The UFC goes back to its Fight Night series with a light heavyweight contender bout where the winner could find themselves in the top five of the division. The card also features other contender bouts in the women’s bantamweight division and men’s lightweight.
What: UFC Fight Night 72 (UFC Fight Night: Teixeira vs. St. Preux)
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tenn.
When: Saturday, the three-fight preliminary card kicks off on Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. ET, the four-fight preliminary card starts on Fox Sports 2 at 8 p.m. and the six-fight main card begins at 10 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.
Glover Teixeira vs. Ovince Saint Preux
This feels like a fairly tough call. On the one hand, Teixeira didn’t look great against Phil Davis, but he claims that was aberrant performance. He points to him cutting less weight this time around, being more mobile and changing things in training for the first time. Maybe that’s true. On the other hand, I’m inclined to believe momentum in MMA is real. More importantly, Teixeira is a go-forward striker while OSP is a clean counter puncher. I’m not suggesting OSP has the perfect style to beat Teixeira. He is loose with positioning and can be countered himself. But OSP does have enough going for him with the way they pair to like his chances.
Pick: OSP
Michael Johnson vs. Beneil Dariush
This seems like a very close call. Dariush can make trouble for any lightweight anywhere, but I’d give the edge in striking to Johnson. His movement and fluidity makes his striking much more natural than Dariush’s good if labored version. On the ground, Dariush is miles ahead and while he does have great takedowns, yet Johnson’s takedown defense and/or scrambling is probably good enough to keep the fight on Johnson’s terms long enough to get the win. I do worry about the layoff for Johnson, but I’ll side with him nonetheless.
Pick: Johnson
Alvey’s been out there boxing the ears off everyone of late, but I’m not sure that’s going to work against Brunson. I like Brunson’s odds of avoiding a big punch while he works relentlessly for the takedown. Perhaps Alvey will show us a wrinkle to his ground game we aren’t aware or appreciative of. Short of that, though, Brunson’s quick level changes and stifling top control is enough to get the job done.
Pick: Brunson
Jared Rosholt vs. Timothy Johnson
Johnson’s a huge guy with a big punch. He also has decent ground control and ground and pound from there. Rosholt has shown susceptibility to precisely this kind of fighter. The fact that so many of his opponents stick around in fights always creates a tense moment or two. That said, he’s the better wrestler and once he establishes the takedown, he can work from a variety of control positions to make life hell for opponents underneath. I suspect that’s the fate Johnson’s going to find for himself.
Pick: Rosholt
Nunes’ early aggression can derail the best laid plans of any fighter, but McMann’s responsive takedowns are better than anyone in that division save Ronda Rousey. If Nunes presses early, and unless she turns in an aberrant performance will almost certainly do that, then McMann has the opportunity to change the terms of the fight more easily. McMann lacks Cat Zingano’s ground and pound or passing, but she may not need it if she doesn’t concede an early lead.
Pick: McMann
Herrera is a certified beast with abilities everywhere. He’s much more of a ground technician, but probably not enough to overwhelm the extremely versatile Borg. This one will be competitive early with Borg looking to establish either back control from a scrambling sequence or strikes mixed with positional sparring. Either way, though, I expect him to chip away at the game, but likely overmatched Herrera.
Pick: Borg
From the preliminary card:
Oluwale Bamgbose def. Uriah Hall
Chris Camozzi def. Tom Watson
Dustin Ortiz def. Willie Gates
Sirwan Kakai def. Frankie Saenz
Jonathan Wilson def. Chris Dempsey
Marlon Vera def. Roman Salazar
Scott Holtzman def. Anthony Christodoulou