Irwin Rivera is favored, but is just 5-5 over his last 10 fights. He comes off a loss to Giga Chikadze in May in his UFC debut. Rivera got out-hit 61-34 in significant strikes, and the only takedown belonged to Chikadze. He has limited skill, mainly a brawler landing 2.27 significant strikes per minute, but with a poor accuracy rate of 36%. Ali Al Qaisi makes his UFC debut here and is 8-3 overall in the independent circuit while riding a five-fight winning streak. He is a decent puncher, but his forte is getting an opponent to the ground (four submission victories), with a Sanda Kung Fu background as he was a world champion in 2015 and 2016. Al Qaisi is a physically strong athlete, two years younger and two inches taller than Rivera with a reach advantage. Rivera is not very good with takedown defense, so back the underdog wrestling expert. Take Ali Al Qaisi to win the fight.
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