Max Holloway hoping to shine at UFC Fight Night 74

What on earth is going on? It’s quite a big “could”, though, with the likes of Frankie Edgar not willing to go anywhere.

The co-main event features a welterweight contest between Colorado’s Neil Magny and Brazil’s Erick Silva.

Our MMA writers’ records look like this thus far. That means that despite all of the unorthodox spinning backfists, flying knees, and wild combinations that Holloway loves to throw, he’s still one of the best defenders on the feet.

They help to bring the best out of each other, and I think this will be the case for many months if not years to come for Holloway and Oliveira.

What I will say is that he’s still as much of a physical specimen as I remember (and as I’ve seen on tape in recent years), he’s got the insane focus and mindset that often elevates fighters beyond to the next level and Daniel Jolly has beaten exactly one opponent with a winning record heading into Sunday’s opener. Despite being the only man to ever accomplish the feat, Holloway does not look back on the fight fondly. 12 at UFC 194 in a title unification bout. Either way, it should be an exciting fight.

A rare Sunday Night event from the UFC is upon us as the worlds biggest MMA promotion presents UFC Fight Night 74.

If Magny has one main weakness, it’s in the realm of submission defence as three of his four defeats have come by way of choke. Burkman has badly dropped the ball since returning to the UFC and while Cote is no world beater in his own right, he does have the striking skills to keep Burkman on his heels on route to a decision win. This is a tough one to call, as the both of them are pretty evenly matched up, and both could be future faces of the division. “I respect everything in his game…” If he tries to do this against someone as explosive as Silva, it will have the same effect as trying to put out a house fire with baby wipes. Either way, really looking forward to this fight. Grappling will be the key in this battle, and with Cote being an underrated fighter in that game, Burkman will have the edge.

Prediction: A workman’s like-approach by Magny for the win.

BK: Here’s the obligatory auld lad exhibition of the event. “I know I have the tank of gas to have a great fight”, said Oliveira.

Now on to the real question: who do I think will win this five round tilt this Sunday?

“You talked to me before the Akira (Corassani) fight and I got a knockout and before the Cub fight and I got a submission, so now I’m talking to you again, so hopefully we get another fantastic finish”. He should be able to out-work the Brazilian and get the nod from the judges.

Chad Laprise (11-0) vs. Francisco Trinaldo (17-4) Lightweight Bout – Laprise is the technically better overall fighter, and his output is usually high. Either way this fight goes, both fighters provide very intriguing fantasy value; just have to pick the right one. Holloway has lived fought into later rounds, he knows how to handle media, he’s traveled overseas and cut weight before.

BK: This seems like the archetypal “give the home crowd something to cheer about” bout.

Since Charles Oliveira first entered the Octagon I’ve thought he was going to be something special, but Do Bronx quickly entered the school of hard knocks since his debut. More importantly for Letourneau, she has the opportunity to jump into the UFC’s Top 10 rankings for the first time in her career.

In their first meeting, Holloway took McGregor the distance.

Laprise is the more polished of the two and appears ready to make a run starting now, while Aubin-Mercier is still getting comfortable in his transition to mixed martial arts after competing in judo.