The Ultimate Fighter: Undefeated Finale: Predictions & Analysis
The Ultimate Fighter: Undefeated Finale lands on Friday, July 6, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA with 12 bouts on the card. The card is headlined by a championship fight. Below is our fight-by-fight breakdown, combining Elo ratings, rolling statistical trends, style matchup data, and betting market context into a pick for every bout.
Quick Picks
| Matchup | Pick | Confidence | Prob |
|---|---|---|---|
| Israel Adesanya vs Brad TavaresMiddleweight | Israel Adesanya | Lean | 63% |
| Michael Trizano vs Joe GiannettiLightweight | Joe Giannetti | Lean | 65% |
| Brad Katona vs Jay CuccinielloFeatherweight | Brad Katona | Toss-up | 53% |
| Alex Caceres vs Martin BravoFeatherweight | Alex Caceres | Lean | 63% |
| Roxanne Modafferi vs Barb HonchakWomen's Flyweight | Roxanne Modafferi | Toss-up | 51% |
| Alessio Di Chirico vs Julian MarquezMiddleweight | Alessio Di Chirico | Confident | 71% |
| Montana De La Rosa vs Rachael OstovichWomen's Flyweight | Montana De La Rosa | Strong | 78% |
| Luis Pena vs Richie SmullenLightweight | Luis Pena | Lean | 60% |
| John Gunther vs Allan ZunigaLightweight | Allan Zuniga | Lean | 59% |
| Bryce Mitchell vs Tyler DiamondFeatherweight | Bryce Mitchell | Toss-up | 53% |
| Steven Peterson vs Matt BessetteFeatherweight | Steven Peterson | Lean | 58% |
| Gerald Meerschaert vs Oskar PiechotaMiddleweight | Oskar Piechota | Lean | 56% |
Like these picks? Bet on DraftKings
Place your bets on the fights above at DraftKings Sportsbook
Bet Now on DraftKingsFight-by-Fight Breakdown
Israel Adesanya vs Brad Tavares
The Middleweight championship matchup features Israel Adesanya (13-6) taking on Brad Tavares (16-12). Adesanya is the bigger frame at 6'4" with a 6-inch reach advantage.
Adesanya is rated at 1638 — 616 points above Tavares's 1023. Gaps this large usually mean one fighter has been consistently beating better opponents.
Both fighters land in our "Striker" archetype — fighters with a well-rounded skill set. When mirror matchups like this happen, the edge usually goes to whoever can impose their preferred pace and range.
A few statistical edges stand out. Adesanya throws significantly more leather — a 1.3 sig. strike per minute gap. Tavares is far more active with takedowns, averaging 0.3 more per 15 minutes. Adesanya has tighter striking defense, making opponents miss more often.
The Pick: Israel Adesanya over Brad Tavares. The model gives Adesanya a slight nod at 63% — this could easily go either way.
Michael Trizano vs Joe Giannetti
The Lightweight matchup features Michael Trizano (4-3) taking on Joe Giannetti (0-1). Giannetti will look to use a 3-inch reach edge to control distance.
Trizano is rated at 1105 — 207 points above Giannetti's 898. Gaps this large usually mean one fighter has been consistently beating better opponents.
A few statistical edges stand out. Giannetti throws significantly more leather — a 0.0 sig. strike per minute gap. Giannetti is far more active with takedowns, averaging 0.0 more per 15 minutes. Giannetti has tighter striking defense, making opponents miss more often.
The Pick: Joe Giannetti over Michael Trizano. The model gives Giannetti a slight nod at 65% — this could easily go either way.
Brad Katona vs Jay Cucciniello
The Featherweight matchup features Brad Katona (4-5) taking on Jay Cucciniello (0-1).
Cucciniello carries a modest Elo edge (873 to 839), the kind of gap that reflects a slightly better run of form rather than a talent chasm.
A few statistical edges stand out. Cucciniello throws significantly more leather — a 0.0 sig. strike per minute gap. Cucciniello is far more active with takedowns, averaging 0.0 more per 15 minutes. Cucciniello has tighter striking defense, making opponents miss more often.
The Pick: Brad Katona over Jay Cucciniello. This is essentially a pick'em. The model nudges toward Katona at 53%, but there's almost nothing separating these two.
Alex Caceres vs Martin Bravo
The Featherweight matchup features Alex Caceres (16-13) taking on Martin Bravo (1-3). Caceres is the bigger frame at 5'10" with a 2-inch reach advantage.
Caceres is rated at 1264 — 649 points above Bravo's 615. Gaps this large usually mean one fighter has been consistently beating better opponents.
A few statistical edges stand out. Bravo throws significantly more leather — a 3.9 sig. strike per minute gap. Caceres is far more active with takedowns, averaging 1.2 more per 15 minutes. Caceres has tighter striking defense, making opponents miss more often.
The Pick: Alex Caceres over Martin Bravo. The model gives Caceres a slight nod at 63% — this could easily go either way.
Roxanne Modafferi vs Barb Honchak
The Women's Flyweight matchup features Roxanne Modafferi (4-8) taking on Barb Honchak (0-2). Modafferi is the bigger frame at 5'7" with a 4-inch reach advantage.
Modafferi is rated at 1036 — 400 points above Honchak's 636. Gaps this large usually mean one fighter has been consistently beating better opponents.
A few statistical edges stand out. Honchak throws significantly more leather — a 0.4 sig. strike per minute gap. Modafferi is far more active with takedowns, averaging 0.8 more per 15 minutes. Honchak has tighter striking defense, making opponents miss more often.
The Pick: Roxanne Modafferi over Barb Honchak. This is essentially a pick'em. The model nudges toward Modafferi at 51%, but there's almost nothing separating these two.
Alessio Di Chirico vs Julian Marquez
The Middleweight matchup features Alessio Di Chirico (4-7) taking on Julian Marquez (3-5).
There's a real Elo separation here: Chirico at 814 versus Marquez at 670. That 144-point gap typically reflects a meaningful difference in recent quality of competition and results.
Stylistically this is Chirico's striker game against Marquez's submission artist approach. Chirico brings a versatile approach, while Marquez is most dangerous on the ground, constantly threatening chokes and joint locks. Historically these archetypes are dead-even when they collide.
A few statistical edges stand out. Marquez throws significantly more leather — a 0.8 sig. strike per minute gap. Chirico is far more active with takedowns, averaging 1.9 more per 15 minutes. Chirico has tighter striking defense, making opponents miss more often.
The Pick: Alessio Di Chirico over Julian Marquez. We're leaning Chirico here at 71%, a solid but not overwhelming edge.
Montana De La Rosa vs Rachael Ostovich
The Women's Flyweight matchup features Montana De La Rosa (6-5-1) taking on Rachael Ostovich (1-3). Rosa is the bigger frame at 5'7" with a 6-inch reach advantage.
Rosa is rated at 1064 — 460 points above Ostovich's 605. Gaps this large usually mean one fighter has been consistently beating better opponents.
A few statistical edges stand out. Rosa throws significantly more leather — a 1.2 sig. strike per minute gap. Ostovich is far more active with takedowns, averaging 9.0 more per 15 minutes. Ostovich has tighter striking defense, making opponents miss more often.
The Pick: Montana De La Rosa over Rachael Ostovich. The model is firm on this one: Rosa at 78%.
Luis Pena vs Richie Smullen
The Lightweight matchup features Luis Pena (5-3) taking on Richie Smullen (0-1). Pena is the bigger frame at 6'3" with a 7-inch reach advantage.
Pena is rated at 1248 — 414 points above Smullen's 834. Gaps this large usually mean one fighter has been consistently beating better opponents.
A few statistical edges stand out. Smullen throws significantly more leather — a 0.0 sig. strike per minute gap. Smullen is far more active with takedowns, averaging 0.0 more per 15 minutes. Smullen has tighter striking defense, making opponents miss more often.
The Pick: Luis Pena over Richie Smullen. The model gives Pena a slight nod at 60% — this could easily go either way.
John Gunther vs Allan Zuniga
The Lightweight matchup features John Gunther (1-1) taking on Allan Zuniga (0-1). Gunther is the bigger frame at 5'9" with a 2-inch reach advantage.
Gunther is rated at 1066 — 194 points above Zuniga's 873. Gaps this large usually mean one fighter has been consistently beating better opponents.
A few statistical edges stand out. Zuniga throws significantly more leather — a 0.0 sig. strike per minute gap. Zuniga is far more active with takedowns, averaging 0.0 more per 15 minutes. Zuniga has tighter striking defense, making opponents miss more often.
The Pick: Allan Zuniga over John Gunther. The model gives Zuniga a slight nod at 59% — this could easily go either way.
Bryce Mitchell vs Tyler Diamond
The Featherweight matchup features Bryce Mitchell (9-3) taking on Tyler Diamond (0-1). There's a 3-inch height gap favoring Mitchell.
Mitchell is rated at 1454 — 582 points above Diamond's 873. Gaps this large usually mean one fighter has been consistently beating better opponents.
A few statistical edges stand out. Diamond throws significantly more leather — a 0.0 sig. strike per minute gap. Diamond is far more active with takedowns, averaging 0.0 more per 15 minutes. Diamond has tighter striking defense, making opponents miss more often.
The Pick: Bryce Mitchell over Tyler Diamond. This is essentially a pick'em. The model nudges toward Mitchell at 53%, but there's almost nothing separating these two.
Steven Peterson vs Matt Bessette
The Featherweight matchup features Steven Peterson (3-5) taking on Matt Bessette (0-2).
There's a real Elo separation here: Peterson at 898 versus Bessette at 803. That 95-point gap typically reflects a meaningful difference in recent quality of competition and results.
A few statistical edges stand out. Peterson throws significantly more leather — a 2.0 sig. strike per minute gap. Peterson is far more active with takedowns, averaging 1.0 more per 15 minutes. Peterson has tighter striking defense, making opponents miss more often.
The Pick: Steven Peterson over Matt Bessette. The model gives Peterson a slight nod at 58% — this could easily go either way.
Gerald Meerschaert vs Oskar Piechota
The Middleweight matchup features Gerald Meerschaert (12-13) taking on Oskar Piechota (2-3).
Meerschaert is rated at 999 — 206 points above Piechota's 793. Gaps this large usually mean one fighter has been consistently beating better opponents.
Stylistically this is Meerschaert's wrestler game against Piechota's knockout artist approach. Meerschaert looks to close distance and put the fight on the mat, while Piechota is patient on the feet, timing counters and loading up when he sees openings. Historically these archetypes are dead-even when they collide.
A few statistical edges stand out. Piechota throws significantly more leather — a 0.9 sig. strike per minute gap. Meerschaert is far more active with takedowns, averaging 1.4 more per 15 minutes. Piechota has tighter striking defense, making opponents miss more often.
The Pick: Oskar Piechota over Gerald Meerschaert. The model gives Piechota a slight nod at 56% — this could easily go either way.
Methodology
Predictions are generated by our ensemble model combining LightGBM (65%) and CatBoost (35%), trained on every UFC fight since 1994. The model uses 23 features including Elo ratings, rolling 5-fight statistical averages, style matchup history, physical attributes, and market odds when available.
On our held-out test set (402 fights from January-September 2023), the model achieves 63.4% accuracy with a log-loss of 0.626. High-confidence picks (>75% probability) hit at 82.7%. For full model transparency, visit our Model page.