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Featherweights
#14 FW | Movsar Evloev (14-0, 4-0 UFC) vs. #15 FW | Hakeem Dawodu (12-1-1, 5-1 UFC)ODDS: Evloev (-235), Dawodu (+195)
This should be a fascinating clash between top featherweight prospects. Evloev came into the UFC with a rightful amount of hype in 2019. The Russian faced a strong level of competition on his native scene and basically turned away all comers on the back of an aggressive style. Evloev pursued takedowns almost to a fault, but even when he found himself diving into danger, he was able to rely on some excellent grappling chops to get out of trouble and attempt to win back control of the fight once again. In the UFC, there has been a lot of similar aspects to Evloev’s fights. He has been able to outwrestle his opponents in the aggregate but has a tendency to put himself in danger, only to fight out of it and pursue a stronger position. However, he has also shown a more patient willingness to spend some time on the feet, where he has looked skilled and tough but vulnerable to being clipped in return. That is where it gets interesting against Canada’s Dawodu, who has made his name as a striker. Dawodu immediately became a top prospect upon hitting the scene in the World Series of Fighting, but his career stalled due to inactivity before he got the UFC call in 2018. That made his debut all the more disappointing, as Danny Henry was shockingly able to club and sub Dawodu in just 39 seconds. Dawodu has been undefeated in the five fights since, but there are still some of the tendencies that led to that quick loss against Henry. Dawodu starts cold and needs time to read his opponents, and he can be a bit overconfident when it comes to his ability to defensively slip his opponents’ offense. The obvious key here is whether Evloev can find success getting Dawodu to the mat to control the fight, which might be a tougher proposition than it seems. Dawodu is both physically strong and a stout clinch fighter, so there is a chance that he could stall Evloev early and find greater and greater success as the fight goes on. With that said, it seems likelier that Evloev can rinse and repeat takedowns to dictate the terms of this fight, and if nothing else, he is relentless enough to keep grinding. The pick is Evloev via decision.
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