Mike Davis vs. Fares Ziam prediction, pick, start time for UFC Fight Night 250

Mike Davis and Fares Ziam meet Saturday in the UFC Fight Night 250 main card opener at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom. 

Last event: 3-2
UFC main cards, 2024: 6-5

Mike Davis vs. Fares Ziam UFC Fight Night 250 preview

Davis (11-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) enters his first fight of the year as a winner of four straight. Following a setback against former title challenger Gilbert Burns, “Beast Boy” has finished Tomas Gifford and Natan Levy, while adding decision wins over Mason Jones and Viacheslav Borshchev. … Ziam (16-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) also comes into this matchup as a winner of his last four. “Smile Killer” put frowns on the faces of Michal Figlak, Jai Herbert, and Claudio Puelles in decisions while adding a vicious knockout of Matt Frevola in his most recent outing.

Mike Davis vs. Fares Ziam UFC Fight Night 250 expert pick, prediction

Kicking off the main card the right way is a fun lightweight matchup between Davis and Ziam.

I don’t know if it’s Davis, his management or the UFC matchmakers, but the fact that we’ve barely been able to see “Beast Boy” compete in meaningful main card matchups feels like an outright crime.

Davis, who stepped onto the scene as a natural athlete with a solid striking pedigree, has rounded out his game with some underrated grappling chops since training with Fusion Xcel in South Florida. That said, Davis will be facing an active fighter in Ziam who has also been making improvements.

Even though the fight will likely come down do who can get the jump on the other in the grappling department, I do believe that Ziam’s striking style could provide some real issues for Davis.

Aside from the fact that Davis can sometimes square up his stance for center-mass shots, the American has also tends to put a decent amount of weight on his lead foot due to his boxing-centric attacks – something that has traditionally opened him up to leg kicks.

Not only does Ziam possess a kicking arsenal that can exploit these tendencies, but the French fighter also appears to have reliable answers in multiple phases of the fight.

This should be competitive either way, but I’ll side with the more active and improving party in Ziam.

The pick is Ziam by unanimous decision.

Mike Davis vs. Fares Ziam UFC Fight Night 250 odds

The oddsmakers and the public are favoring the American, listing Davis -144 and Ziam +122 via FanDuel.

Mike Davis vs. Fares Ziam UFC Fight Night 250 start time, how to watch

Davis and Ziam are expected to walk to the cage at approximately 12:10 p.m. ET. The fight will stream on ESPN+.