UFC 269: Our Rankings Panellist Offers His Undercard Picks

Dan Vreeland, who is on the UFC ranking panel, previews and offers his predictions for the UFC 269 undercard. UFC 269: Oliveira vs Poirier takes place on Saturday, December 11th, 2021. The preliminary card begins at 6:00 PM EST.

Josh Emmett vs Dan Ige

The Skinny 

It’s been a little while since we’ve seen Josh Emmett in the cage. Eighteen months ago Emmett beat Shane Burgos but dealt with some leg injuries following the fight. As a result, he had some hard rehab in front of him. How this will affect him exactly is an interesting question. He may see no ill effects of the layoff; ring rust is an option – he may even see less explosiveness with the knee in question. However, if he is back to normal, he possesses some of the best power in the featherweight division.

Not all that long ago, Ige was riding a six-fight winning streak. He capped it off with an impressive, gutsy performance against Edson Barboza, where his wrestling really was the story of the fight. Since then, he’s struggled in the cage, losing two of his last three. A lot of that has to do with the inability to get any ground work done. He’s 0-for-13 on takedowns in those three fights.

The Final Word

While we have questions about where Emmett might be prior to UFC 269, his wrestling background should really carry him in this fight. I don’t expect him

to shoot all that often, but his skills should be enough to fend Ige off. He’s not quite the volume puncher that both of the guys who beat Ige are (Calvin Kattar and Chan Sung Jung), but he should be able to get it done with his hands nevertheless.

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Dominick Cruz vs Pedro Munhoz

The Skinny

Dominick Cruz made his way to the top of the bantamweight division with his footwork. His funky, bobbing in and out style inspired a whole generation of strikers and seemed nearly impossible to figure out – until it did. After losing his title to Cody Garbrandt back in 2016, he’s only fought twice with a 1-1 record. The litany of injuries and age seem to have caught up to him as the speed necessary to be dominant with that style appears to have left him. Still, there’s enough left in the tank to score a split decision off of Casey Kenney last time out.

Pedro Munhoz has himself fallen on harder times. He’s dropped three of his last four fights, although all three of those fights were against former or current champions. What’s made Munhoz dangerous his whole career are his submissions. Few find the avenue for a guillotine as well as he does. We’ve also seen a spike in his striking as of late, with both speed and power leading to a knockout of Cody Garbrandt.

The Final Word

This UFC 269 bout is a tricky one to call, which is why the odds come in as a true pick’em. Munhoz is great at grappling, but Cruz would seem to have the wrestling advantage. Cruz’s neo-footwork is his bread and butter, but Munhoz is himself quite fast. Ultimately I think the ability to do damage is going to be the deciding factor on the judges’ scorecards. Cruz has never been one to dish out too much, so I lean ever-so-slightly with Munhoz here.

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Augusto Sakai vs Tai Tuivasa

The Skinny

Augusto Sakai entered the UFC on a tear. He won each of his first four fights, with two of them coming by way of knockout. Those wins led him to back-to-back headlining spots against Jair Rozenstruik and Alistair Overeem. That’s where things started to go bad for him. His loose and confident style clashed with a pair of power punchers and he saw himself twice separated from consciousness.

Tuivasa seems to just be on a later part of that same path. He had a quick start in the UFC, followed by a headlining bout that went less than ideal against Junior dos Santos. However, he’s since had time to rebuild his career, picking up three straight knockout wins, including the most recent one over Greg Hardy. Many of these knockouts, and the ones earlier in his career, come with precise counter punching.

The Final Word

Taking two straight knockouts is never good for your brain. Following that up with someone who has shown not just to regularly finish people, but regularly able to counter other big punchers, is going to be a problem for Sakai. He’ll have to be really patient here in order to get this done and I don’t have confidence that he will at UFC 269.

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Jordan Wright vs Bruno Silva

The Skinny

Jordan Wright earned his chance on the Contender Series and eventually in the UFC with his KO power. He’s particularly flashy, and likes to throw loosely and freely. While that has paid off for him against some lesser competition, it has really cost him as well. He was knocked out on Contender Series against Anthony Hernandez and suffered the same fate against Joaquin Buckley in the UFC.

Bruno Silva is riding a six-fight winning streak, with each win coming by stoppage due to strikes. Unlike Wright, his power comes from the inside. He likes to back his opponents up to the cage and engage them with a clinch. From there, he lands strikes from a single collar tie position, which include some vicious knees.

The Final Word

I don’t have a lot of confidence in what Wright is able to do against even average level strikers. He seems to be able to land on those with weak defense or that will engage him in his style of fight, but Silva is neither of that. Expect Silva to pressure at UFC 269 and nullify all of the flashy stuff from Wright.

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Andre Muniz vs Eryk Anders

The Skinny

Andre Muniz not only submitted on of the great MMA grapplers of all-time in Jacare Souza, but he broke his arm in doing so. Instantly, he became one of the most feared grapplers in his own right and definitely one of the best currently at middleweight. His striking has come a long way from his early days, but it’s still something he looks to avoid as he gets back to his bread and butter.

Eryk Anders steps in on short notice to replace Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 269. This Anders is a much different Anders than we saw earlier in his career. A move to Fight Ready MMA in Arizona has seemingly left him quicker and stronger than he was prior in his career. It also seems to have improved his cardio, as he went three full rounds with Darren Stewart last time out en route to a unanimous decision victory.

The Final Word

Although he looked improved in his last few fights, Anders did concede a pair of takedowns to Stewart. This, in itself, is not enough to write off Anders, but it is a significant problem when it comes to facing Muniz. Muniz is an animal on the mat and it only takes a single mistake and the fight is over. It would serve Anders best to never let it get there, but I’m not sure he can prevent that.

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Erin Blanchfield vs Miranda Maverick

The Skinny

Really this fight should all come down to the grappling side of things. Miranda Maverick should seemingly have an advantage when it comes to dictating when the grappling takes place. She’s a better pure wrestler than Erin Blanchfield. However, if/when it does hit the mats, I’m a much bigger fan of Blanchfield’s jiu jitsu skills. Her EBI tournament victory showed she can do it just with positioning and submissions, but her beatdown of Sarah Alpar showed she has ground and pound in there too.

There is a chance that this one stalls out and they wind up just striking. In my opinion, that may even be the method that would work best for Maverick. Rather than leading into a realm where there is some uncertainty, I think she would be a better overall striker. The only problem with this plan is whether she has the cardio to deal with Blanchfield and whether it would leave her open to Blanchfield scoring a takedown.

The Final Word

The latter of the type of fights is actually what I’m expecting at UFC 269. Maverick showed in some of her past bouts, such as the one with Liana Jojua, that she wants to showcase her striking. Against someone with this good of grappling, it seems like a no-brainer that she would go back to this. However, I think Blanchfield has the takedowns in her own right to score if Maverick gets too comfy on the feet.

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Alex Perez vs Matt Schnell

The Skinny

Alex Perez fights at UFC 269 in his first fight since a failed attempt to capture the belt. In that short fight, Perez was able to use his wrestling to get then-champion Deiveson Figueiredo down. However, he was countered with a guillotine and finished in the very first round. It was a first in half a decade for Perez, who had put together a solid win streak through smart offensive grappling and mean leg kicks.

Matt Schnell recently unveiled a new style. Despite being fairly grapple-heavy early in his career, he hasn’t looked for a takedown in two straight fights. His boxing looks crisp and improved and he looks to use a safe, tactical approach to the art. Previously, when he was grappling, he did great work off of his back. Twice he scored triangle chokes after being taken to the mat.

The Final Word

If Schnell enters this fight expecting to trade with Perez, I believe he’ll be making a mistake. Perez chews up people who don’t put a pace on him. In addition, even if things were to be going bad for Perez on the feet, he could then lean on his wrestling. While Schnell is good off of his back, I do not think he has the requisite skills to catch Perez in something.

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Ryan Hall vs Darrick Minner

The Skinny

Darrick Minner has a career that is littered with submission wins. He’s won twenty-two of his twenty-six bouts on the mats with various submissions. He’s confident in taking anybody and everybody there, which should make this fight very interesting. Ryan Hall has been looking for people who are willing to tango with his on the floor. He may finally get his wish at UFC 269.

Of course, there is an outside possibility that Minner saw Hall’s last fight and will look to replicate it. In that fight, Ilia Topuria decided to stay away from engaging with Hall in a jiu jitsu match and instead looked to land hammer fists whenever they presented themselves. At the end it was successful and gave Topuria a TKO stoppage.

The Final Word

I fully expect Minner to believe in his grappling during this fight. He always has and I can’t imagine that changing. Sure, Hall is the most talented submission specialist he’s faced, but Minner fancies himself a specialist in that way too. Ultimately, I think this will be a mistake. While he is quite good with his positioning, Hall is just a different animal.

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Randy Costa vs Tony Kelley

The Skinny

Randy Costa went out in his last fight and had a victory taken right out from under him. After putting it on hot prospect Adrian Yanez for the first round, he tired in the second and was knocked out. The fight was really the first time we saw the talented striker’s cardio fail him. Although to be fair, the majority of his early fights ended quickly. In his six career wins, he has only logged 5:46 of in cage time.

Tony Kelley, comparatively, puts in the time. Both of his UFC bouts have gone the distance including an absolute war with Kai Kamaka in his first fight. A slow start plagued him in that fight, as well as a weak takedown defense. However, his durability and will to get back to his feet is top notch. It’s part of why he’s able to hang in fights even when being put in bad spots.

The Final Word

There’s a good chance that Tony Kelley’s impressive chin holds up and tests what Costa can do in deep waters. However, I worry that Kelley gets put into bad spots too often and hit too much. Costa is a guy who can really capitalize on small openings and make his opponents quickly pay. I think he does precisely that at UFC 269.

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Gillian Robertson vs Priscila Cachoeira

The Skinny

There’s no doubt in any fight what Gillian Robertson is trying to do – she wants to take people down and submit them. When she is able to do that, she wins. When she is not able to, she doesn’t. Her striking does seem to be improving, but her early success in the UFC has made it so that she continues to fight mostly high-level competition. This makes it difficult for her to face off with someone with her level of striking.

Priscila Cachoeira is one of those high-level strikers that Robertson tends to have to deal with. She is coming off back to back (T)KOs and has shown some real power behind single shots. However, she’s shown some real weaknesses in the grappling world, particularly as it pertains to takedown defense. She conceded four takedowns to Gina Mazany and was well on her way to losing a decision. Instead, she landed some big bombs and got the stoppage.

The Final Word

Each of these women has a strength where the other has a weakness. However, one can hold their own a bit better in the other’s realm. I expect Robertson to play smart enough defense until she can get the fight to the mat. Once it is there, I don’t think she should have any issues getting a finish.

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Most of the odds for these fights are razor close – so if you like any of these fighters, get it on them right away. You can also get the best odds for those fighters right here.