Featherweight Lucas Almeida and Timmy Cuamba meet in the UFC on ESPN 58 feature bout. Who returns to the win column?
Lucas Almeida and Timmy Cuamba meet Saturday on the main card of UFC on ESPN 58 from UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom.
Almeida (14-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) will look to end a two-fight skid. His last victory was a TKO stoppage of Michael Trizano in June 2022, but was then stopped by Pat Sabatini and Andre Fili in back-to-back fights. … Cuamba (8-2 UFC, 0-1 UFC) will enter the UFC’s octagon for the second time and is in search of his first victory with the promotion. He stumbled in his February debut, losing a split decision to Bolaji Oki.
Serving as the lone featherweight offering on the main card is a battle between Almeida and Timothy Cuamba.
Despite many in my area of Las Vegas being high on Cuamba, I’m having a hard time justifying the local fighter as a favorite in this spot.
Aside from the fact that Cuamba is the less-proven competitor, Almeida holds superior on-paper accolades in both Brazilian jiu-jitsu and muay Thai.
Cuamba will likely be the quicker fighter with more active footwork on fight night, but I suspect that the smaller octagon of the UFC Apex will limit the 25-year-old American’s movement and feed the action into Almeida’s wheelhouse.
Even though I think Cuamba has a bright future down the road, this could be a case of too much too soon as far as the big stage is concerned.
I’ll officially pick Almeida to score a club-and-sub in Round 1.
The oddsmakers are favoring the younger fighter, listing Cuamba as a -192 favorite and Almeida as a +154 underdog, via FanDuel.
As the main card feature bout, Almeida and Cuamba are expected to make their walks to the octagon at approximately 11:35 p.m. ET. The fight broadcasts live on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 58.
