UFC Des Moines Predictions:
Des Moines hosts this week’s UFC Fight Night Sandhagen vs. Figueiredo event. This slate has 12 scheduled bouts to be held in the large octagon in front of a crowd of voracious Iowa fight fans.
Besides three regional/local fighters competing on this card, we will also be privileged enough to watch athletes shipping in from Norway, the Netherlands, Wales, and Vietnam to compete in the heartland, so get your popcorn ready!
Last week, we earned two units to bring digital results to 10-11, -1.45u to date. Let’s keep the momentum flowing into Des Moines!
Cory Sandhagen -455 vs. Deiveson Figueiredo +365
Bantamweight (135 pounds) main event
Figueiredo, after having left the flyweight division for the bantamweight division, is ranked fifth after going 1-1 in two bouts against athletes in the division’s top 15.
Fighting professionally since 2012, Figueiredo sports a depth of UFC experience, an aggressive, power-based striking acumen, and a black belt in BJJ. He is well-rounded, durable, and with a victory here, could elevate himself into title consideration and the stacked division’s top five.
In Sandhagen, however, Figgy has drawn one bad card.
Sandhagen is in his prime at 33, and his four-year youth advantage coupled with a two-inch reach and six-inch height edge provide him great striking benefits. Sandhagen, a man who trains in Denver’s elevation, is himself a brown belt in BJJ. Together, his size, his fight weaponry, and his depth of UFC experience, competing against this division’s top five, compel me to regard Sandhagen as a legitimate favorite in this bout. He will be a candidate for the next title shot should he defeat Figueiredo.
Sandhagen will rely upon his fluidity of movement, length, and guile to keep the incoming Brazilian slugger in space where the Sandhagen offensive fight arsenal is most effective.
Total in this fight: 4.5 Rds Over -210
Mason Jones -550 vs. Jeremy Stephens +425
Lightweight (155 pounds)
Des Moines native Stephens comes back to the UFC to fight in his own backyard. He will help pack the gym with locals, and he will do in this fight what he does in all his fights—provide forward-pressing, striking violence.
At 38, Stephens still has the will, the fortitude, and the aggression to compete in the world’s largest fighting organization. But it’s his fight skills, his ability to withstand a flush fist to the face, and his cardio that make him susceptible to any true young ascending athlete.
Jones is an ascending talent. He is tough as iron, with a granite jaw, a well-rounded fight arsenal, and he packs profuse power in his hands.
On the floor for a roll or on the feet to force his adversary into retreat, Jones, who has been away from the organization to improve his skills (a scary thought), should absolutely pulverize Stephens in this fight.
I believe Jones’ approach will be to ground the midwestern mauler, then rain ground and pound upon him in unrelenting fashion.
When the bell for round one rings, you’d better be watching this fight because these men will each look to disintegrate the other.
Total in this fight: 1.5 Rds Over -120
Miesha Tate -135 vs. Yana Santos +115
Women’s Bantamweight (135 pounds)
Santos has had two fights since 2023 after having a child. She is 1-1 in those bouts. She enters this fight understanding that the Miesha Tate name can propel her into the division’s top 15 with a win or find her free-falling down the women’s bantamweight rankings should she be defeated.
Santos has been the more active athlete, though each of these women returns after considerable time off. For Tate, however, her wrestling acumen, coupled with her championship pedigree, forces me to regard the opening price on this fight of a pick ’em as flawed.
Currently, Tate stands -135, and it is my handicap that her aggressive wrestling and forward-pressing attack will be enough to quell the journeyman-like skills possessed by Santos.
The total in this pillow fight is lined 2.5 Rds over -400, so a decision seems more than likely here.
Tate via decision is a strong consideration here, but props are not yet released, so we will use…
UFC Des Moines Best Bet: Miesha Tate -135
1u to return .74u
Friday at midday PT, my ‘Bout Business Podcast drops. We are coming off four straight winning weeks, so the time is now to jump in for investment advice. Thank you for reading, and enjoy the fights!
