UFC 318: Michael Johnson vs. Daniel Zellhuber Prediction for Tomorrow, 07/19/25

The first fight on the Main Card at UFC 318 will see Michael Johnson take on Daniel Zellhuber. This will be a fight in the UFC Lightweight division. Johnson enters this fight with an MMA record of 24-19 and 15-15 in the UFC. He is averaging 4.23 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 39%. Johnson absorbs 3.80 strikes and has a striking defense of 58%. His grappling ability is also decent, averaging 0.61 takedowns every 15 minutes. Johnson has a takedown accuracy of 40% and a takedown defense of 81%.

Zellhuber enters this fight with an MMA record of 15-2 and 4-2 in the UFC. He is averaging 6.26 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 40%. Zellhuber absorbs 6.02 strikes and has a striking defense of 55%. His grappling has been lackluster, averaging just 0.18 takedowns every 15 minutes. He has a takedown accuracy of 25% and a strong takedown defense of 94%.

Zellhuber is the clear favorite in this fight, so we will instead be targeting over 1.5 rounds. Zellhuber has seen all 6 of his UFC fights go over 1.5 total rounds, while Johnson has seen 4 of his last 6 UFC fights do the same. Based on the fact that both fighters have seen several of their recent fights go multiple rounds, backing over 1.5 total rounds will be our lean.