Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

This Friday (Oct. 18, 2019), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) travels to Boston, Mass., for UFC on ESPN 6. In the main event, former Middleweight kingpin Chris Weidman will look to announce himself as a contender in a new division opposite standout prospect Dominick Reyes. In addition, the card received a much-needed bolster when Jeremy Stephens vs. Yair Rodriguez was re-booked for “Beantown” after the eye poke last month. Before those bouts, let’s analyze some of the other main card fights!

Remember: Later in the week, Jesse Holland will be back to preview and predict the biggest fights of the night.

---

Lightweight: Joe Lauzon vs. Jonathan Pearce

Best Win for Lauzon? Jim Miller For Pearce? Jacob Rosales
Current Streak: Lauzon has lost three straight, Pearce put together five regional wins to earn his shot in the UFC
X-Factor: Will Lauzon’s long layoff help him return to form?
How these two match up: Mixed martial arts fans, it’s time to prepare for sadness.

Lauzon is a long-time UFC veteran, one of the most entertaining fighters to ever make the walk to the Octagon. Lauzon is a nasty submission specialist with real power in his hands, but his recent defeats have made it clear that age and wear has taken its toll.

Opposite the Massachusetts native will be Pearce, a “Contender Series” representative — take a shot each time I write about a newcomer from the “Contender Series” in this column if you hate your liver. More to the point, “JSP” is an aggressive finisher who has also competed for Bellator.

After Lauzon’s recent streak of defeats, it’s really difficult to pick him to win. Hopefully, his year-and-a-half layoff has allowed him to heal up from nagging injuries and return reinvigorated. Unfortunately, no amount of time away can fully heal a full career worth of punishment.

With some luck, Lauzon can still land a takedown and catch an early submission. The more likely outcome, however, is that the veteran is hurt early and overwhelmed by a young, aggressive prospect in brutal fashion.

Prediction: Pearce via knockout

---

Women’s Flyweight: Maycee Barber vs. Gillian Robertson

Best Win for Barber? JJ Aldrich For Robertson? Molly McMann
Current Streak: Both women ride two-fight UFC win streaks into this bout, though Barber remains undefeated as well
X-Factor: Will Robertson be able to employ her jiu-jitsu advantage?
How these two match up: This should be a scrap.

Barber, 21, has some very lofty expectations for herself, including becoming the youngest champion in UFC history. I wouldn’t count on it just yet, but Barber has proven herself quite the prospect, well-rounded and far more athletic than the vast majority of her peers.

At 24 years of age, it’s not like Robertson is some shopworn veteran herself. More recently, “The Savage” has really refined her approach, focusing on her wrestling and top position grappling to great success.

This is a great match up between two of the Flyweight division’s better prospects, and it could genuinely go either way. However, the stylistic match up seems to favor Barber. In her last bout, Barber did show her inexperience by trying to force the knockout on her feet and getting touched up in the process, but that isn’t Robertson’s game at all.

Realistically, Barber will have an advantage on the feet, possibly due to pure power more than anything else. As a result, Robertson will shoot, but that only plays into Barber’s game of athletically scrambling her way into top position and doing major damage.

Prediction: Barber via decision

---

Middleweight: Deron Winn vs. Darren Stewart

Best Win for Winn? Eric Spicely For Stewart? Bevon Lewis
Current Streak: Winn is undefeated and recently won his UFC debut, whereas Stewart won his most recent bout
X-Factor: Stewart’s defensive wrestling improvement
How these two match up: I expect potential “Fight of the Night”-type action in this one.

Winn is the Daniel Cormier protege known for being a 5’5” Middleweight and Light Heavyweight. He’s also a very gifted wrestler with powerful boxing, and the latter skill was responsible for his successful UFC debut. Stewart, on the other hand, is a knockout artist from London. Initially, the level of wrestling/grappling in the UFC proved too much for “The Dentist,” but he’s since improved quite a bit and been better able to implement his own kickboxing.

This will be a war, a hard-fought battle that sees the momentum shift between the two fighters. However, the type of fight seems to really favor Stewart. The English athlete is brutally effective in the clinch, which means that Winn will not be particularly safe in his own close-range comfort zone.

In addition, Winn’s size disadvantage is going to catch up to him at some point. Stewart is a strong Middleweight who can fight hard late in the fight, which sounds like the perfect recipe for a devastating first professional loss.

Prediction: Stewart via knockout

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC on ESPN 6 fight card this weekend right HERE, starting with the ESPN 2 “Prelims” that are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the main card portion that will air on ESPN proper at 9 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC on ESPN 6: “Weidman vs. Reyes” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.

‘X-Factor’ Picks for 2019: 48-23-1 (1)