Bantamweights
Davey Grant (15-6) vs. Daniel Marcos (14-0)Odds: Marcos (-140), Grant (+120)
This should be a fun bit of madness. Given how established he is at the moment, it's a bit surprising to look back and realize that Grant's UFC career took about five years to get going; after serving as the runner-up on “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2013, a massive cascade of injuries kept the Brit out of action for the better part of half a decade. But Grant finally established a regular schedule by the latter end of 2019, since which he's carved out a niche at the fringes of the bantamweight rankings; "Dangerous" might not be the prettiest or most technically sound fighter, but he's persistent and durable enough to make his unorthodox technique work. After reeling off three straight wins, capped off with a surprising knockout of Jonathan Martinez, Grant walked into losses against Marlon Vera and Adrian Yanez that may actually have raised his stock, as he was impressively able to drag a tough fight out of two of bantamweight's most potent finishers. And while his March win over Raphael Assuncao came with some controversy, that was no fault of Grant’s; a Grant fence grab led to a point deduction and the fight was mistakenly restarted on the feet, which allowed Grant to somehow nab an inverted triangle choke coming out of a subsequent Assuncao takedown attempt. It's been an impressive second act—or a delayed first act— for Grant to find this much success in his late thirties, and he looks to keep it up against Marcos.
Marcos is one of the more recent products coming out of an increasingly solid Peruvian scene, and he's impressed since his contract-earning victory on Dana White's Contender Series last September; that marked Marcos's first fight in nearly three years, and he had cleaned up his pressure game greatly from some messy regional footage in the years prior. Marcos also looked good in his UFC debut last January, taking on Saimon Oliveira in Brazil and pressing things enough that he was able to blow open one of the defensive holes in the Brazilian's game. That persistence might be enough to get things done here, since Grant is also far from a clean fighter, but Grant looks to be more capable of getting off to a hot start and should be able to hang on for a tough win; this feels like one of those fights that's more about the potential violence than the result, but the pick is Grant via decision.
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