{"id":569897,"date":"2026-03-28T11:59:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T11:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/569897\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T11:59:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T11:59:14","slug":"israel-adesanya-vs-joe-pyfer-full-card-picks-predictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/569897\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel Adesanya vs. Joe Pyfer Full Card Picks & Predictions"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UFC is back in Seattle, WA tonight (March 28) for another UFC Fight Night event, and MMA KO\u2019s Drew Beaupr\u00e9 is here to provide predictions for all 13 fights on the card.\n<\/p>\n

The main event will see former two-time UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya<\/a> try to get back on track against Joe Pyfer, who is riding the momentum of three-straight wins and currently sits at #14 in the official UFC middleweight rankings.<\/p>\n

The co-main event also features a former UFC titleholder, as former women\u2019s flyweight queen Alexa Grasso looks to snap the first two-fight skid of her career when she takes on top contender Maycee Barber<\/a> in a rematch that\u2019s more than five years in the making.\n<\/p>\n

UFC Seattle Main Card Predictions
\nIsrael Adesanya vs. Joe Pyfer
\n\"Israel<\/p>\n

Israel Adesanya (red gloves) fights Sean Strickland (blue gloves) during UFC 293 at Qudos Bank Arena. | Jasmin Frank-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The UFC is pretty clearly trying to see if they can get some of Adesanya\u2019s remaining star power to rub off on Pyfer. There\u2019s always the chance Pyfer could find a big shot and end things, but on paper this looks to be the biggest step back in competition that \u201cThe Last Stylebender\u201d has had in years.\n<\/p>\n

(Pick: Adesanya)\n<\/p>\n

Alexa Grasso vs. Maycee Barber 2
\n\"Maycee<\/p>\n

Maycee Barber (red gloves) reacts after the fight against Karine Silva (blue gloves) during UFC 323 at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

It would be a shock to see Grasso go on a three-fight skid after losing the women\u2019s flyweight belt in her trilogy bout with Valentina Shevchenko, but Barber has improved significantly from when the two women first met in 2021.\n<\/p>\n

(Pick: Barber)\n<\/p>\n

Michael Chiesa vs. Niko Price
\n\"Michael<\/p>\n

Michael Chiesa (red gloves) fights Court McGee (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at State Farm Arena. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Chiesa was originally scheduled to meet Carlston Harris for his retirement fight in Seattle<\/a>, and now he\u2019s been handed what is arguably a more favorable matchup given that Price is on a three-fight skid and 1-5 dating back to 2023.\n<\/p>\n

(Pick: Chiesa)<\/p>\n

Julien Erosa vs. Lerrryan Douglas<\/p>\n

I hate that it feels like the UFC is trying to feed an experienced veteran to the debuting Douglas, but Erosa typically doesn\u2019t fare well against fighters that pack the kind of power that the Brazilian has in his hands.\n<\/p>\n

(Pick: Douglas)\n<\/p>\n

Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Yousri Belgaroui
\n\"Azamat<\/p>\n

Azamat Bekoev (red gloves) fights Yousri Belgaroui (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Rogers Arena. | Simon Fearn-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

This is a really interesting matchup to give Belgaroui as just the second fight of his UFC career. The former kickboxer has obviously made significant strides since coming up short in his first Dana White\u2019s Contender Series opportunity in 2023, and I\u2019m picking him to hand Abdul-Malik his first loss<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

(Pick: Belgaroui)\n<\/p>\n

Terrance McKinney vs. Kyle Nelson
\n\"Bill<\/p>\n

Bill Algeo (red gloves) fights Kyle Nelson (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Boardwalk Hall. | Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The UFC obviously put this matchup together with the hope of opening the UFC Seattle main card with a finish. As dangerous as McKinney is during the early going, he might be surprised by how much power Nelson can also pack.\n<\/p>\n

(Pick: Nelson)\n<\/p>\n

UFC Seattle Preliminary Card Predictions
\nIgnacio Bahamondes vs. Tofiq Musayev
\n\"Ignacio<\/p>\n

Ignacio Bahamondes (blue gloves) reacts after defeating Jalin Turner (not pictured) during UFC 313 at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Musayev has been given another tough matchup here after being submitted in his UFC debut, especially given that Bahamondes is looking to get back into the win column after getting a significant step up in competition against Rafael Fizev.\n<\/p>\n

(Pick: Bahamondes)\n<\/p>\n

Chase Hooper vs. Lance Gibson Jr.
\n\"Chase<\/p>\n

Chase Hooper during weigh ins for UFC 319 at Radius Chicago. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

This could be a significantly more challenging fight for Hooper than the current betting odds suggest, but \u201cThe Dream\u201d should still be able to get the job done and rebound from the knockout-loss that ended an impressive five-fight win streak.\n<\/p>\n

(Pick: Hooper)\n<\/p>\n

Marcin Tybura vs. Tyrell Fortune
\n\"Marcin<\/p>\n

Marcin Tybura (red gloves) before the fight against Ante Delija (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Accor Arena. | Per Haljestam-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Fortune was a bit of an unexpected signing for the UFC, but the heavyweight division is always in need of experienced fighters. Tybura has long been the gatekeeper for the upper tier of the UFC heavyweight division, and I think the 40-year-old will be able to spoil Fortune\u2019s debut.\n<\/p>\n

(Pick: Tybura)\n<\/p>\n

Casey O\u2019Neill vs. Gabriella Fernandes
\n\"Gabriella<\/p>\n

Gabriella Fernandes of kicks Gabriella Fernandes of kicks Julija Stoliarenko in a flyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event. | (Jeff Bottari\/Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n

With O\u2019Neill returning from a lengthy layoff, this is a big chance for Fernandes to add a fairly well-known name to her record and extend her winning run to four fights.\n<\/p>\n

(Pick: Fernandes)\n<\/p>\n

Navajo Stirling vs. Bruno Lopes
\n\"Navajo<\/p>\n

Navajo Stirling (red gloves) fights Ivan Erslan (blue gloves) during UFC 315 at Bell Centre. | Eric Bolte-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Stirling has added to his undefeated record since joining the UFC but is still looking for his first finish in the promotion, and this matchup with Lopes looks like a big opportunity for the New Zealander to finally secure that highlight.\n<\/p>\n

(Pick: Stirling)\n<\/p>\n

Ricky Simon vs. Adrian Yanez
\n\"Rob<\/p>\n

Rob Font (red gloves) fights Adrian Yanez (blue gloves) during UFC 287 at Miami-Dade Arena. | Rich Storry-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

This might be the most underrated matchup at UFC Seattle, and I\u2019m going to slightly lean with Yanez to fend off Simon\u2019s takedown attempts and get the better of things on the feet.\n<\/p>\n

(Pick: Yanez)\n<\/p>\n

Alexia Thainara vs. Bruna Brasil
\n\"Molly<\/p>\n

Molly McCann (red gloves) fights against Alexia Thainara (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at O2 Arena. | Peter van den Berg-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen Brasil pull off significant upsets before against Molly McCann and Ming Shi, but this matchup with Thainara looks it may halt her trend of alternating wins and losses in the UFC and leave her on the first two-fight skid of her career.\n<\/p>\n

(Pick: Thainara)\n<\/p>\n

MMA KO has been providing comprehensive coverage for UFC Seattle all throughout fight week, and be sure to check back with us later today for live results and highlights from all the action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UFC is back in Seattle, WA tonight (March 28) for another UFC Fight Night event, and MMA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":["post-569897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}