Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, is the backdrop of UFC on ESPN 54, set for Saturday night. This is the tenth edition of UFC in Atlantic City and the first in almost six years. The showdown between Erin Blanchfield and Manon Fiorot in the women’s flyweight division is the headliner, and Vicente Luque meets Joaquin Buckley in a welterweight tilt as the co-main event. ESPN will broadcast the main card, with ESPN2 showing the preliminary bouts.
We know that when it comes to UFC Fight Night betting, you have to have the full fight card as well as betting picks for several of the fights for you to consider. Big Fights, big bets.
UFC Fight Night: Blanchfield vs Fiorot Betting Picks and Prediction | MMA Event
UFC on ESPN 54 | UFC on ESPN: Blanchfield vs. Fiorot
Erin Blanchfield -192 vs Manon Fiorot +160
Erin Blanchfield (12-1, 6-0 UFC, -192) vs Manon Fiorot (11-1, 6-0 UFC, +160) square off in a battle for top contender in the women’s flyweight division. Blanchfield joined UFC in 2021 riding a wave of hype, but she needed to add to her level of strategy. She developed an aggressive style, bringing pressure and eating damage in order to take her opponents to the ground. She dominated Sarah Alpar in her promotional debut and then beat Miranda Maverick three months later. J.J. Aldrich stalled her for a short time but then Blanchfield turned the tables and made her tap out, and that was as close to a loss as she has come. She fought Jessica Andrade, the former strawweight champ, toe to toe before bringing her down to the mat and winning via submission.
The most impressive part of Blanchfield’s contender status is that she has so much of her game that she could still improve.
Fiorot came to UFC much more quietly, getting the nod as a last-minute replacement in 2021. She beat Mayra Bueno Silva, who would become a bantamweight contender, easily near the end of 2021, and she beat Jennifer Maia, Katlyn Cerminara and Rose Namajunas on the cards. She likes to bring bombs from range rather than get in the clinch, but she has an underrated grappling game when she needs it.
One difference between the two is that Fiorot tends to wear down over the course of a fight, while Blanchfield usually gains energy. Blanchfield is likely to find her moves blocked and frustrated in the early going thanks to Fiorot’s blend of speed and size. Once Blanchfield gets Fiorot on the ground, though, she should be able to wear her out.
Final Prediction: Blanchfield wins via decision
Bet on Erin vs Manon
Vicente Luque -112 vs Joaquin Buckley +108
Vicente Luque (22-9-1, 15-5, UFC, -112) vs Joaquin Buckley (17-6, 7-4 UFC, -108) is the latest fight in Luque’s career, which has brought him from underrated fighter to highlight-reel main-event fighter. He came into UFC in 2015 and developed a reputation for moving forward and eating damage before delivering knockout power or enticing his opponents to the mat, where his signature brabo choke would deliver the win. UFC found him main event-worthy starting in 2019. He knocked out Bryan Barberena in the third round of one of 2019’s best fights, and he got a co-main event fight when UFC went to Uruguay for the first time. He also got a main card bout at Madison Square Garden against Stephen Thompson. He came into 2022 as part of the title conversation, but then losses to Belal Muhammad and Geoff Neal were concerning as Neal’s hand speed simply turned Luque inside out, leading to a knockout so brutal that Luque had a brain injury that threatened to end his career. A year later, Luque was cleared to come back against Rafael dos Anjos. Luque got an ugly win on the cards and now looks to make it two straight wins against Buckley.
Buckley will always be known for the jumping spinning back kick that turned out the lights on Impa Kasanganay in 2020. Normally, Buckley prospers by moving forward, bringing volume and power in the striking game. This absorbs a lot of cardio, but Buckley is one of the fittest fighters in this promotion. After that finish of Kasanganay, Buckley got some quick fights on turnarounds. Once Allesio Di Chirico timed Buckley’s movements and knocked him out, though, Buckley dropped out of the contender conversation. Since then, his striking game has gotten sharper, and moving down to welterweight helped him use that power against a lighter weight class. He ran right over Andre Fialho, which surprised no one. When he beat Alex Morono on the cards, he showed that he could beat one of the smarter fighters in the classification. Buckley has an opportunity to move into the welterweight rankings if he can bring pressure and deliver results.
Final Prediction: Luque via knockout
Bet on Vicente vs Joaquin
Bruno Silva -285 vs Chris Weidman +230
Bruno Silva (23-10, 4-4 UFC, -285) vs Chris Weidman (15-7, 11-7 UFC, +230) is Weidman’s latest chance to avoid his time in UFC coming to an end. His early days in UFC were memorable as he entered in 2011 and took Anderson Silva’s belt just two years later, ending a stout title run. He would hold the championship for 2 ½ years, but he never really gained highlight-reel status. He had some nagging injuries that sent him into lengthy layoffs, and then Luke Rockhold took the belt away late in 2015. Since then, Weidman has never really found his mojo again as the next generation of fighters had superior athleticism. As Weidman suffered more injuries, he just could not keep up. He broke his leg against Uriah Hall, sending a kick that got checked, leading to a two-year layoff. When he finally returned against Brad Tavares back in August, he looked decent, but he was still just a shadow of his former self. He is still an aggressive, tough fighter, but he absorbed a lot of damage.
Silva came into UFC in 2021 and was seen as a pressure-first fighter who was all about delivering big bombs, getting knockouts, and leaving defense to figure itself out. That paid off initially but then led to some big losses, so now Silva has tried to add some patience to his game. However, there’s usually a point in the fight when he puts the patience away and just starts bringing violence. On the mat, Silva’s skills are minimal, so Weidman could win if he can pull off a takedown or two, but if Silva decides to unload, it’s hard to say that Weidman will be able to stop the pressure.
Final Prediction: Silva wins via knockout
Nursulton Ruziboev -265 vs Sedriques Dumas +215
Nursulton Ruziboev (33-8-2, 1-0 UFC, -265) vs Sedriques Dumas (9-1, 2-1 UFC, +215) is a fight between two middleweight prospects. Ruziboev has a ton of fights under his belt for a prospect, but most of that competition was difficult to handicap accurately. He’s one of the tallest middleweights at 6’5” and has historically used intimidation to bully his way to a knockout win. In his UFC debut, he knocked out Brunno Ferreira in swift fashion, so he has the power to deliver damage at this level.
Dumas can just about match Ruziboev in height. His UFC career started poorly with a submission loss against Josh Fremd. He has a pair of wins since then, but both of those came against fairly easy competition. Dumas is a fairly sizable underdog because of the assumption that Ruziboev will be able to get him to the ground and finish him. I’m not sure Ruziboev should be this heavily favored, though.
Final Prediction: Dumas wins via decision
Main Card (ESPN / ESPN+)
- Erin Blanchfield vs Manon Fiorot (Women’s Flyweight)
- Vicente Luque vs Joaquin Buckley (Welterweight)
- Chrsi Weidman vs Bruno Silva (Middleweight)
- Nursulton Ruziboev vs Sedriques Dumas (Middleweight)
- Bill Algeo vs Kyle Nelson (Featherweight)
- Chidi Njokuani vs Rhys McKee (Welterweight)
Preliminary Card (ESPN2/ESPN+)
- Nate Landwehr vs Jamall Emmers (Featherweight)
- Vima Jandiroba vs Loopy Godinez (Women’s Strawweight)
- Julio Arce vs Herbert Burns (Featherweight)
- Dennis Buzukja vs Connor Matthews (Featherweight)
- Ibo Aslan vs Anton Turkalj (Light Heavyweight)
- Viktorila Dudakova vs Melissa Gatto (Women’s Flyweight)
- Andre Petroski vs Jacob Malkoun (Middleweight)
- Angel Pacheco vs Caolan Loughran (Bantamweight)