UFC Fight Night: Garcia vs. Onama Preview and Predictions

On Saturday, Nov. 1, the UFC returns to the Apex at the company’s headquarters for the first time in nearly three months. Headlining the card will be a top-15 featherweight showdown between No. 12 Steve Garcia and No. 13 David Onama. Obama is currently riding a four-fight winning streak, capped off with a decision win over Giga Chikadze in Apr. 2025. Garcia is on a six-fight winning streak, and his last outing was last July, when he also won a decision, but his was over longtime UFC vet Calvin Kattar. Both men are looking to continue their respective climbs toward the top 10.

The co-main event features top-10 heavyweights Waldo Cortes-Acosta and former PFL tournament champion Ante Delija, who will be making his sophomore UFC appearance. In Delija’s debut a couple months ago, he knocked out Marcin Tybura in just two minutes. Contender Series veteran Cortes-Acosta was on a five-fight winning streak over less than two years, before losing his last fight by decision to Sergei Pavlovich last August. Both men have title aspirations, and this is a must-win battle to stay in the hunt.

UFC Fight Night: Garcia vs. Onama, also known as UFC Vegas 110 airs live on ESPN+ starting at 4 p.m. ET. Combat Press writers Dan Kuhl and Matt Petela preview the action in this week’s Toe-toe-Toe.
Neither of the fighters in the main event are household names but are on significant winning streaks; which man, Steve Garcia or David Onama, bolsters his profile with a win in the headlining position?

Kuhl: A longtime mainstay of the Kansas City regional scene, Uganda native David Onama entered the UFC with an 8-0 pro record and zero decisions. He lost his promotional debut to Mason Jones by decision, won his next two by stoppage, and then lost a majority decision to Nate Landwehr. He is now on a four-fight winning streak, but his last three went the distance. His most notable win was his last one against Gig Chikadze, which landed him in the UFC’s top 15. This weekend, he will face New Mexico’s Steve Garcia, who trains out of the famed Jackson-Winkeljohn camp.

Garcia is a former Bellator vet who went 5-2 in the promotion, but was eventually released in 2018, after losing to former champ Joe Warren the summer prior. After a few fights in the Jackson Wink promotion, he attempted to enter the UFC during 2019’s Contender Series, and, although he won a first-round TKO, he missed weight and was not awarded a contract. However, after beating Chepe Mariscal at LFA 80, he took a short-notice fight against Luis Pena to make his UFC debut, and even with a loss, has been there ever since. Garcia now sits at 7-2 and is on a six-fight winning streak.

Some might call this a striker-versus-grappler affair, but that’s not really the case. While all of Garcia’s stoppage wins have resulted in 14 knockouts, and Onama has more of a balance between knockouts and submissions, I’m looking more toward strength of schedule. Garcia’s past opponents have been of a higher caliber than Onama’s, and he absolutely dominated Calvin Kattar in June. Although, perennial bonus winner Kattar was on a four-fight losing streak prior to that. I just think Garcia has proven he can hang with some very tough opponents, and he has finished most of them.

Obama is a great fighter, but other than Chikadze, he has yet to proven himself against the highest level guys. I think the longer and slightly taller Garcia takes it to Onama early and often and hands Onama a TKO, which would be Onama’s first stoppage loss, before the end of Round 2.

Petela: David Onama has one of the two most impressive UFC debuts that ended in a loss in recent memory. The other one was Benoit Saint-Denis. He gave Mason Jones all he could handle, and it was a short-notice fight up a weight class. He isn’t flashy, and he does do most of his work over the entirety of the fight, resulting in many decision wins, but I think he is going to be able to dictate the pace in this fight. He won’t allow Garcia to get off his extended combinations, because, when the pair engage, he will either slow Garcia’s momentum by forcing a clinch or snapping one quick counter-punch that gets through with pinpoint precision.

The threat of the takedown will limit the variety of strikes that Garcia can throw, eliminating most kicks above the knee. He may snap a few low kicks, but Onama will be able to check a couple of them early and give Garcia pause before throwing many more. There will be more volume throughout from Garcia, but he won’t be nearly as accurate as Onama. The more devastating shots will come from Onama as well, and, over 25 minutes, he will land enough of those heavier shots to score a unanimous decision victory.

Ante Delija made a splash by finishing Marcin Tybura in the first round of his UFC debut; can he be equally impressive in his sophomore appearance?

Petela: Yes. Waldo Cortes-Acosta is a slick boxer, but that is pretty much the only notable attribute he brings to the table. Much has been discussed lately about the rather lackluster state of the heavyweight division and for good reason. Most of these guys just aren’t very talented. Don’t get me wrong, they’re still the best in the world, but being the best doesn’t automatically make you good.

Delija is more well-rounded than Cortes-Acosta and will be able to get the fight to the mat where he will be leaps and bounds better than his opponent. Not that Delija is anything near the level of someone like Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida, but, in comparison to Cortes-Acosta, he will look like a world champion. Probably in the second round, this one ends by submission.

Kuhl: For several years, most global top-10 rankings did not include many PFL fighters, if any at all. Ante Delija is definitely breaking the mold in that respect. At 6-feet-three-inches tall, and weighing 20 pounds under the heavyweight limit, he certainly is not the biggest man in the big-man division, but he is a bad dude that can take the fight anywhere it goes.

The two-time PFL tournament finalist, and one-time winner decimated MArcin Tybura only two minutes into his UFC debut, and that was only two months ago. He dusted former PFL champion Renan Ferreira three years ago, and he is still only 35 years old. He’s also no stranger to quick turnarounds, since, in the PFL, he was fighting every couple months during the seasons anyway.

Waldo Cortes-Acosta entered the UFC through the Contender Series after winning the LFA heavyweight strap, and he was a highly touted prospect. Since joining the UFC roster, he has gone 7-2, but he is coming off a loss to Sergei Pavlovich in August. He has never been stopped, but I have to agree with my colleague that he will be stopped by Delija.

Cortes-Acosta will be around the same height and reach, but he will be heavier, and Delija will be quicker. Delija is much more agile and is more than capable of getting the finish. While I do agree Cortes-Acosta will be finished on the ground, I’m picking Delija by TKO via ground-and-pound.

What one fighter’s UFC career is on the ropes at this event?

Kuhl: It’s hard to pick a strawweight, as the pool isn’t very deep, but Alice Ardelean needs to beat Montserrat Ruiz. She is only 1-2 so far in the UFC, 10-7 overall, and is a prime candidate to get sent to somewhere like Invicta FC. She had a decent run that led to her UFC signing, but 1-3 on a likely four-fight contract would probably get her cut.

Petela: Cody Durden. He has lost four of his last five fights. Not a good position to be in, and the UFC put him on this card that will not have many viewers. If he comes up short, it is likely the final time anyone will see him walk to the Octagon.

Which fight is the sleeper match-up on this card?

Petela: Many to choose from in this one since the bulk of the names on the card are not well known. I will say that one early fight that could steal the show is Montserrat Ruiz vs. Alice Ardelean. Ruiz is a ball of energy, and Ardelean has finished 8 of her 10 wins. This one could get wild and is worth watching.

Kuhl: As a jiu-jitsu player, I’ve been following multiple-time IBJJF world champion Talita Alencar’s MMA career fairly closely. She rolled through Titan FC and LFA pretty flawlessly, and then went to a draw in Contender Series, after which her opponent got a contract, but she did not. Alencar eventually got signed, won a split decision over former Invicta atomweight champ Rayanne dos Santos, lost a decision, and won her last fight over the always-entertaining Vanessa Demopoulos. This weekend, she faces Brazil’s Ariane Carnelossi, who is an 11-year veteran of the sport. Carnelossi is a few years younger, is a more well-rounded fighter, and carries heavy striking power. This will be a great fight between stylistically different athletes.

Who takes home the “Performance of the Night” honors?

Kuhl: I’m sticking with my main event pick Steve Garcia on this one. Garcia is on a tear, and if he goes the distance with David Onama, it’s going to be a barnburner that earns them both bonuses. If he hands Onama his first stoppage loss, as I predicted above, then he will certainly earn a bonus. Either way, Garcia goes home with some extra padding in the pocket.

Petela: Charles Radtke. His last four fights have ended before the judges were needed. He is 2-2 in those fights but with all respect to Daniel Frunza, he is not the same caliber opponent as Mike Malott. “Chuck Buffalo” probably runs through Frunza this weekend and grabs an extra $50,000.

Pair this card with…

Petela: A fully charged phone. You’ll need it to look up most of these fighters to make your own judgement on where they came from and what to expect out of them this weekend.

Kuhl: An insulin shot. This is one of those cards that could be unexpectedly exciting for the reason Matt mentioned above. Not a lot of household names, but a lot of talented fighters who could bring a lot of action. That being said, there will likely be a lot of Halloween candy laying around, and it could be easy to end up binge-munching on sugar without realizing it, as it may be hard to look away. An insulin shot might come in handy while overdosing on candy.