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Daniel Pineda   vs.   Antonio Carvalho  
Preliminary Card | Featherweight | 145 lbs (65.8 kg)

Carvalho (5'8) 13 - 5 - 0

Canadian born fighter fighting out of Oshawa, Ontario. He is 13 – 5 overall with 6 wins via knockout, 3 via submission and 4 decisions.  He holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu a green belt in Judo and a black belt in Shotokan Karate.  He has fought all over the world in promotions like: Shooto, TKO Major League, MFC, Iron heart Crown, Cage Force and Warrior-1 MMA. He holds notable victories over Takeshi “lion” Inoue via decision and Hatsu Hioki. He lost his first fight in the UFC to Felipe Arantes via decision, he looked good in the first and even had Arantes mounted but faded latter on and was unable to get the ground to the fight.

Pineda (5'7) 17 - 8

Pineda started off his UFC career with back to back submissions over Pat Schilling and Mackens Semerzier. He would then go on to give Mike Brown all he could handle for three rounds eventually dropping a UD in what would be Brown’s final fight.  Pineda is a finisher, of his 17 wins 11 are TKOs and 6 submissions with 11 1^st round stoppages. Kid is hell on wheels.  Pineda is billed as a wrestle boxer but has 11 submissions under his belt; he is a triple threat in the cage, utilizing striking, take-downs and a sneaky BJJ game.

Prediction – Pineda by via triangle choke in the 2^nd. Pineda has looked good in all three of his UFC fights; Carvalho looked good in only one round of his first UFC fight. I’ll go with the Pit.

Bryan Caraway   vs.   Mitch Gagnon   Confirmed
Preliminary Card | Bantamweight | 135 lbs (61.2 kg)

Gagnon (5’5) 8 – 1 – 0

Sticking with the Canadian theme on the card, Gagnon is a Canadian bantamweight who came in at the #10 spot on the 2011 Bloody Elbow Featherweight Scouting report. Gagnon is a strong wrestler who also possesses a highly effective ground game as his record of 7 submissions shows. 

Caraway (5’9) 16 – 5 – 0

Caraway competed on TUF 14 where he was able to submit Marcus Brimage but was knocked out but season winner Diego Brandao. In his next fight Caraway submitted Dustin Neace at the TUF 14 finale. Caraway trains out of team Alpha Male. Bryan compliments his Division II wrestling with a high level ground game, of his 16 wins, 14 have come via submission with 9 of those being rear naked chokes.

Prediction – Bryan Caraway via UD. This fight will probably be closer than what the lines will show, I expect Caraway to be a heavy favorite do to the size difference, quality of camp and past level of competition.  Gagnon is a hard nosed grinder who won’t give up but he is also making his octagon debut so it’s hard to pick him. I think after losing a UD to Caraway the 5’5 Gagnon will probably attempt to make 125.

Roland Delorme   vs.   Francisco Rivera   Confirmed
Preliminary Card | Bantamweight | 135 lbs (61.2 kg)

Delorme (5’9) 8 – 1 – 0

Delorme is 2 – 0 in the UFC with wins over Josh Ferguson and a come from behind submission win over the very tough Nick Denis.  Delorme has serviceable boxing but it is more of a means to set up his crafty clinch techniques, being a black belt in Judo Delorme is beast in the clinch and preys on the slightest mistake to drag his opponent to the ground, complementing his stellar clinch Delorme also possess a brown belt in BJJ. Ronald has finished all of his 8 fights with 6 submissions and 2 TKOs.

Rivera (5’8) 8 – 2 – 0

Rivera’s first fight in the UFC family was against top dog Erik Koch in the WEC, Rivera lost that fight via head kick in the first round. Rivera would control Reuben Duran for the first round of their fight, but was choked out in the 3^rd, to round out his first two fights in the UFC. Rivera was subsequently cut but scored two wins outside the UFC to return and face Alex Soto in his last fight, Cisco was able to outland Alex over three rounds to take a UD. Rivera has some sick striking and decent take-down defense, he pops off 2, 3 and 4 punch combinations with blinding speed. That being said, so far I file him under the “one dimensional” section of fighters, he seems content to stand and bang and prefers to use his wrestling defensively. We have seen very little of his ground game thus far leaving a few question marks.

Prediction – Delorme via guillotine in the 3^rd. I think Delorme will weather the early storm and come back to get the submission similar to the Nick Denis fight.