Marc-Andre Barriault vs Dustin Stoltzfus Prediction: Marc-Andre Barriault has the best shot for victory

The UFC Fight Night under the headliner Moreno vs. Albazi presents a bout in the middleweight division. Marc-Andre Barriault and Dustin Stoltzfus will engage in this bout at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It will also be aired on ESPN+ with both fighters struggling to be in shape. They both have won only twice in their last five fights.

Marc-Andre Barriault is currently on two consecutive bout losses. He boasts of a professional career record of sixteen wins, eight losses, and one no contest. With being coached by head coach Patrick Marcil and other coaches like Henri Hooft, Greg Jones, and Daniel Mendes, Barriault is fighting out of Boca Raton, Florida. He last fought on June 29, 2024, in the UFC on a preliminary card against Joe Pyfer. The bout ended in an overhand right technical knockout. Prior to this bout, he was in a main card fight against Chris Curtis, which ended in a split decision loss. He is currently ranked as the Current Best MMA Middleweight Fighter. His method of victories has been more categorized with knockout when compared to submission or decision. He last won a bout on June 10, 2023, against Eryk Anders, which ended in a unanimous decision victory. This bout won the UFC 289 Fight of the Night award. He won the vacant TKO vacant light heavyweight championship in 2018 against Adam Hunter. This victory was accomplished late into the first round via knockout. About a year before this bout, he won the vacant TKO vacant middleweight championship against Strahinja Gavrilovic and then defended the title successfully against Brendan Kornberger.

Dustin Stoltzfus boasts of a professional record of fifteen wins and six losses. He is fighting out of Pennsylvania. The 32-year-old American boxer is currently on a losing streak and last fought on June 8, 2024, in the UFC. His last fight was against Brunno Ferreira, which ended in a loss via a spinning elbow technical knockout. Prior to this loss, he had a great fight that earned him the Performance of the Night award on UFC Fight Night. This bout was against Punahele Soriano and ended in the second round via a rear naked choke submission. However, Dustin has been alternating victories and losses since December 2021. He recorded a loss to Gerald Meerschaert in the third round via submission before winning against Dwight Grant six months later. After that fight, he recorded a devastating loss to Abus Magomedovin in the first round. He lost the bout via front kicks and punches technical knockout. Dustin has won the WLMMA Middleweight Championship against Roman Kapranov, Filip Zadruzynski, and Mario Wittmann.

Dustin looks to be the one in the favor in terms of stats. He is younger, height-favored, and reach-favored with fewer losses. Marc-Andre has more wins and looks more desperate for the win. The best bet is over 1.5 rounds. This bout will go the distance, and for picking a side, I will side with Barriault on this.