UFC Fight Night: Arnold Allen vs. Melquizael Costa Full Card Picks & Predictions

The UFC is back at the Meta APEX today for another UFC Fight Night, and MMA KO’s Drew Beaupré is here to provide predictions for all 13 fights on the card.

The main event is a huge featherweight clash between longtime divisional staple Arnold Allen and surging contender Melquizael Costa, who has won six-straight fights following an initial 1-2 start to his UFC career after joining the promotion in 2023.

The co-main event also takes place in the featherweight division and will see Daniel Santos attempt to extend his winning run to five fights when he takes on Doo Ho Choi in a matchup that looks to be a clear pre-event frontrunner for “Fight of the Night” honors.

UFC Vegas 117 Main Card Predictions

Arnold Allen vs. Melquizael Costa

Arnold Allen (red gloves) fights Jean Silva (blue gloves) during UFC 324 at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Costa’s recent rise has been a lot of fun to watch, but I can’t pick against Allen in this bout given that he’s only lost to the absolute best featherweights on the roster during his UFC career.

(Pick: Allen)

Doo Ho Choi vs. Daniel Santos

Daniel Santos (red gloves) reacts after the fight against Joosang Yoo (blue gloves) during UFC 320 at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

It’s hard not to love this matchup. Even though Choi has looked stellar during his last two bouts, I still have to pick Santos to secure his fifth-straight win here.

(Pick: Santos)

Malcolm Wellmaker vs. Juan Diaz

Malcolm Wellmaker (red gloves) fights Ethyn Ewing (blue gloves) in the featherweight bout during UFC 322 at Madison Square Garden. | Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

Wellmaker can’t get careless here against the debuting Diaz, but this looks like a favorable chance for “The Machine” to rebound from his first career loss.

(Pick: Wellmaker)

Modestas Bukauskas vs. Christian Edwards

Nikita Krylov (red gloves) fights Modestas Bukauskas (blue gloves) during UFC 324 at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Edwards could connect with something big here after accepting this fight on extremely short notice, but Bukauskas has looked solid for most of his second UFC stint and should spoil the Bellator veteran’s promotional debut.

(Pick: Bukauskas)

Timmy Cuamba vs. Bernardo Sopaj

Benardo Sopaj (blue gloves) reacts after defeating Ricky Turcios (red gloves) during UFC 311 at Intuit Dome. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

This should be a fun bantamweight scrap to kick off the UFC Vegas 117 main card, and I think that Sopaj is rightfully favored to get his hand raised and halt Cuamba’s winning run.

(Pick: Sopaj)

UFC Vegas 117 Preliminary Card

Nikolay Veretennikov vs. Khaos Williams

Khaos Williams (red gloves) fights Andreas Gustafsson (blue gloves) during UFC 316 at Prudential Center. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

These two welterweights hopefully intend to stand and trade strikes in the featured prelim for UFC Vegas 117, and in that kind of fight I expect that Williams’ power will be the difference maker.

(Pick: Williams)

Tuco Tokkos vs. Ivan Erslan

Navajo Stirling (red gloves) fights Ivan Erslan (blue gloves) during UFC 315 at Bell Centre. | Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

Erslan has had a tough go of things since making the jump over from KSW, but he should be able to secure his first UFC win here if he’s able to stifle Tokkos’ attempts to bring things to the mat.

(Pick: Erslan)

Tommy Gantt vs. Artur Minev

This is a banger matchup between two undefeated prospects, and I’m siding with Minev to make the most of this short-notice opportunity and spoil Gantt’s own debut in the process.

(Pick: Minev)

Ketlen Vieira vs. Jacqueline Cavalcanti

Ketlen Vieira (red gloves) fights Kayla Harrison (blue gloves) fight during UFC 307 at Delta Center. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

The UFC has curiously buried the most significant matchup outside of the main event on the prelims for UFC Vegas 117, and I’ll slightly lean with Vieira to halt Cavalcanti’s lengthy winning run and keep herself in the title mix at 135 lbs.

(Pick: Viera)

Andre Petroski vs. Cody Brundage

Donte Johnson (red gloves) fights Cody Brundage (blue gloves) during UFC 326 at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Provided that he’s able to make this mainly a striking battle, I think Brundage has the power necessary to get things done and secure his first win in more than a year.

(Pick: Brundage)

Alice Ardelean vs. Polyana Viana

Gillian Robertson (red glove) fights Polyana Viana (blue gloves) during UFC 297 at ScotiaBank Arena. | Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

Coming into this matchup following three-straight losses, Viana will hopefully bring a considerable amount of urgency to the fight and do enough to halt Ardelean’s bid to win three bouts in a row.

(Pick: Viana)

Daniel Barez vs. Luis Gurule

Alden Coria (red gloves) fights Luis Gurule (blue gloves) in a flyweight bout during UFC Fight Night at Toyota Center. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Gurule has unfortunately had some difficult matchups during his short UFC run, and I think this might be his chance to finally secure his first UFC win and snap a three-fight skid.

(Pick: Gurule)

Shauna Bannon vs. Nicolle Caliari

Shauna Bannon (red gloves) fights Sam Hughes (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Accor Arena. | Per Haljestam-Imagn Images

An 0-3 start to her UFC career would likely spell the end of Caliari’s time with the promotion, and I think Bannon will be able to outwork the Brazilian and bring her own UFC record back over .500.

(Pick: Bannon)

MMA KO has been providing comprehensive coverage for UFC Vegas 117 all throughout fight week, and be sure to check back with us tomorrow for live results and highlights from all the action.

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