Preview: UFC Fight Night 206 Prelims

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s last card before a one-week break offers up a six-bout preliminary slate that has the potential to be more enjoyable than the main draw. A middleweight clash between Joseph Holmes and Alen Amedovski seems a surprising choice for the featured slot on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, as both men seek their first Octagon win, but the gem of the UFC Fight Night 206 undercard lies directly below, where top light heavyweight prospect Jailton Almeida makes a temporary move to heavyweight against the surging Parker Porter. There may not be much here in terms of stakes, but everything should be strong in terms of action. Omar Morales and Uros Medic are tall lightweight bangers; bantamweights Jonathan Martinez and Vince Morales seem to be clicking; and Chase Hooper’s confrontation with Felipe Dias Colares figures to be an entertaining mess. As far as prelims go on one of these lower-level affairs, the UFC has certainly put together worse.

Now to the preview for the UFC Fight Night 206 “Holm vs. Vieira” prelims:

Middleweights

Joseph Holmes (7-2, 0-1 UFC) vs. Alen Amedovski (8-2, 0-2 UFC)

ODDS: Holmes (-200), Amedovski (+170)

Two middleweights look for their first UFC win here. A shade over three years into his professional career, Holmes is an interesting prospect to watch as he figures things out on the job inside the Octagon. Tall and lanky for the division, “Ugly Man” makes the best use of his frame when he locks up with his opponents, wrapping his arms around them in the clinch and using an unorthodox submission game to take things to the mat and find a finish. Holmes’ UFC debut in January did raise the worry of that being his only way to find wins at this level for the moment. Against a strong athlete, Holmes got stalled out, mostly ran out of ideas and faded down the stretch. He should find more opportunity against Amedovski, a Macedonian-Italian who came to the UFC in 2019 after two quick knockout wins. That basically sums things up for Amedovski, who looks to trade and little else. His first trip to the Octagon saw him get outwrestled by Krzysztof Jotko, and his last bout saw him meet John Phillips head-on and get knocked out in 14 seconds. It has been roughly two and a half years since the Phillips loss, so Amedovski may have put the time to good use and could show some new wrinkles, but Holmes figures to smother him and find a submission sooner rather than later. The pick is Holmes via first-round submission.

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Holmes vs. Amedovski
Almeida vs. Porter
Morales vs. Medic
Martinez vs. Morales
Colares vs. Hooper
Reed vs. Hughes