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Dana White’s Contender Series: Ilias Bulaid vs Erick Visconde Preview & Prediction

by Gabriel Sheehan ·
Updated
Dana White’s Contender Series: Ilias Bulaid vs Erick Visconde Preview & Prediction

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After their initial meeting in Week 8 did not go ahead, former kickboxer Ilias Bulaid finally takes on Erick Visconde at 145 pounds.

Ilias Bulaid vs Erick Visconde facts

What time are Ilias Bulaid and Erick Visconde expected to walk out?

Where is DWCS – Season 10, Week 10 taking place? Meta Apex, Enterprise, USA

What TV channel is DWCS – Season 10, Week 10 on? UK – Not televised / USA – Not televised

Where can I stream DWCS – Season 10, Week 10? UK – UFC Fight Pass / USA – Paramount+ & UFC Fight Pass

DWCS – Season 10, Week 10 card

Douglas da Lapa vs Davi Cabral (Middleweight)

Luis Francischinelli vs William Rentz (Welterweight)

Aline Pereira vs Smilla Sundell (Women's Bantamweight)

Ilias Bulaid vs Erick Visconde (Featherweight)

Jason Asher vs Greg Foster (Lightweight)

Ilias Bulaid: An elite kickboxer aiming to shine on MMA's biggest stage

A decorated former kickboxer with a record of 25-6, Ilias Bulaid (9-0, 1 NC) has been perfect in his MMA career to date. “The Blade” is a flashy striker with a penchant for spinning techniques, stringing punches and kicks together to all levels in seamless style. The 30-year-old undefeated Dutchman fought on Bellator and UAE Warriors in addition to various other regional promotions, earning stoppages in all but three of his wins. He’s largely unproven in terms of grappling experience, but has solid takedown defence and a decent sprawl.

Erick Visconde: The LFA champion looks to earn his UFC contract

With 20 fights already under his belt at the age of 29, experience is not a problem for Erick Visconde (17-3). A proven finisher with 12 stoppages split evenly between KOs and submissions, Visconde is a slick switch-stance striker with an impressive kicking arsenal. He also has excellent grappling and takes the back extremely well. Having also fought at bantamweight, the Brazilian is a little undersized for featherweight, although it’s worth noting that all of his defeats came at 135 pounds. He enters this bout following a 4-1 stint in LFA, winning the featherweight belt in his most recent outing.

Ilias Bulaid vs Erick Visconde prediction

Scheduled to meet on Week 8, both fighters made weight but illness forced Bulaid to withdraw fairly close to the event, meaning they now face off in the final event of Season 10.

If this one stays standing, I think that Visconde is likely toast.

The Brazilian is a powerful, creative striker but Bulaid is one of the more impressive kickboxing exports in recent memory and has a significant height and reach advantage over the former bantamweight. I can envision him teeing off on Visconde and potentially scoring a finish if this fight is primarily contested on the feet.

However, this is an MMA fight, and Visconde has considerably more experience in that realm; from strength of schedule to overall cage time. Bulaid is pretty unproven should the action hit the mat, and while he likes to strike in most of his fights, Visconde has six submissions on his record.

As such, I think this one comes down to whether Visconde chooses to stand and bang with “The Blade” or opts for the path of least resistance by shooting plenty of takedowns and looking to cause damage on the floor. I’ll gamble that his experience and strength of schedule means that he opts for the latter and earns the victory, but he’s probably getting KO’d if he attempts to solely strike with Bulaid.

Prediction: Erick Visconde to win

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