Preview: UFC Fight Night 201 Prelims

Featherweights

NR | Chas Skelly (18-3, 7-3 UFC) vs. NR | Mark Striegl (18-3, 0-1 UFC)

ODDS: Skelly (-200), Striegl (+170)

Skelly has announced that this will be his retirement fight, ending a career that has become underrated in recent years. Skelly has certainly lived up to his “Scrapper” nickname by swamping opponents with an aggressive but often messy style. While it has not been pretty, it has worked more often than not, with Skelly’s only losses coming to Mirsad Bektic, Darren Elkins and Jason Knight. Otherwise, Skelly can usually find a path to a finish or an ugly decision. A cascade of injuries in recent years has left Skelly out of sight and out of mind, as he has not fought since a 2019 win over Jordan Griffin, which itself came after nearly a year-long layoff. Skelly memorably made the walk to the cage for a February 2021 bout, only for Jamall Emmers to injure himself warming up and prompt a cancellation. Skelly looks to end his career with a win over Striegl, who is looking to rebound from an unsuccessful UFC debut against Said Nurmagomedov in late 2020. “Mugen” has roughly the opposite approach of Skelly. While Skelly focuses on aggression over form, Striegl is a low-output and compact striker who looks to use his physicality to either intimidate opponents on the feet or overpower them on the ground. Striegl’s wrestling and grappling have not looked particularly great past a certain level, so Skelly should eventually be able to overwhelm him. Even if Skelly is a defensive void who will allow Striegl the opportunity to hit some hard shots, the American has typically been durable enough to keep charging through danger. As long as the last few years have not taken a ton much of Skelly, he should be able to emerge with his hand raised. The pick is Skelly via second-round submission.

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