Preview: UFC on ESPN 9 ‘Woodley vs. Burns’

Welcome to the UFC Daniel Rodriguez! #UFCRioRancho pic.twitter.com/wuQhy86Cns

— UFC (@ufc) February 16, 2020

Welterweights

Daniel Rodriguez (11-1) vs. Gabriel Green (9-2)

ODDS: N/A

This was initially a much more interesting pairing, as Kevin Holland was going to try and move down to welterweight just 14 days after his latest win, but with the “Trailblazer” injured, the UFC did well to put together a fun replacement. Rodriguez, Holland’s initial opponent, has already authored one of the biggest upsets of 2020, stepping in on late notice and scoring a second-round submission of Tim Means in February. Rodriguez can do a little bit of everything, but he is at his best when he can at least partially dictate the terms of the fight. Means consented to a medium-paced striking match, and Rodriguez hit a near-knockout blow at the end of the first round before getting things rolling towards the finish in the second. Now Rodriguez plays the role of UFC veteran trying to defend his turf against a promotional newcomer in Green.

Green was certainly worthy of the call, but it will be interesting to see what parts of his game translate here and to the UFC level in general. He is an aggressive striker who tries to make a lot of things happen in the clinch and on the ground, but he is fighting up a weight class. While he is not so overwhelming at one skill that his future success is guaranteed, he might be worth the flier.

Green is not going to let Rodriguez get away with his usual patient kickboxing game and might be the better grappler; plus, with the late-notice nature of these cards, it is not like Rodriguez has any sort of major preparation advantage. There is a chance that Green charges right into a knockout blow and does not hang at this level, but the pick is for the newcomer to stay aggressive and score the decision victory.

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