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Contender Series Week 6: James Llontop vs. Malik Lewis continues on the fight card with a bout in the featherweight division between Steven Nguyen and AJ Cunningham. Nguyen is coming into his third and likely final appearance on the Contender Series off two-straight victories meanwhile, Cunningham comes into his first appearance on the Contender Series winning three consecutive fights. That said, check out our UFC odds series for our Nguyen-Cunningham prediction and pick.
Steven Nguyen (8-1) is on his third and final shot to impress Dana White and the UFC brass this Tuesday night on the Contender Series. He coming off a two-year layoff with his last fight being a win on the Contender Series back in 2021 where he failed to secure a contract. It will be interesting to see what kind of version of Steven Nguyen we are going to get when he takes on AJ Cunningham in this week's episode.
AJ Cunningham (10-2) is coming off three straight victories, most recently defeating Jason Mullen by a third-round rear-naked at Fury FC 79. Cunningham is the main training partner of current UFC featherweight Bryce Mitchell who will be in his corner helping him every step of the way. Cunningham will be looking to follow in the footsteps of his teammate and secure that UFC contract this Tuesday night on the Contender Series.
Here are the UFC Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
Contender Series Week 6 Odds: Steven Nguyen-AJ Cunningham Odds
Steven Nguyen: +192
AJ Cunningham: -260
How to Watch Steven Nguyen vs. AJ Cunningham
TV: ESPN+
Stream: ESPN+
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET/ 5:00 p.m. PT
Why Steven Nguyen Will Win
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Steven Nguyen will get his third opportunity to impress Dana White on this week's episode of the Contender Series. He dropped his first attempt on the show by getting knocked out by former UFC signee Aalon Cruz and then was able to get his first win on the show against Theo Rlayang but ultimately was uninspiring getting the unanimous decision victory. While Nguyen has been victorious in eight of his nine fights, it's when he fights on the big stage he just doesn't perform to his abilities.
Nguyen does a great job when he keeps the fight at kicking range as he throws a ton of volume that usually can overwhelm his opponents as the fights progress. He has also shown sneaky power on the feet as well and he has three of his eight wins coming by knockout. While Nguyen has three wins by submission, it's his defensive grappling that seems to be his biggest glaring weakness along with his striking defense. Going against Cunningham who trains with a great grappler in Mitchell, there is a good chance he's going to need to sprawl and brawl to get the job done. With the advantages at distance and cardio in this matchup as long as Nguyen can keep this fight on the feet he should make it two Contender Series victories in a row.
Why AJ Cunningham Will Win
AJ Cunningham has gotten his notoriety from being a teammate and training partner with UFC featherweight contender Bryce Mitchell. Even though they both train with each other every day they simply do not fight like each other. Cunningham is more willing to stand and trade with his opponents than Mitchell and possesses some power on the feet. That doesn't mean Cunningham is likely to just keep this fight standing in this matchup as we've seen him fight smart just like his most recent fight utilizing his grappling to get the job done.
We all know that Nguyen will have the advantage at kicking range where he is very good at utilizing those long-range attacks but Cunningham does a nice job with his footwork and head movement to avoid taking any flush damage. Cunningham has the ability to make this an extremely tough fight on Nguyen if he is able to mix things up on the feet and on the mat and just put the pace and pressure on Nguyen to get the victory and possibly join his cousin in the UFC.
Final Steven Nguyen-AJ Cunningham Prediction & Pick
This could be the case where AJ Cunningham is only getting his chance on the Contender Series because he is teammates with Bryce Mitchell but after watching some of his work he's got the skills to be a UFC-level featherweight in the future but maybe not right now in his career. He is strong for the division and has the power to sit his opponents down but when he is able to take the fight to the mat that is where he will shine.
Nguyen will be on his bike for most of this fight attempting to keep this fight at kicking range and punish Cunningham as he presses forward. He will also have the speed, volume, and cardio advantages in this fight to the point where if this fight stays standing he shouldn't much any issues just out-striking Cunningham to a wide decision. This going to be a closer fight than the odds indicate in the early going but Nguyen is more battle-tested and the way Cunningham looked in his most recent fight leads me to believe that Nguyen will be able to punish Cunningham when he fades down the stretch to finally get the contract that he's been longing for.
Final Steven Nguyen-AJ Cunningham Prediction & Pick: Steven Nguyen (-260)
