UFC 289: Nunes vs. Aldana Predictions, Fight Card, and Odds (June 10)

• The next UFC PPV event is on the program on Saturday, June 10, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
• The Women’s Bantamweight Championship fight between Amanda Nunes and Irene Aldana headlines the event.
• Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush is the co-main event of the evening, while there are another three main card fights.

Amanda Nunes was originally meant to face her archrival Julianna Pena for the third time, but “The Venezuelan Vixen” broke her ribs. Irene Aldana welcomed the opportunity to step in and fight for the title for the first time in her career.

The Nunes vs. Aldana title bout headlines UFC 289, while the co-main event will see the return of Charles Oliveira to the Octagon some seven months after losing to Islam Makhachev in the UFC Lightweight Championship fight. His opponent this Saturday is Beneil Dariush who’s undefeated in his last eight fights.

As if this wasn’t enough, UFC 289 has another three exciting bouts on the main card, all of which we’re going to analyze in this prediction piece.

Schedule and How to Watch

• Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada
• When: Saturday, June 10, 2023, at 10 p.m ET
• How to Watch: PPV

UFC 289: Nunes vs. Aldana Predictions

Amanda Nunes vs. Irene Aldana

Amanda “The Lioness” Nunes (22-5) is the GOAT of women’s MMA, who currently holds titles in two separate divisions. She’s ranked No. 1 in women’s pound-for-pound rankings in the UFC and has lost only one fight in the last nine years. The loss in question happened to Julianna Pena in 2021, but in 2022, she got her revenge.   

The two were supposed to fight again this Saturday, but Nunes now has a new opponent. It’s Irene Aldana, who’s on par with Nunes when it comes to striking. Both fighters tend to land huge volumes of powerful strikes. However, Nunes is way, way better when it comes to striking and grappling.

Even though Aldana is great when it comes to takedown defense, we just can’t see her staying up for the whole fight. Instead, we expect to see Nunes making at least a couple of takedowns, but we’re not 100% sure she’s going to put her opponent into submission. What we’re almost certain is that “The Lioness” is going to defend her title.

Prediction:

Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush

Charles Oliveira is the record holder for the most submission wins in UFC history, but he’s also very good striking-wise. In fact, he’s one of the most well-rounded fighters in the UFC, which is why it’s no surprise “Do Bronx” used to hold the championship belt in the not-too-distant past.

He won the title by beating Michael Chandler, then went on to beat Dustin Poirier in his first title defense. For his second title defense, he defeated Justin Gaethje but was stripped of the championship belt due to missing weight. Oliveira had another shot at the title last October, but Islam Makhachev beat him by submission.

READ ALSO: F1 Picks: Canadian Grand Prix Prediction, Preview, and Odds (June 18)

Now, it’s time for him to make himself relevant again, but it’s not going to be easy as he’s fighting Beneil Dariush in Vancouver. Actually, oddsmakers think Oliveira is going to lose this fight.

What do we think? We think that the odds of +120 on “Do Bronx” are just too good to miss given his amazing fight portfolio.

Prediction:

Mike Malott vs. Adam Fugitt

Mike Malott is fighting in front of his crowd, which is one of the reasons why he’s favored to beat Adam Fugitt on Saturday. Another reason is that he’s a very well-rounded fighter who’s great striking-wise and is great on the floor. Plus, the Canadian has won every single fight inside the distance.

The problem is that his opponent is a very tough fighter who excels at wrestling. He likes making a lot of takedowns, then going for ground-and-pound. Still, we doubt this plan is going to work on Saturday. Instead, we can see Malott defending Fugitt’s TD attempts successfully as many times as needed. In the end, we think the bookies are right to see Malott as the favorite.

Prediction:

Dan Ige vs. Nate Landwehr

Dan Ige is 16-6 in his professional career and has a UFC record of 9-5. That’s actually very impressive considering that “50K” has fought who’s who of the UFC featherweight division. He’s also very strong mentally, the evidence being that after losing three straight fights in 2021 and 2022, he demolished Damon Jackson by KO last January, earning himself the Performance of the Night bonus.

He’s now fighting Nate Landwehr, who also won the bonus in his most recent fight. He too is a fighter who’s fun to watch and is not afraid to hit and get hit. Unfortunately for him, we doubt his risky fighting style is going to work out for him this Saturday. Instead, we expect Ige to outsmart him.

Prediction:

Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Eryk Anders

The main card opener features Canadian fighter Marc-Andre Barriault who’s a striking expert with fists of steel. This guy lands 5.9 significant strikes per minute and more often than not, those strikes are incredibly powerful. This explains why his knockout-to-win ratio is 66.66%.

Unfortunately for him, he’s fighting Eryk Anders on Saturday, a fighter who’s almost equally good when it comes to KOs (60%), but who’s also very hard to finish. Anders is a big middleweight who used to fight in the light heavyweight division. He’s a great athlete who never gives up, and we don’t think Barriault is going to have an easy job against him. Actually, we think that Anders has what it takes to stage an upset.

Prediction: