Daniil Donchenko

Even though he clearly likes Donchenko's tools, the analyst still sends the actual prediction to Soriano while admitting he flip-flopped on it, saying he expects to be out on his own with the pick, which keeps this at a coinflip rather than a real lean.

Donchenko is unbeaten across his recent run, and the analyst is genuinely high on his striking, saying he nearly graded it a notch above 'good' before settling there. He highlights real pop, a heavy leg kick, nasty elbows in close, fluid combinations, and steady work to the body with both hands and legs -- a profile that could rack up damage if he's landing clean on Soriano. His grappling grades out as average across the board, with adequate takedowns and takedown defense, but the analyst singles out his top-position ground-and-pound as genuinely nasty if he's able to get there. Despite liking the tools, the analyst's actual prediction still goes the other way.

Picked with heavy hedging -- the analyst calls this a fight to stay away from betting on despite slightly leaning this way, citing too many unknowns around a late-notice opponent making his UFC debut.

The more powerful striker of the two, good overall, with a very heavy leg kick and elbows in the pocket the analyst calls extremely dangerous -- capable of cutting opponents up badly enough to draw a doctor stoppage. Good combinations. Decent grappler with decent takedowns he probably won't use much, decent takedown defense, and good ground and pound, expected to be enough to keep the fight standing where his striking edge plays out.

The analyst favors Donchenko's chances of hurting Morono on the feet at some point, but admits he isn't fully sold and that Morono's experience could still get him the win.

Donchenko arrives on a five-fight winning streak and is built to make the most of it on the feet, throwing heavy leg kicks and sharp elbows in close while chaining his hands and legs together fluidly in combination. His grappling trails his striking, though he still has enough takedown defense and offense to keep opponents honest when needed. The read is that he'll look to settle this standing against a durable, experienced veteran rather than force the issue on the mat.