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Preview: UFC on ESPN 38 Prelims

Shayilan vs. Brown



Featherweights

Nuerdanbieke Shayilan (37-10) vs. T.J. Brown (16-8)
Odds: Brown (-210), Nuerdanbieke (+180)

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T.J. Brown's UFC career has been a pleasant surprise thus far. When "Downtown" earned a contract on the Contender Series in 2019, he figured to be a fun but flawed fighter whose weaknesses would hold him back at the UFC level. And through four fights, most of those criticisms of Brown have held true; he's a well-rounded offensive threat with admirable persistence, but almost always leaves himself open defensively. Brown dropped his first two UFC bouts, but has managed to string together two straight wins to get some momentum going; and while he was far from a technical wunderkind against Charles Rosa in January, he did put together a more balanced approach than usual in earning a clear decision victory. Brown looks to make it three straight against China's Shayilan Nuerdanbieke, who's also attempting to figure some things out. A talented athlete, Nuerdanbieke was able to rely on pressure and wrestling on the Chinese scene, which made his debut loss to Josh Culibao a rude awakening. To his credit, "Wolverine" is relentless even in the face of failure, which was enough to outlast Sean Soriano over three rounds in November, earning Nuerdanbieke his first UFC victory. And there's a chance it works here; again, Brown tends to give up a lot with his lack of defense, and Nuerdanbieke's clear power advantage may allow him to find something big over the course of fifteen minutes. But the inverse seems like it's just as true - with Nuerdanbieke's usual insistence on taking things to the mat and Brown's tricky grappling ability, it wouldn't be a shock if the American is able to score the win by catching Nuerdanbieke unawares. The pick is Brown via second-round submission.



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