UFC Fight Night: Garcia vs. Onama Predictions

UFC Fight Night 263: Garcia vs. Onama takes place on Sunday (AEDT) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, United States. – and we’ve got our UFC predictions for all the fights below, and you can place your bets with the best betting sites Australia has to offer!

UFC Fight Night 263 Predictions

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Steve Garcia vs. David Onama Prediction

Steve Garcia has battled his way to a six-fight winning streak in the Octagon and is now rewarded with a main event booking against David Onama, who is on a four-fight unbeaten run of his own.

The 33-year-old Garcia is coming off his most notable win yet, a unanimous decision victory over Calvin Kattar, but all five of his wins before that in the Octagon came via T(KO), taking his totally tally of finishes via strikes to 14 from 18 career victories. The 6ft tall Garcia is a big lightweight, but so is Onama, so he’ll only have an extra inch in height here, and 3″ in reach. He has an aggressive approach to striking, racking up high offensive numbers between his punches, kicks, elbows and knees, while still maintaining respectable accuracy to go along with his stopping power. And that continues onto the mat too with hard ground-and-pound, though he doesn’t have much of a submission threat and he has also been out-wrestled in the past. In fact, while his recent form is impressive, it is worth keeping in mind that he did suffer two losses in his first three UFC bouts, and has also picked up a few defeats in promotions like Bellator in the past too.

The 31-year-old Onama is 6-2 in the UFC so far, with his biggest win coming last time out with a decision victory over Giga Chikadze. Onama is an athletic fighter who possesses good speed and heavy hands, leading to half of his 14 career victories have come via strikes, though he’s actually won by decision in his last three Octagon outings. Onama is versatile as he’s also a capable wrestler and has four submission wins on his record. That being said, his own takedown defense isn’t airtight and cardio has been a concern at times late on in fights, but on the plus side he’s never been stopped in his career to date.

This should be a competitive fight, but I do like Garcia’s more dangerous striking to come out on top here with a second round TKO finish.

Steve Garcia to win by TKO in Rd2

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Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Ante Delija Prediction

Waldo Cortes-Acosta’s five-fight winning streak came to an end with a unanimous decision loss to Sergei Pavlovich in August. Now he’ll lock horns with Ante Delija, who is coming off back-to-back 1st round victories.

The 34-year-old Cortes-Acosta has done well to compile a 7-2 run in the UFC and 14-2 record overall when you consider that it was only a decade ago that he left behind a career in pro-baseball. That does show in his performances though as while he’s athletic, move well and has respectable striking fundamentals, he doesn’t have the deepest or most refined skill-set overall. Cortes-Acosta actually initially spent a few years focusing on pro-boxing between 2017-2021, though he only mustered a 6-4 record there. Still, that boxing ability has become the foundation of his game, generally preferring to work behind the jab with nice footwork in order to outpoint his opponents over three rounds, though he has mixed in an occasional finish. Cortes-Acosta’s ground game seems more suspect, but he’s not a fish-out-of-water on the mat and he’s yet to be finished in MMA.

The 35-year-old Delija made a name for himself in the PFL promotion, winning their heavyweight tournament in 2022 after having also been a finalist a year earlier. He’s the more experienced fighter here with a 26-6 record overall and that show in his skill-set as he’s more of an all-rounder than Cortes-Acosta. On the feet he too can fight at a measured pace behind fundamental techniques, but he can also turn up the heat with better power and finishing instincts at times, as he’s demonstrated in his two UFC bouts so far. He’s also a capable wrestler, has good ground-and-pound, but though he has shown a submission threat in the past, it’s been over a decade since his last one.

Both of these heavyweights are more solid than spectacular, but I think Delija has the power advantage and is a bit more well-rounded, enabling him to edge out a decision victory here.

Ante Delija to win by decision

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Jeremiah Wells vs. Themba Gorimbo Prediction

Jeremiah Wells got off to a good start in the UFC with four straight wins, but he’s since suffered back-to-back defeats. Next up he takes on Themba Gorimba, whose own four-fight unbeaten stretch came to a halt last December.

Wells slump in form is concerning given that he’s now returning after a year-and-a-half lay-off and just turned 39 this week. Wells remains an athletic, thickly muscled fighter though who brings both explosive power and speed on the feet. He can also wrestle too, and is a black-belt BJJ player who has a handful of submission wins to his name. However, he’s at the stage now where things like cardio and durability are becoming points of concern.

The 34-year-old Gorimbo appeared on people’s radar a few years ago after having been given a home by movie star ‘The Rock’, who also paid his bills after hearing that the Zimbabwean fighter had no money and was sleeping in the gym. That stability has helped Gorimbo to focus on his training and go on to string together a few wins in a row in the Octagon over the likes of Ramiz Brahimaj and Niko Price, but he suffered a 1st round submission loss to Vicente Luque last time out. Gorimbo is a good-sized welterweight who will have a 4″ height and 3″ reach advantage here, though he doesn’t always use that to his best advantage. Nevertheless, he is a capable striker, albeit not the most technical, and combines that with solid wrestling and clinch-work, ground-and-pound and a submission threat. He has had some problems with his own defense on the mat though, with both his UFC losses to date being by submission.

I do think that Wells is in decline now, and as such I favor Gorimbo to steer clear of his early offensive bombs and then take more control over the fight the longer it goes to earn a decision win.

Thembo Gorimbo to win by decision

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Isaac Dulgarian vs. Yadier del Valle Prediction

Isaac Dulgarian is 2-1 in the UFC so far and next up fights Yadier del Valle, who won his UFC debut by submission in May.

The 29-year-old Dulgarian’s potential was spotted early by the UFC, with five 1st round finishes at the start of his career leading to him being signed up in 2023, and he’s since made a solid start to his time in the Octagon. Dulgarian does his best work on the mat, and he’s not the type to focus on control, instead using his strong wrestling to bring down his opponents and then work for a finish via either heavy ground-and-pound or submissions, like the arm-triangle choke he finished Brendan Marotte with last time out. Dulgarian is also a capable striker, but his early exertions trying to get a finish by any means necessary does take a toll on his cardio, as was apparent during a split-decision loss to Christian Rodriguez last year. That was likely a good learning experience though given that he’d never been to the scorecards before.

Known as ‘The Cuban Problem’, the 29-year-old del Valle is 9-0 in his career to date and made his way to the UFC via the Contender Series last year. Del Valle is a respectable enough all-rounder who on the feet has capable boxing, albeit without having shown too much in the way of consistent finishing ability. He’s also a solid wrestler and grappler, the latter of which helped him to a rear-naked choke win in his promotional debut against Connor Matthews. He’s also content to pace himself and win by decision, having done so successfully four times.

While del Valle is a decent prospect who has earned his right to try to prove himself in the UFC, Dulgarian has shown the potential to be something more than just that as he gains more top-flight experience. As such I think he has the edge in most areas here, but cardio concerns in a competitive fight like this could have him digging deep late on to ensure he emerges with a decision victory.

Isaac Dulgarian to win by decision

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Charles Radtke vs. Daniel Frunza Prediction

Charles Radtke comes in off two losses in his last three fights to square off against Daniel Frunza, who was TKO’d in his UFC debut back in April.

The 35-year-old Radtke is a bit of a scrappy battler who is always willing to engage in a brawl on the feet, and does possess finishing power in his hands and respectable speed. That aggression has got him into trouble at times though, as even during successful runs of form he’s been no stranger to being hurt. There’s now signs that could be starting to catch up to him as his last two defeats were by KO. Meanwhile, Radtke can also mix things up on the map occasionally, but it’s not his strongest suit.

The 31-year-old Frunza is also a fighter who relishes a striking battle. He lacks speed, but he does have power, and that generally worked well for him on the regional scene with numerous T(KO) finishes, including in his Contender Series fight last year. However, Frunza’s attempt to slug it out with Rhys McKee in his UFC debut went poorly, being dropped three times in the opening round. To his credit he kept fighting on, but by the end of that five minute spell his face was a mess and a doctor’s stoppage followed. Given that Frunza has also got a couple of submission losses on his record it’s clear he’s a fighter who is quite rough around the edges and still has to prove he belongs in the UFC.

Both fighters are a significant offensive threat here, but very hittable too, so if they just start swinging heavy leather then anything could happen. Radtke is a bit more proven at this level though, and given he’s faster too I’ll take him to be the one who lands the finishing blow in a wild first round.

Charles Radtke to win by TKO in Rd1

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Allan Nascimento vs. Cody Durden Prediction

Allan Nascimento has racked up three UFC wins in a row as he now moves on to fight Cody Durden, who has lost four of his last five bouts.

An experienced fighter with 27 fights under his belt, Nascimento has had a curious MMA journey as he was very active early in his career, but then lost by split-decision on the very first season of The Contender Series in 2018, and then disappeared for three years. He soon found himself in the UFC when he returned in 2021, but has only fought four times since, losing in his debut before picking up a trio of wins. Injuries have meant that the latter of those victories back in May was his first fight in two-and-a-half years, so he really needs to start making up for lost time now. The 34-year-old is a skilled grappler who has proven himself over the years with 14 submission wins from 22 career victories. He can strike too, but he’s far less potent there and tends to stick to a low output approach while biding his time to implement his ground game.

The last couple of years have been rough for the 34-year-old Durden as he’s not only gone 1-4, but also suffered the first two losses via strikes in his career in the process, including being KO’d last time out. Durden is a workmanlike all-rounder who mixes up decent boxing and power with respectable wrestling and an occasional submission threat. His grappling defense has been an issues at times though, accounting for three of his six UFC defeats, and his durability is now becoming a concern too.

Durden won’t have to worry too much about his chin in this fight, but I think Nascimento is the kind of fighter who can take advantage of his vulnerability to submissions, leading to a second round finish.

Allan Nascimento to win by Submission In Rd2

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UFC Fight Night 263: Garcia vs. Onama Prelims

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(Predicted winners in bold)

Billy Elekana vs. Kevin Christian
Timothy Cuamba vs. Lee Chang-ho
Donte Johnson vs. Sedriques Dumas
Ketlen Vieira vs. Norma Dumont
Alice Ardelean vs. Montserrat Ruiz
Philip Rowe vs. Ko Seok-hyun
Talita Alencar vs. Ariane Carnelossi

MMA Writer

Ross Cole

Ross Cole is one of the most prolific mixed martial arts writers in the world.

Having written more than 22,000 MMA news stories for MMA Insight, which he founded in 2009 as a way to channel his passion for the sport of mixed martial arts.

Few people know the UFC and the sport of MMA like Ross, and he has built a solid reputation for being one of the best MMA tipsters in the world.

You can read more of Ross's work at MMAInsight.com.