Ready to move?

Two of the finest footwork artists in mixed martial arts (MMA) today collide this Sunday evening (Jan. 17, 2016) when Dominick Cruz attempts to regain the Bantamweight belt he never lost against T.J. Dillashaw inside TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.

Joining them will be the likes of Anthony Pettis, Eddie Alvarez, Matt Mitrione and Travis Browne in terrific match ups.

We’ve still got several “Prelims” undercard bouts to preview and predict (see the first batch here) before then, though, so let’s dive in.

Check out what’s in store for FOX Sports 1 below:

170 lbs.: Patrick Cote vs. Ben Saunders

Canada’s Patrick Cote (22-9) — a 13-year veteran whose progress through the Middleweight division stalled out — has found new life at 170 pounds, winning four of five fights in the weight class. His last fight saw him become the first man to ever knockout Josh Burkman, scoring his first stoppage win since 2012 in the process. H

e will give up four inches of height to the 6’3″ Ben Saunders (19-6-2).

A solid run in Bellator MMA brought Saunders back to UFC after four years away. And “Killa B” got right down to business, stopping Chris Heatherly and Joe Riggs in his first two return appearances. This past July, he survived an early knockdown and used his wicked bottom game to defeat Kenny Robertson by decision.

He has stopped 15 opponents overall, six via submission.

In the interest of full disclosure: Saunders is a contributor to MMAmania.com and we wish him luck in all of his fights. That said, this’ll be a tough one.

“Killa B” remains murderous in the clinch and lethal off his back, but struggles at medium range. The much shorter Robertson — an awkward puncher at best — consistently found his way inside and cracked him with overhand lefts. Though not a technician, Cote has way too much power in his hands for the strategy to work here.

That said, Saunders can do some real damage if the Canadian can’t get the range right, and any amount of time Cote spends on the mat is too long. In the end, however, “The Predator” has looked better than ever in recent fights, and I believe that vaunted right hand finds its home.

Prediction: Cote via first-round technical knockout

155 lbs.: Chris Wade vs. Mehdi Baghdad

Long Island’s Chris Wade (10-1) burst into UFC’s Lightweight division with a 72-second guillotine submission of Cain Carrizosa, only to lose some luster in a tepid performance opposite Lipeng Zhang. Against fellow prospect Christos Giagos, he managed to regain some momentum by outlasting the Greek for his fifth-straight victory.

Wade enters as a late replacement for the injured Beneil Dariush.

France’s Mehdi Baghdad (11-3) defeated Artem Lobov to earn a spot in The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 22 house, only to lose a majority decision to Julian Erosa in the next fight. When Mairbek Taisumov pulled out because of visa issues, however, the RFA champ was there to take his place.

He has knocked out eight opponents and submitted another three.

Not gonna lie — I’m pissed about Taisumov getting pulled. The Chechen’s a personal favorite of mine and I saw this as an opportunity for him to demolish a quality wrestler and put his grinding loss to Michael Prazeres behind him.

It’s good news for Wade, though. Taisumov could have shut down his wrestling and punish Wade on the feet. Baghdad can only do the latter, and that doesn’t make a difference if he can’t keep it standing. Expect Wade to dominate Baghdad on the mat, finding more and more success as the fight progresses thanks to the short notice taking effect.

Prediction: Wade via unanimous decision

185 lbs.: Ed Herman vs. Tim Boetsch

The up-and-down run for Ed Herman (21-11) continued last January, suffering the first non-injury technical knockout loss of his career 36 seconds into a fight with Derek Brunson. The defeat brought his record to 2-3-1 since an overturned loss to Jake Shields in 2012.

He has 13 professional wins via submission.

In Aug. 2014, Tim Boetsch (18-9) rebounded from his one-sided submission loss to Luke Rockhold with a stunning come-from-behind knockout of Brad Tavares. Another submission defeat, this time to Thales Leites, followed, after which Boetsch made the poor decision of rushing Dan Henderson and ate the legend’s signature right hand as a result.

He will give up three inches of height to the 6’2″ Herman.

I’m looking at this fight and honestly struggling to see how Herman could win this. He doesn’t have anywhere near the takedown prowess to take down Boetsch (at least at this point in his career) and gutsy striking isn’t going to work against a bigger hitter. The one thing “Short Fuse” does have going for him is durability, but I feel like that will just prolong the beating.

Barring a critical error by Boetsch, which he has certainly proven himself capable of making, I expect one-way traffic. “The Barbarian” chews up Herman with power punches for the full 15 minutes.

Prediction: Boetsch via unanimous decision

145 lbs.: Maximo Blanco vs. Luke Sanders

Once the scourge of the Eastern circuit, Maximo Blanco (12-6-1) opened his ZUFFA career 1-4, including a split decision loss to Marcus Brimage and disqualification against Akira Corassani. He is currently riding a three-fight win streak, though he benefitted from an early stoppage against Mike de la Torre in June.

“Maxi” has knocked out eight professional opponents.

Luke Sanders (10-0), the nicely-nicknamed “Cool Hand Luke,” cut his teeth in the RFA promotion, becoming its Bantamweight champion and successfully defending it on the RFA vs. Legacy supercard. Despite competing at 135 pounds, he answered the call to face Blanco when Dennis Bermudez suffered a nasty staph infection.

He has seven wins via knockout.

Blanco is not a fun fighter to be a fan of — he’s almost like a miniature Yoel Romero. He’s got solid wrestling and power for days, but his fight IQ compares poorly to that of a particularly dim marmot. He’s made an art out of throwing away fights in new and exciting ways.

I’m picking him here, but I’m not particularly enthused about it.

Sanders will giving up some size to the Venezuelan and his bruising style doesn’t seem destined for victory against a bigger, meaner scraper. Barring a prolonged bout of extreme idiocy, which is far more likely than in other fights where I add such a disclaimer, Blanco should be able to use his power and improved inside game to take a decision.

Prediction: Blanco via unanimous decision

Technical brilliance is just days away, Maniacs. See you there!

Remember, too, that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Fight Night 81 fight card, starting with the Fight Pass “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, and then the remaining undercard balance on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET, before the main card kicks off at 10 p.m. ET.

Current UFC “Prelims” Prediction Record 2016: 3-4