Benoit Saint Denis starched him in 16 seconds in November<\/a>.<\/p>\nAdvertisement<\/p>\n
Dariush\u2019s chin has degraded to a point that it\u2019s thinner than graphene.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s been far too hittable since his 2023 loss to Charles Oliveira. Salkilld is another long, rangy striker, with speed on his side. The oddsmakers may still be showing a hint of disrespect to \u201cBenny,\u201d but his time is up, with his best hopes here being to spam the takedown button within 10 seconds of each round \u2014 if more than one is even needed.<\/p>\n
Pick: Salkilld<\/p>\n
125 pounds: Tim Elliott (+185) vs. Steve Erceg (-225)<\/p>\n
Oddly, Steve Erceg is kind of the Tim Elliott of this generation: The unlikely title contender, who did far better in his bid for gold than anyone anticipated.<\/p>\n
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Ultimately, the showdown between these two will come down to discipline, specifically in the takedown defense department for Erceg. It\u2019s no secret where Elliott excels, chaining together grappling sequences brilliantly and finding submissions in the process. He\u2019s a gritty, tough veteran unlike any other at 125 pounds. His strikes typically come in awkward patterns \u2014 think akin to the Keith Jardine days, but with a larger wrestling threat.<\/p>\n
Erceg offers up clean combinations with his hands and holds the clear striking edge in this fight. He\u2019ll deliver damage that outweighs any volume from Elliott. As long as any bad positions are avoided, this makes for a happy homecoming for \u201cAstro Boy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pick: Erceg<\/p>\n
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Marwan Rahiki looks to make it two-for-two in the UFC.<\/p>\n
(Chris Unger via Getty Images)145 pounds: Marwan Rahiki (-750) vs. Ollie Schmid (+530)<\/p>\n
I\u2019m starting to annoy myself with how often the term \u201cshowcase fight\u201d gets mentioned every week. Yet, here we are again, talking about an overwhelming favorite.<\/p>\n
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An undefeated 8-0 Moroccan, Marwan Rahiki made a dominant UFC debut just a month ago, breaking Harry Hardwick\u2019s jaw in the process. With a meager 4-2 professional record, Schmid seems to be getting thrown to the wolves, far from UFC caliber, especially given that the combined record of his opponents is 11-12-3 \u2014 with just two of them having ever even won a fight. Period.<\/p>\n
Rahiki is a killer who does everything better than Schmid. This fight shouldn\u2019t be happening, especially in the premier MMA organization.<\/p>\n
Pick: Rahiki<\/p>\n
265 pounds: Shamil Gaziev (+110) vs. Brando Peri\u010di\u0107 (-135)<\/p>\n
Heavyweight might be an overall dumpster fire in 2026, but Shamil Gaziev has at least been relatively consistent.<\/p>\n
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The Bahrainian has been a game striker, throwing down with most of his opponents while also keeping some serviceable wrestling in his back pocket. Competition-wise, he has the edge over Brando Pericic, who\u2019s still finding his footing. The Australian has clear power, so this could come down to who lands first. But most fights in this division right now are almost all coin flips, especially the further down the totem pole you go.<\/p>\n
Pick: Gaziev<\/p>\n
265 pounds: Tai Tuivasa (-220) vs. Louie Sutherland (+180)<\/p>\n
UFC might actually hate its audience by putting two heavyweight bouts on the main card of UFC Perth.<\/p>\n
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Tai Tuivasa is essentially just being rolled out for fan service at this point, as he attempts to snap his six-fight skid. Clearly, this matchup with Louie Sutherland is his best chance, as the big man was finished in less than two minutes in each of his first two UFC fights.<\/p>\n
This has sloppy slugfest written all over it, and that bodes extremely well for Tuivasa. The stank of that Tallison Teixeira fight from February is strong, though. Even in a winnable fight, any faith I may have once had in Tuivasa coming through has been lost.<\/p>\n
Pick: Sutherland<\/p>\n
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Gerald Meerschaert can extend his UFC record at UFC Perth.<\/p>\n
(Chris Unger via Getty Images)Preliminary Notes<\/p>\n
Cameron Rowston remains a promising prospect in the middleweight division. He gets a good step-up against Robert Bryczek in a home game, which could be telling for how far he can go.<\/p>\n
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Elsewhere, Gerald Meerschaert is still hanging around in hopes of snapping a four-fight skid. As one of the best get-or-get-got fighters of the past decade, he can never be counted out, and the odds in favor of an unproven Jacob Malkoun are quite frankly absurd. Meerschaert should rightfully be the underdog in his fight, but the guy is always fun to watch.<\/p>\n
Quick picks:<\/p>\n
Cameron Rowston (-180) def. Robert Bryczek (+145)<\/p>\n
Junior Tafa (-210) def. Kevin Christian (+170)<\/p>\n
Gerald Meerschaert (+700) def. Jacob Malkoun (-1100)<\/p>\n
Vince Morales (+110) def. Colby Thicknesse (-135)<\/p>\n
Ben Johnston (-150) def. Wesley Schultz (+125)<\/p>\n
Jonathan Micallef (-250) def. Themba Gorimbo (+200)<\/p>\n
Kody Steele (-190) def. Dom Mar Fan (+155)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UFC returns to Australia this Saturday with a thrilling welterweight clash. Perth has cemented itself as the promotion\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643251,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,152484,48142,786,27141,785,46,85,787],"class_list":["post-643250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-beneil-dariush","tag-carlos-prates","tag-fighting","tag-jack-della-maddalena","tag-mma","tag-perth","tag-sports","tag-ufc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643250","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=643250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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