UFC Vegas 96 picks and predictions

See who we are picking to win in the APEX tomorrow.

Some fine art of violence from the incomparable Chris Rini.

The UFC is back in the APEX this weekend with a sneaky good card. The main event is surging middleweight Caio Borralho, who is looking to knock off Jared Cannonier and fully announce himself among the division’s upper most crust. The co-main is veteran striker Angela Hill vs. Tabatha Ricci. There’s also Neil Magny vs. Michael Morales (oh look, my long form on Magny wasn’t scrubbed when the good place became part of the bad place) and Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Gerald Meershaert.

This card also host the final fights for the current TUF season. No idea what number they are up to now and I can’t be bothered to check. The undercard has some interesting prospects with Jacqueline Cavalcanti meeting Josiane Nunes and Wang Cong debuting opposite Victoria Leonardo.

Scroll down for all our picks on these fights. And if you’re using this info to place wagers, best of luck. But please only bet what you can afford to lose.

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Jared Cannonier (+205) vs. Caio Borralho (-250)

Dayne: It’s easy to say Cannonier is finished as a top middleweight. He’s 40 and coming off the first finish loss since moving down to middleweight. Did I mention he was also returning from a torn ACL when he fought Nassourdine Imavov? I would point out athletes tend to require shaking off the rust when they return from that type of knee injury, but it isn’t like it’s just one fight and then their back. It requires time and Cannonier is coming back just over two months after his controversial loss to Imavov. I’m not convinced he’ll be all the way back.

That said, Cannonier didn’t look terrible against Imavov. He struggled with the range of Imavov, but also had some of his typical bursts of offense. And when one has the power and accuracy of Cannonier, he can’t ever be fully counted out. That said, Borralho has proven to be one of the most intelligent fighters on the roster since making his debut. Arguments could be made he hasn’t lost a round since coming into the UFC. I may not agree with that argument, but I can respect it. He has the technique to go with the strategy too.

What Borralho doesn’t have is the ability to finish a fight in the manner of Cannonier. If this fight devolves into a slugfest at any point, something has gone terribly wrong for Borralho...