and manhandled Payton Talbott over the course of three rounds. Eight takedowns and nearly ten minutes of control time proved experience is still worth something.

Barcelos may not be in the prime of his career but he’s transitioned into a cagey gatekeeper with the capability to surprise. Barcelos can be an aggressive fighter but generally takes some time to get rolling. Once he starts seeing patterns, he can mix it up anywhere and challenge his foe’s weaknesses.

On paper, Barcelos looks to be more of a striker than anything but it stands to reason he does some of his most effective work on the mat. He will need to lean on that grappling threat to slow this fight down if he hopes to stall out Cody Garbrandt.

Though the underdog heading into this weekend, Garbrandt is confident if he can stave off vertigo for the entirety of the bout. The issue has repeatedly been brought up by Garbrandt as a driving factor of his loss to Deiveson Figueiredo last year.

A one-off event is bad enough, but Garbrandt was pulled out of a scheduled clash with Miles Johns on fight-week due to the same problem. All told, the vertigo is the main contributor behind a 14-month layoff.

Seemingly healthier, Garbrandt is only 33-years-old but has long been an organizational staple. Since debuting in the UFC in 2025, Garbrandt has been featured in a litany of highlights, both positively and negatively.

There’s no downplaying how explosive and powerful Cody Garbrandt is, but that goes both ways. A string of stoppage losses have led to a shift in his aggression, but his speed and power remain as persistently deadly as ever.

Garbrandt is not overly aggressive at this point in his career but has shown flashes of the opposite, overcompensating for past over-zealousness. At this stage, it’s hard to say exactly what version of Garbrandt will show up to the Octagon.

Without vertigo to weigh him down during the fight, it can be assumed Garbrandt will have a hefty advantage on the feet. Historically, Garbrandt has been a tough man to take down and an even tougher one to chase down on the feet.

Barcelos is a tricky veteran but I suspect he lacks the pure wrestling ability or raw strength to seriously threaten Garbrandt. Outpointing the slicker, quicker on the feet is a far-fetched proposal but dragging Garbrandt down seems a tall task, as well.

Though this weekend represents another striker for Barcelos to tackle, it is a decidedly different match-up than his most recent. Look for Garbrandt to stay on his feet and assert his boxing dominance on the Brazilian.

A perfect 2-0 in the UFC with as many finishes, Mansur Abdul-Malik has been all gas and no breaks since entering the organization last year. 8-0 overall with seven finishes to his name, Abdul-Malik has his eye set on early nights every time he steps into the cage.

Abdul-Malik brings heavy hands and a diverse offensive skill set into the cage, all fueled by overwhelming physicality. A former Division I collegiate wrestler, Abdul-Malik arguably does his best work from top position where he can batter opponents with ground and pound.

That said, Abdul-Malik is pushing a pace no matter where he is in the fight. Offense is the name of the game and he matches up well with the similarly explosive Cody Brundage.

Best described as a “glass cannon”, Brundage lives and dies by the sword every time he fights. Across eleven bouts in the UFC, only two have gone the distance and Brundage came up short in both. There is always some element of chaos when Brundage fights but there’s no denying his ability to end a fight.

With big power in both hands, sneaky chokes from the front head lock, and a background in wrestling, Brundage has everything on paper to be a potential contender. In reality, he ends up being less than the sum of his parts.

Though a competent wrestler, Brundage has struggled to fully transition his collegiate skills into MMA. Lacking a consistent striking game beyond the threat of his power, Brundage usually just ends up throwing everything he has at his foe and seeing who falls first.

Given his lack of high level competition, it would be unfair to say Abdul-Malik has already demonstrated everything he needs to dominate Cody Brundage. But the young man certainly passes the eye test and should be able to impose his will, put Brundage on his back, and quickly rain down damage.

All signs point to Abdul-Malik having another relatively easy night. There is a world in which Brundage pulls the rabbit from his hat and scores a monumental upset, but it isn’t this one.

11-0 overall and 2-0 in the UFC, Oumar Sy has been wholly successful and picking up fans along the way. A standout prospect from France, Sy has already displayed some versatility across his two fights inside the Octagon.

Scoring two takedowns in both bouts each, Sy finished one by submission and won the other by decision. A surprisingly well-rounded 29-year-old, Sy can mix it up and is a bit more agile than one would expect from a towering 6’4” (193cm) figure.

The length of Sy fuels much of his game, as he keeps opponents at range until they lose patience and start making critical mistakes. If they stay on the outside, Sy will pick them apart with low kicks and long striking. Crash in, and Sy can get the fight down and hold a dominant position.

Sy is a patient fighter with eyes on a divisional ranking. There is something to be said about his occasional lack of urgency to cause damage, but respect must be given for his ability to win minutes from every area of a fight.

Opening UFC on ESPN 69, Sy will need to stay acutely aware as he takes on the powerful Alonzo Menifield. 1-2 in his last three, this fight represents a critical impasse for Menifield as he welcomes Sy to a step up in competition.

With 15 fights under the UFC banner alone, Menifield has evolved in the public eye and developed into a solid road warrior for the light heavyweight division. Power is at the forefront of Menifield’s success but he is a truly solid striker with underrated technical kickboxing.

However, Menifield has struggled to find consistency throughout his career and at 37-years-old, it appears too late to reinvent himself. Menifield packs a wallop and is a hearty fighter but it looks like his best days may be behind him.

Menifield has historically done poorly when out-sized and that proved the case yet again last time out. Though he got his hand raised in a split decision over Julius Walker, the performance was less than impressive and showcased many of the same issues Menifield has always had.

The odds are wide in this one for a good reason; the most compelling question is whether or not Sy will find a finish. With multiple avenues to win rounds and each fight rapidly escalating in importance, I expect Sy will take the safer paths to victory. Look for the Frenchman to chew up Menifield’s leg and find clear success at range; though it is unlikely he’ll impose himself to the degree necessary to go home early.