Packed with nine prelims, the
UFC 329 undercard has its own fair amount of intrigue.
Former
Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champion Robert
Whittaker had one of the most successful moves up in weight
class of all time, so it makes sense he’d try that trick again, as
he’s now up at light heavyweight against Nikita
Krylov in the featured spot. Right below that, former Olympic
gold medalist Gable
Steveson makes his UFC debut; he gets a layup of a matchup and
is still quite raw, but provides some much-needed fresh blood at
heavyweight. Past that is a solid mix of well-matched action, even
if there’s not clearly much in the way of immediate stakes;
Adrian
Yanez should make for a fun matchup against former bantamweight
champion Cody
Garbrandt, and a flyweight bout between Tracy
Cortez and Cong Wang
could put the winner in position for a big fight with a strong
performance.
Light Heavyweights
Robert
Whittaker (26-9) vs. Nikita
Krylov (31-11)
Odds: Whittaker (-148), Krylov (+124)
Whittaker’s move up to middleweight paid off more than anyone
could’ve imagined, so it’s understandable that he’d want to try
things up at light heavyweight, even if it might not work at this
point in his career. Australia’s “Reaper” won the one-off “TUF:
Smashes” season that pitted Australia against England, and he
kicked off his UFC career as a fairly anonymous welterweight,
splitting his first four fights before an eventual move up to 185
pounds in 2014. It immediately became apparent that Whittaker made
the right move; his boxing popped more than ever with his newfound
speed advantage, and his increased cardio made him an absolute
terror in terms of overwhelming his opponents — if he didn’t
simply just knock them out in short order. Years 2015 and 2016 saw
Whittaker begin to stand out as one of the UFC’s first stars in the
Oceanic region, and a breakthrough win in 2017 over Ronaldo
Souza made it apparent that Whittaker could be champion sooner
rather than later; that fight saw him break out a high-level
wrestling game for the first time, essentially leaving him as a
fighter with no clear weaknesses, even at a high level.
Whittaker was indeed clearly the best 185-pound fighter in the
world within a year, but he never got the true coronation he
deserved, owing to a streak of bad luck. Whittaker won an interim
title over Yoel Romero,
but never wound up getting a unification bout; Georges St-Pierre
came out of retirement to beat champion Michael
Bisping and eventually retired rather than face Whittaker, who
was simply named the now-undisputed champ. Whittaker also never got
his big return home as a conquering hero; cards in Australia were
built around Whittaker title defenses against Luke
Rockhold and Kelvin
Gastelum, only for Whittaker to pull out due to injury before
each fight, including a career-threatening hernia hours before the
Gastelum bout. By the time Whittaker got his first title defense on
Australian soil, it came against New Zealand’s Israel
Adesanya, who had clearly stolen Whittaker’s thunder as the
major star of the region during that downtime — and who also took
care of Whittaker in one-sided fashion to become the new king of
the middleweights.
Thankfully, Whittaker’s medical issues didn’t lead to an immediate
fall-off, as he remained both a top contender and beloved
ambassador of the sport for the next half-decade or so, even if he
still found himself unable to overcome Adesanya in a rematch. It
wasn’t until Whittaker’s last two fights that some red flags
started to pop up; a quick loss to Khamzat
Chimaev was understandable, but a grimy decision against
Reinier
de Ridder was much more concerning, as the Dutchman was able to
use his size to stifle Whittaker in a manner that most opponents
haven’t historically been able to get away with.
Given that Whittaker’s struggles at middleweight have come against
larger and more physical opponents, it’s a bit surprising that he
decided to move up to light heavyweight, though he might be
catching Nikita
Krylov at the right time to have a successful debut in his new
weight class. Krylov was generally considered a punchline when he
hit the UFC in 2013; then 21 years old, “The Miner” got signed off
a particularly weak record and didn’t exactly cover himself in
glory in his UFC debut, losing an extremely sloppy fight against
Soa
Palelei when he was too exhausted to move. But Krylov cut down
to light heavyweight shortly thereafter and somehow became one of
the best young fighters in the division; now in shape, Krylov was
still generally a technical mess, but his combination of
durability, aggression and ability to wrestle a bit made him too
much for most of his opponents to handle. Save for a brief return
to the Russian scene for some big paydays, Krylov’s career
generally followed the pattern of a few wins leading into an
over-aggressive submission loss, at least until a two-year layoff
that spanned 2023 to 2025.
Upon his return, it was clear that Krylov was no longer the same
fighter, particularly in terms of his durability; after a
decade-plus of having one of the best chins in the sport, it was a
shock to see him get finished within a round by both Dominick
Reyes and Bogdan
Guskov. Krylov’s awareness of his own mortality has also
influenced his aggression, as he’s been a much more passive fighter
— though still strung together enough offense to get a win over
Modestas
Bukauskas in January, as Bukauskas himself was much too
reticent to pull the trigger. Most versions of Krylov would’ve been
a particularly poor matchup for Whittaker, as he likely would’ve
been able to swamp the former middleweight champion with a lot of
wrestling in a control-heavy win. But it’s unclear if that version
of Krylov exists anymore, and while Whittaker doesn’t figure to
have a ton of upside at 205 pounds, he should get enough time and
space to impress here; the pick is Whittaker via first-round
knockout.
Jump To »
Whittaker vs. Krylov
Steveson vs. Ellison
Garbrandt vs. Yanez
Riley vs. Kamaka III
Cortez vs. Wang
Pinas vs. Almeida
Basharat vs. Garza
Gandra vs. Reese
Durden vs. Costa
Heavyweights
Gable
Steveson (3-0) vs. Elisha
Ellison (5-2)
Odds: Steveson (-2800), Ellison (+1300)
Gable
Steveson has struggled to translate his amateur wrestling
success into fame and fortune elsewhere, but his foray into mixed
martial arts has some clear potential to work out. As suggested by
his first name, Steveson was essentially born and bred to be a
wrestler and indeed proved himself to be a prodigy, winning
multiple collegiate titles and an Olympic gold medal at age 21.
Rather than immediately pursue mixed martial arts, Steveson instead
went the professional wrestling route, where he proved to be a flop
— either due to a lack of charisma or Steveson’s notoriety from
his legal issues making him hard to root for — and then a brief
football career before becoming a professional fighter last year.
Steveson’s now three fights deep into his career, and his upside is
clearly evident — obviously and particularly as a wrestler — but
he’s still essentially unproven; opponents haven’t been able to
offer much resistance, so it’s unclear how Steveson will fare
whenever things get tough. Of course, it could be a while until
things actually get tough for the former Olympian, and it doesn’t
figure to be here against Elisha
Ellison.
Ellison seems to have some decent enough athleticism, but even at
the regional level he was an overly patient fighter that often took
his time waiting for a moment to strike – so it wasn’t necessarily
a surprise that Brando
Pericic took the initiative and beat him in short order during
both men’s UFC debut last year. Ellison could always land that one
big shot, but unless Steveson decides to play with his food, the
UFC newcomer should be able to get Ellison to the mat and overwhelm
him in short order; the pick is Steveson via first-round
stoppage.
Jump To »
Whittaker vs. Krylov
Steveson vs. Ellison
Garbrandt vs. Yanez
Riley vs. Kamaka III
Cortez vs. Wang
Pinas vs. Almeida
Basharat vs. Garza
Gandra vs. Reese
Durden vs. Costa
Bantamweights
Cody
Garbrandt (15-7) vs. Adrian
Yanez (17-6-1)
Odds: Yanez (-410), Garbrandt (+320)
Adrian
Yanez looks to be past a rough stretch, and so the former top
prospect gets a chance to rebuild here. Yanez came to the UFC via
Dana White’s Contender Series in 2020, standing out as a
particularly electric knockout artist that was also quite easy to
root for; Yanez was fighting in the memory of his late father,
would eventually take over for late coach Saul Soliz in 2021, and
generally seemed like a rare good egg in the sport. After a
particularly cathartic knockout win over Tony Kelley
in 2022 — his fourth knockout in five UFC fights — Yanez seemed
ready to take his spot as one of the faces of the UFC’s
bantamweight division, but getting over the hump to contender
status has proven more difficult than expected.
Yanez has remained one of the most entertainingly dynamic offensive
forces in the UFC, but that’s come with a disregard for what his
opponents are able to bring in return; that was perfectly fine
against the bantamweight division’s lesser lights, but Yanez’s
willingness to eat damage cost him greatly during a stretch of
three losses during four fights, including finishes against
Rob
Font and Jonathan
Martinez. After losing another frustrating bout to Daniel
Marcos at the tail end of 2024, Yanez missed all of 2025 and
became a bit of a forgotten man until his return this past March,
where he looked sharp in a draw that was generally regarded as a
clear Yanez win prior to the result being announced. Even despite
the result, Yanez now has some much-needed momentum, which should
continue to build here against former champion Cody
Garbrandt.
Garbrandt’s 2016 was a breakout year to a level that few fighters
have achieved; a raw prospect with quick-trigger reflexes,
Garbrandt scored three brutal knockout wins to earn what seemed
like an undeserved title shot against Dominick
Cruz, only to score a one-sided decision win over Cruz in the
best performance of his career. Still in his mid-twenties,
Garbrandt figured to be one of the faces of the UFC going forward,
but his reign as champion never got going; T.J.
Dillashaw figured out that Garbrandt was quick and dangerous
but not much of a strategist, drawing out Garbrandt’s offense,
landing counters and leaving Garbrandt unable to adjust, both in a
Dillashaw title win and an immediate rematch. Outside of one more
brutal knockout win over Raphael
Assuncao, Garbrandt’s next few years saw him continually lose
while seeming mentally broken; Garbrandt still had some of the
quickest hands in the sport, but opponent after opponent was able
to maneuver around them and essentially put Garbrandt on tilt until
he charged into a knockout.
After missing all of 2022, Garbrandt came back in 2023 and had some
new ideas, but has still clearly been unable to balance safety with
aggression; “No Love” now has a defensive mode where he can stay
out of danger at the expense of any level of effective offense, but
pursuing that offense also still leaves him just as open as ever to
his opponent finishing him instead. Garbrandt’s last fight, this
past March against a fairly anonymous brawler in Xiao Long,
suggested that the former champion might no longer be effective at
the UFC level; it seemed like a stylistic layup, but instead turned
into an ugly fight that Garbrandt only won due to repeated point
deductions for a foul-happy Xiao. Yanez’s own lack of defense does
theoretically make it possible that Garbrandt can land a knockout
blow, but it’s unclear if the former champion can even pull the
trigger enough to make that happen before getting overwhelmed; the
pick is Yanez via second-round knockout.
Jump To »
Whittaker vs. Krylov
Steveson vs. Ellison
Garbrandt vs. Yanez
Riley vs. Kamaka III
Cortez vs. Wang
Pinas vs. Almeida
Basharat vs. Garza
Gandra vs. Reese
Durden vs. Costa
Featherweights
Luke
Riley (13-0) vs. Kai Kamaka
III (18-7-1)
Odds: Riley (-290), Kamaka III (+235)
It’s unclear if Liverpool’s Luke Riley
is the future star that the UFC seems to hope he is, but at the
very least he’s currently a welcome addition to any card. A rising
action fighter on the European scene when the UFC picked him up
last year, Riley has been consistently successful in forcing a
scrap on his opponents, though that might change as he moves up the
ladder; he’s a good but not great athlete and prone to slow starts,
which has allowed some opponents to out-wrestle him up until the
point that Riley adjusts and turns things up. After a surprising
co-main event spot in London this past March, Riley gets another
lateral step in competition against Kai Kamaka
III, a perennial tough out.
A late-notice signing in 2020, Kamaka III has been impressively
consistent over the ensuing half-decade, for better or for worse;”The Fighting Hawaiian” checks a lot of boxes in terms of technical
proficiency, but has rarely shown much in the way of aggression and
dynamism, resulting in a lot of fights where Kamaka III doesn’t get
blown out but also struggles to separate himself on the scorecards.
It was a mild surprise when he slid out of the UFC in late 2021,
which in turn made it a mild surprise when he was back in the fold
this past April, which is essentially a testament to Kamaka III’s
status as a fighter stuck between the regional and UFC levels.
Kamaka III should do some solid work until Riley starts to heat up,
but the lean is that the Englishman will wind up doing the best
work of the fight before he turns a corner; the pick is Riley via
decision.
Jump To »
Whittaker vs. Krylov
Steveson vs. Ellison
Garbrandt vs. Yanez
Riley vs. Kamaka III
Cortez vs. Wang
Pinas vs. Almeida
Basharat vs. Garza
Gandra vs. Reese
Durden vs. Costa
Women’s Flyweights
Tracy
Cortez (12-3) vs. Cong Wang
(9-1)
Odds: Wang (-112), Cortez (-108)
An interesting style clash should help sort some things out in the
flyweight division. When the UFC signed Cong Wang in
2024, it was with the clear intent to follow the Alex
Pereira blueprint to a grudge match with Valentina
Shevchenko; the two had history stemming from a Wang win in
kickboxing shortly before Shevchenko’s UFC career, and Wang
appeared to be the level of quick study that could run up the
ladder with some advantageous matchmaking. Unfortunately, things
got derailed slightly in Wang’s second UFC bout; she’s clearly a
talent, but her general disregard for her opposition wound up with
her getting stunned and submitted by Gabriella
Fernandes in a fight that was otherwise going her way.
Thankfully, Wang rebounded well and has looked sharper in her three
fights since, balancing her aggression in a more thoughtful manner
in some one-sided wins – and her last win over Eduarda
Moura did show that she can manage to outpoint and outwork an
opponent that’s continually looking to wrestle. And so it’s time to
try and move Wang up the ladder again, with Tracy
Cortez providing a test that’s potentially quite tough on
paper.
Cortez was essentially a lock to get a contract with a win in her
2019 appearance on the Contender Series; beyond an obviously
marketable look, Cortez fighting in the memory of her late brother
made her quite easy to root for. But once her UFC career got
started, Cortez quickly proved that she was much more than just a
charity case, standing out as a grimy and aggressive wrestler, even
in a few fights up at bantamweight. Despite her success, Cortez’s
rise was slower than expected due to a lack of activity – she’s
fought at a pace of roughly one fight per calendar year – but
things still seemed set to work out after a 2023 win over Jasmine
Jasudavicius, which saw Cortez leverage her wrestling advantage
into looking like the much quicker and more effective striker. But
her next bout in a main event slot against Rose
Namajunas did raise the worry that Cortez might be becoming too
well-rounded for her own good, as she wasted a lot of time on the
feet and generally looked reticent in pursuing takedowns and
getting to the best parts of her game. Thankfully, Cortez embraced
the grind against Viviane
Araujo in her next bout, but there’s still some worry as to how
Cortez might fare in deeper waters, especially after another loss
where Erin
Blanchfield proved herself the better grappler and handed her a
submission loss. But even with Wang’s improvements on the mat, this
still looks like a fight that Cortez can clearly win if she
embraces a wrestling-heavy gameplan; that’s not entirely a lock,
but the pick is still Cortez via decision.
Jump To »
Whittaker vs. Krylov
Steveson vs. Ellison
Garbrandt vs. Yanez
Riley vs. Kamaka III
Cortez vs. Wang
Pinas vs. Almeida
Basharat vs. Garza
Gandra vs. Reese
Durden vs. Costa
Middleweights
Damian
Pinas (9-1) vs. Cesar
Almeida (7-2)
Odds: Pinas (-225), Almeida (+185)
This should be fun. Damian
Pinas is in the raw but talented mold that a lot of Contender
Series prospects fit into, but so far so good for “The Baba Yaga”
after earning a contract last year. Pinas is a bit of a mess and
even his wins can be a bit of an adventure, but it’s also apparent
that he has a ton of natural power once he gets going, as he
obliterated both his Contender Series opponent and Wes Schultz in
fairly short order. The Aruban gets a solid step up in competition
here against Cesar
Almeida, who might not be a massive success story transitioning
to mixed martial arts after a long kickboxing career, but has
adapted to his new sport quite well.
The worry was that Almeida’s striking approach might be too passive
in terms of looking to hit his opponents on the counter, but he’s
done a solid job of picking up the pace as needed while continuing
to prove himself as a knockout threat – but title contention looks
to be several steps too far for the Brazilian at age 38,
particularly since he’s found himself quite helpless in the face of
dedicated wrestlers. Pinas is certainly explosive enough that a
quick knockout isn’t out of the question, but Almeida has
historically been quite durable and comfortable under fire, so it
seems likelier that the veteran can land a big counter against the
much rawer prospect; the pick is Almeida via first-round
knockout.
Jump To »
Whittaker vs. Krylov
Steveson vs. Ellison
Garbrandt vs. Yanez
Riley vs. Kamaka III
Cortez vs. Wang
Pinas vs. Almeida
Basharat vs. Garza
Gandra vs. Reese
Durden vs. Costa
Bantamweights
Farid
Basharat (15-0) vs. John Garza
(6-1)
Odds: N/A
What was initially a quite excellent pairing between Farid
Basharat and Ethyn Ewing
winds up with a clear downgrade, as Basharat now finds himself
facing a late replacement. Initially regarded as the lesser of the
two Basharat brothers, Farid has quietly separated himself as the
more effective fighter, slowly working his way up the ranks;”Ferocious” isn’t particularly flashy, but he sets a solid pace and
makes smart decisions, finding some particular effectiveness with a
sound wrestling and grappling game. He’ll look to impress against
UFC newcomer John Garza,
a promising young talent that looks to be getting the UFC call a
bit too soon.
Garza is aggressive and down to scrap and has shown some fun
striking in a string of regional victories, but he’s yet to face
either a well-rounded veteran or a wrestler, both of which are
tests that Basharat should provide. Garza should make this fun for
a bit before Basharat takes over; the pick is Basharat via
second-round submission.
Jump To »
Whittaker vs. Krylov
Steveson vs. Ellison
Garbrandt vs. Yanez
Riley vs. Kamaka III
Cortez vs. Wang
Pinas vs. Almeida
Basharat vs. Garza
Gandra vs. Reese
Durden vs. Costa
Middleweights
Ryan Gandra
(9-1) vs. Zachary
Reese (10-3, 1 N/C)
Odds: Gandra (-130), Reese (+110)
Two middleweights look to make a statement here. Despite already
being in his thirties, Brazil’s Ryan Gandra
fits into the mold of a raw but interesting prospect just four
years into his professional career. Gandra doesn’t stand out in any
particular area as of yet outside of his knockout power, which he
used to great effect both on the Contender Series and in his UFC
debut against Jose Medina
– but given that Medina was one of the worst UFC signings in recent
memory, the Brazilian is still quite unproven ahead of this fight
against Zachary
Reese, his first solid opponent.
Reese was even more unproven upon his own Contender Series
appearance in 2023, a massive middleweight that swamped his
opponents and typically finished them within two minutes. But Reese
immediately paid for that opportunism in his UFC debut against
Cody
Brundage, who took advantage of Reese’s willingness to hunt for
submissions by picking him up and slamming him unconscious. Reese
still has some of that aggression, but he’s clearly attempting to
round out his game with mixed results; Reese tires but doesn’t
entirely implode over the long haul, even though he often winds up
pivoting to a wrestling game that results in some ugly decisions.
Gandra could just starch him here, but the Brazilian hasn’t shown
much in the wrestling department and is basically unproven after a
round, so the lean is that Reese can slow Gandra down enough to
survive early and then win a slog in the back half of the fight.
The pick is Reese via decision.
Jump To »
Whittaker vs. Krylov
Steveson vs. Ellison
Garbrandt vs. Yanez
Riley vs. Kamaka III
Cortez vs. Wang
Pinas vs. Almeida
Basharat vs. Garza
Gandra vs. Reese
Durden vs. Costa
Flyweights
Cody Durden
(18-10-1) vs. Alessandro
Costa (16-5)
Odds: Costa (-265), Durden (+215)
Both of these fighters have been hanging around the middle tiers of
the flyweight division for a while, so it’s a mild surprise that
this fight hasn’t happened yet. Cody Durden
came to the UFC in 2020 as an interesting talent, showing some
potential as a pressure-focused wrestler but doing most of his work
against a particularly weak level of competition. That came through
almost immediately in his UFC career; Durden had some performances
where he put his nose to the grindstone and walked away with a win,
but his lack of defensive awareness also resulted in him running
straight into finishes against opponents that could handle what he
brought to the table. After four straight wins across 2022 and
2023, Durden’s career essentially imploded with six losses in seven
fights, most of which saw him run into a finish; Durden’s
willingness to step in short notice seemed to save his UFC career,
but a particularly flat performance against Nyamjargal
Tumendemberel seemed like it would certainly be Durden’s final
shot. Instead, he stepped in on late notice once again and somehow
turned back the clock this past April, putting on his best
performance in years to beat Jafel Filho
— so maybe there’s hope heading into this bout against Alessandro
Costa.
Costa’s a particularly middle of the pack fighter, possessing a
game that’s wide but not deep but also doesn’t have much in the way
of weaknesses; Costa can strike a bit, wrestle and grapple a bit
and fight at a middling pace, either eventually landing on his
opponent’s weaknesses or finding himself unable to catch up against
craftier opposition. The Brazilian’s willingness to cede initiative
could actually hand Durden a win if Durden shows up in a similar
form to his last fight, but things are still at the point where the
safest bet seems to be Durden running into some fight-ending
offense over the course of fifteen minutes. The pick is Costa via
second-round knockout.
Jump To »
Whittaker vs. Krylov
Steveson vs. Ellison
Garbrandt vs. Yanez
Riley vs. Kamaka III
Cortez vs. Wang
Pinas vs. Almeida
Basharat vs. Garza
Gandra vs. Reese
Durden vs. Costa
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