UFC action returns to Las Vegas this Saturday night for UFC Vegas 29: Korean Zombie vs Ige.
Chan Sung Jung and Dan Ige will face off in what is expected to be a barn burner between two of the most violent finishers in the UFC’s featherweight division. In the co-main event, the ageless Oleksei Oleinik will take on Serghei Spivac.
But before the event gets to the main card, six well-matched prelims undercard bouts open the show in what promises to be an exciting night of UFC bouts.
Let’s take a look at the fights in the UFC Vegas 29 prelims undercard and make our predictions.
Julian Erosa is a former CageSport featherweight and lightweight champion. The 31-year old from Seattle, Washington defeated Jamall Emmers in the Contender Series to earn a trip to the UFC. Erosa lost his first three Octagon appearances but has since won three in a row, all via stoppage. He owns a record of 25-8 with 11 knockouts and 11 wins via submission. Juicy J stands 6-1 tall with a 74-inch reach and fights as a southpaw.
Choi Seung-Woo is a former two-time Top Fighting Championship featherweight champion and a bronze medalist at the 2010 Muay Thai World Championships. The 28-year old Korean also had a rough start in the UFC, losing his first two appearances. He now has won back-to-back fights and has a record of 9-3 with 5 knockouts. Choi is an orthodox fighter who stands six feet tall and has a 74-inch reach.
Both fighters are coming off impressive performances and when you look at their respective skill sets, they have the ability to exploit the other fighter’s weaknesses. I think this fight could go either way but I will give the advantage to Choi Seung-Woo who is the better all-around fighter.
Erosa has much-improved wrestling but given how Choi handled a good wrestler in his last fight, I’m not sure if Erosa can take Choi down. On the other hand, Erosa is still a sucker for slugfests and that will be to his disadvantage here because Choi is a durable fighter.
Juicy J will try to put the Korean on the ground but since he won’t find much success there, he will be forced to trade on the feet where Choi should be able to catch him with something big.
Prediction: Choi Seung-Woo
Josh Parisian is a veteran of TWC, KOTC, and LFA. The 31-year old from Brighton, Michigan had two stints in the Contender Series, with the second one earning him a UFC contract. Parisian lost via decision to Parker Porter in his UFC debut. Parisian has a record of 13-4 with 10 knockouts and two submission losses. He is 6-4 tall with a reach of 79 inches and fights out of the orthodox stance.
Roque Martinez fought for Top FC and PXC before joining the UFC. The 35-year old from Guam has lost four out of his last seven bouts and heads to this bout coming off back-to-back losses against Alexander Romanov and Don’Tale Mayes. Martinez is 15-7 with 8 knockouts and three submission wins. He is an orthodox fighter who is 5-10 tall with a reach of 72 inches.
Parisian has a significant advantage in height and reach and he should be able to win this bout if he can fight from a distance. That said though, we’ve seen him get punished by squat sluggers like Martinez.
Martinez has the advantages in durability and cardio which he can use to drag Parisian into deep waters. With Parisian not too adept in using his range, Martinez should be able to take advantage and wear him down at close range.
For as long as Martinez continues to move forward and take the fight to Parisian, he’s going to beat him up in the pocket. This should be a win for Martinez who wears down Parisian to take a unanimous decision.
Prediction: Roque Martinez
Joaquim Silva fought exclusively in Brazil before joining the UFC in 2015. He won his first three UFC bouts but is just 1-2 in his last three, losing via KO to Nasrat Haqparast. The 32-year old Silva has a record of 11-2 with six knockouts and three submission victories. He is a southpaw who stands 5-8 tall with a 69-inch reach.
Rick Glenn is a former WSOF featherweight champion and Midwest Cage Fight featherweight champion. The 32-year-old from Marshalltown, Iowa joined the UFC in 2016 and has compiled an Octagon record of 3-3 and is coming off a decision loss to Kevin Aguilar way back in November 2018. Glenn is also a southpaw fighter who stands six feet tall with a 70-inch reach. He has a record of 21-6 with 11 knockouts and four submission victories.
This fight might be the hardest one to pick because both fighters are coming off long lay-offs and it might be best to stay away from this one. But if you insist, I’m picking Silva to outslug Glenn in a 15-minute firefight.
Both these fighters are fun to watch. All they care about is beating up their opponents or die trying. But then again, we’ll have to see who is still who after two-plus years of inactivity.
There’s no doubt that Glenn is the more durable fighter between the two. But Silva’s ring rust may not be as much as Glenn’s because he’s been out for a shorter period. Glenn won his bouts with his size advantage and since he won’t have that against Silva, I’m going with the latter.
Prediction: Joaquim Silva
Casey O’Neill fought for Eternal MMA and UAE Warriors before coming over to the UFC. The 23-year old from Queensland, Australia is undefeated in six MMA bouts with two knockouts and one submission win. She scored a second-round knockout of Shana Dobson in her UFC debut and has a record of 6-0 with two knockouts and one submission loss. O’Neill is an orthodox fighter who is 5-6 tall with a 69-inch reach.
Lara Procopio fought for Shooto Brazil before joining the UFC in 2019. Procopio lost via split decision to Karol Rosa in her UFC debut but defeated Molly McMann in her second Octagon appearance. She is 5-4 tall with a reach of 67 inches and fights out of the orthodox stance. Procopio has a record of 7-1 with one knockout and two submission victories.
These are two promising fighters who possess effective striking and high-level grappling. O’Neill has looked good on the ground, but she’s not tested her skills against a top-notch BJJ artist like Procopio. It won’t be surprising to see Procopio bore us with top control to win this fight.
However, O’Neill appears to be the one who could do more damage when on top position and Procopio has decent enough defense to get back on her feet when taken down. Procopio has a good striking but O’Neill has the technical skills to hold her own on the feet.
This will likely end up on the mat and I like O’Neill to win this fight with ground and pound. I’m not sure if it will look pretty, but a win is a win in any form.
Prediction: Casey O’Neill
Nico Negumereanu fought under RXF before joining the UFC in 2019. The 26-year old from Basov, Romania lost to Saparbek Safarov in his UFC debut last March 16, 2019. He has a record of 9-1 with six knockouts and three submission wins. Negumereanu is an orthodox fighter who is six feet tall with a reach of 78 inches.
Aleksa Camur is a veteran of Alpha One sports and Honor FC who joined the UFC via the Contender Series. The 25-year old from Ohio is 1-1 in his UFC career and has an overall record of 6-1 with five knockouts. He is 6-1 tall with a reach of 74 inches and fights out of the orthodox stance.
Negumereanu’s best chance of winning this fight is putting Camur on his back and controlling him from the top. If he can’t do that, I have a good feeling that he is going to be outpointed badly on the feet.
Unless Negumereanu has spent his 27 months off the Octagon developing an impressive striking game, I think Camur will tear him apart here. Whether if it’s fighting at close range, at a distance, or in the clinch, I think Camur outguns Negumereanu badly and wins this fight on points.
Prediction: Aleksa Camur
Matthew Semelsberger fought for Shogun Fights and CFFC before joining the UFC. The 28-year old from Frederick, Maryland has won his last five bouts, including his first two Octagon assignments. Semelsberger has a record of 8-2 with five knockouts and one submission victory. He stands 6-1 tall with a 75-inch reach and is a switch-hitter.
Khaos Williams is a former Total Warrior Combat super lightweight champion. The 27-year old from Detroit, Michigan is knowns as the Ox Fighter because of his power. Williams is coming off a loss to Michel Pereira last December 2019. He has a record of 11-2 with six knockouts and one submission win. Williams is six feet tall with a reach of 77 inches and is an orthodox fighter.
Semelsberger has a versatile striking game and a relentless attack which should be a perfect match for Williams’ power punching style of fighting. This bout should be an absolute war and given the punching power of both fighters and the number of strikes they throw, this one can end at any given moment.
However, I think that Semelsberger’s durability and likely edge in strike volume would be the key to winning this fight. Semelsberge also throws nice combinations which should force Williams to fight on his back foot. Cleaner punches and excellent output will give Semelsberger the win here.
Prediction: Matthew Semelsberger
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