The UFC Vegas 39 has to be one of the most exciting fight card this year. Mackenzie Dern and Marina Rodriguez would be the leading the main card. In the preliminary card, Steve Garcia will be squaring off against Charlie Ontiveros in a Lightweight match-up.
Steve Garcia (11-4) makes his first outing of the year and is desperate for his first UFC win. After losing his featherweight debut fighting for the JasonWink promotion, he dropped back down to bantamweight and won his next four earning a unanimous decision over Abel Cullum and notching up TKO’s over Andrew Whitney, Desmond Torres and Jose Mariscal.
He then snatched his chance for a UFC debut after Alex Munoz pulled out of his fight with Luis Pena. Even though it was up at lightweight, he took the fight but lost the fight via an unanimous decision.
Charlie Ontiveros (11-7) has had a very similar path to the UFC and is also gunning for his first win on the big stage. His three fights leading up to his debut were all for the Fury Fighting Championship and all ended via first-round knockouts.
He got finished by Will Morris in 2017 and returned with a bang almost two years later with a flying knee on Derrick Ageday. His first fight in the UFC was against Kevin Holland at the Middleweight division. He lost the bout via a submission.
Steve Garcia vs Charlie Ontiveros Stats
Steve Garcia
Win/Losses: 11/4
Height/Reach: 6 ft 0 inches / 75 inches
Stance: Southpaw
Charlie Ontiveros
Win/Losses: 11/7
Height/Reach: 6 ft 2 inches/ 78 inches
Stance: Switch
Steve Garcia VS Charlie Ontiveros Fight Breakdown and Prediction
Charlie Ontiveros drops down to lightweight with Steve Garcia staying up after his last fight. These two fighter love to strike and Ontiveros will enjoy being the bigger man boasting a three inch reach advantage and a two inch height advantage.
Ontiveros’ chin appears to be made out of glass, as he has lost all seven of his fights via knockout. We expect both of them to be aggressive and Ontiveros may look good for the first few seconds, but it should be a matter of time before Garcia connects with the chin to seal his ninth knockout.
Steve Garcia vs Charlie Ontiveros Prediction: Steve Garcia via KO/TKO