UFC 330 takes place Saturday, with Philadelphia hosting its first UFC numbered event since UFC 133.

It may have been worth the wait as this card features two title fights with the sport’s top pound-for-pound fighter headlining against a worthy challenger.

Main Event: Islam Makhachev versus Ian Machado Garry (welterweight championship)

Makhachev’s path: Be aggressive and prioritize grappling. Makhachev’s striking has improved by miles since his UFC debut and he could potentially win a striking battle, but why roll the dice? The more time that Garry has to make reads and adjustments, the more the fight swings to his advantage.

Garry’s best weapon is his fight IQ and the more looks get thrown at him, the harder it will be for him to recognize patterns and capitalize.

Garry’s path: If Makhachev performs as outlined above, Garry’s best path is to frustrate Makhachev by keeping the fight upright and turning it into more of a point-fighting affair. If he can earn a bunch of small wins throughout the fight, he could end up with the big win at the end of the night.

Win more exchanges, don’t get stuck on the ground and weaponize his ability to make reads and adjust. Easier said than done against the best fighter in the sport, but if beating Makhachev was easy, he wouldn’t be on a UFC record-tying 16-fight win streak.

Prediction: Makhachev by unanimous decision.

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