Preview: UFC 287 ‘Pereira vs. Adesanya 2’

Bantamweights

Raul Rosas Jr. (7-0, 1-0 UFC) vs. Christian Rodriguez (8-1, 1-1 UFC)

ODDS: Rosas (-225), Rodriguez (+190)

Rosas Jr. is the youngest signee in UFC history, earning a contract via Dana White’s Contender Series shortly before his 18th birthday, and that youth and potential for improvement is the proposition thus far for “El Nino Problema” as a prospect. As a fighter, Rosas Jr. seems to clearly be a one-dimensional grappler at this point in his career, so there are still a lot of questions that have yet to be answered. In a way, it is good that Rosas Jr. has identified his quickest path to victory and shown off the submission chops to typically get things done in short order. Rosas Jr. essentially ran through Jay Perrin in his UFC debut in December; this time up, he takes a fight against what would typically be a young prospect. Rodriguez missed weight in his own shot at a contract on DWCS in 2021 but still won his fight and found himself in the promotion shortly thereafter as a late-notice replacement. In contrast to Rosas Jr., “CeeRod” typically seems fairly aimless in his approach, looking to march down his opponents and figure out the rest later. That has made Rodriguez’s fights messier than they need to be from his perspective, but thus far, he has proven to have enough talent to find wins at bantamweight, whether it is via some knockout power or his own solid grappling skills. Rodriguez may just prove too physically mature for Rosas to handle on top of being his best opponent to date, so there is a chance the young gun just gets stalled out or finished himself. Still, Rodriguez’s lack of mindfulness for controlling his fights does figure to give Rosas Jr. opportunities to consistently gain momentum, even if the Roufusport product might be too skilled to submit. The pick is Rosas Jr. via decision.

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Pereira vs. Adesanya
Burns vs. Masvidal
Yanez vs. Font
Holland vs. Ponzinibbio
Rosas Jr. vs. Rodriguez
The Prelims