Much maligned for its thin main draw, UFC 279 at least offers an intriguing slate of eight prelims on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. There is not much in terms of immediate relevance, as the featured spot deservedly goes to featherweights Hakeem Dawodu and Julian Erosa, neither of whom are in line for a title fight anytime soon. Yet both are reliably entertaining fighters. There is also some strangely interesting stuff further down the lineup. Jailton Almeida meets Anton Turkalj in a matchup of grapplers that takes place somewhere between light heavyweight and heavyweight, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship knew exactly what it was doing when it matched up the heaviest of heavyweights in Jake Collier and Chris Barnett. On the early slate, there are some newcomers to watch: Former boxing standout Danyelle Wolf could make a quick impact in whatever constitutes the UFC women’s featherweight division, and Melissa Martinez adds to the considerable wave of young talent entering the promotion’s strawweight division.
Featherweights
Hakeem Dawodu (13-2-1, 6-2 UFC) vs. Julian Erosa (27-9, 5-5 UFC)ODDS: Dawodu (-215), Erosa (+185)
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The third time has certainly been the charm for Erosa. “Juicy J” is the rare fighter to earn his way to the UFC three times, and only now has he finally hit a groove. Going “The Ultimate Fighter” route the first time around and the Dana White’s Contender Series route the second, Erosa looked like a classic fighter good enough to make it to the UFC but unable to stick on the roster. His scrappy all-action style left him over-reliant on defensive reflexes that just were not up to snuff to avoid faster and harder-hitting opponents. That criticism is still true of Erosa, who often eats too much damage in his fights, but he has managed to survive in four of the five bouts since his return, including impressive finishes of Sean Woodson and Charles Jourdain. There is still a clear ceiling for the decade-plus veteran, but he has carved out a strong niche for himself as he goes for his biggest win yet. Dawodu’s 2018 UFC debut was a massive disappointment. A top prospect whose career had stalled due to contractual issues, hopes were high that the Canadian could hit the ground running upon signing with the UFC. Instead, he got caught with a punch and tapped out by Danny Henry in just 39 seconds for his first career loss. Dawodu learned from the experience, slowly moving from a counter-heavy striker to someone who can both lead the dance and bring some more consistent defense to the table. The end result is a powerful kickboxer sitting at the fringes of the UFC’s featherweight rankings, and while a one-sided loss to Movsar Evloev in 2021 showed the ceiling Dawodu can bump into against a better wrestler, it was a game effort that showed exactly how far he has come during his time on the UFC roster. There is the chance for Erosa to make this an uncomfortable fight for the World Series of Fighting alum through sheer aggression, but this seems like a rough matchup for the American at this point in Dawodu’s career. Erosa is going to eat some hard shots before he can turn the tide of the fight, and Dawodu appears to be a strong enough wrestler to keep the Washington native from having his usual change of pace readily available. The pick is Dawodu via second-round knockout.
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Almeida vs. Turkalj
Pickett vs. Tiuliulin
Collier vs. Barnett
Dumont vs. Wolf
Alateng vs. Anheliger
Martinez vs. Reed
Weeks vs. Lainesse