UFC Fight Night 289 is hitting the Meta APEX in Las Vegas tonight, and the buzz isn’t about a main event title fight, it’s about what MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom is predicting for Sedriques Dumas. The expert pick is brutal, suggesting Dumas “finds a way to shoot himself into a submission after taking a hard body kick in Round 1.” Talk about a tough pre-fight assessment!
One Fighter on a Skid, One on the Rise
It’s a tale of two different trajectories heading into this middleweight bout. Sedriques Dumas, with a 10-5 MMA record and 3-5 in the UFC, is on a serious three-fight skid, which even includes a no-contest appearance. His last win? Way back in August 2024 against Denis Tiuliulin. The analyst’s take on Dumas is harsh, saying he “should’ve already been cut from the roster” and shows “no real signs of life or improvement,” appearing “solely focused on picking up a check.” Yikes.
On the flip side, we’ve got Luis Hernandez making his UFC debut, and he’s bringing an undefeated 8-0 MMA record to the cage. This guy just earned his contract by sending the Meta APEX “into a frenzy” with a second-round submission of Hugo Guillon on Dana White’s Contender Series “earlier this month.” Hernandez might be “unproven on paper,” but he’s got a “proper southpaw striking game and solid submissions to boot.” This looks like a classic prove-it moment for the newcomer against a veteran struggling to stay relevant.
A “Gimmick Fight” with Clear Odds
Look, the MMA Junkie analyst is calling this fight a “gimmick ‘cop vs. criminal’ fight” that somehow landed on the main card. He’s not holding back, blaming the “non-stop content slop mills of 2026” and Mick Maynard’s supposed “fetish” for lower-level big guy bouts. Regardless of the reasoning, the oddsmakers and the public are firmly behind Hernandez. FanDuel has Hernandez as a clear favorite at -245, while Dumas is the underdog at +194. This tells you everything you need to know about where the smart money is heading.
This UFC Fight Night 289 main card bout is expected to see Dumas and Hernandez walk to the cage at approximately 9:15 p.m. ET. You can catch all the action streaming live on Paramount+. Will Dumas defy the odds and the expert predictions, or will Hernandez continue his undefeated run and make a statement in his UFC debut? We’ll find out tonight.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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