Preview: UFC on ESPN 58 Prelims

Flyweights

Nathan Maness (15-3, 4-2 UFC) vs. Jimmy Flick (17-7, 2-2 UFC)

ODDS: Maness (-455), Flick (+350)

This should be an entertainingly strange time. Flick figured to be an engaging switch-up for the UFC’s flyweight division when he earned a contract back in 2020. An aggressive grappling specialist, Flick was talented enough to make what has typically been a low-percentage approach work, even if it still came with a clear ceiling. After winning his UFC debut over Cody Durden, Flick retired a few months later, which was a bit bittersweet—he still had something left in the tank, but it’s better to leave the sport too early than too late. Mixed martial arts retirements being what they are, Flick returned to the sport a shade over two years later, which looked like a regrettable decision two fights in. He looked flat and his style mostly left him to get picked apart and pounded out by Charles Johnson and Alessandro Costa. However, Flick’s at least back in the win column after beating Malcolm Gordon in January, even if he did have to eat a lot of offense before staging a comeback. Flick looks to get a winning streak going against Maness, who’s still a hard fighter to parse a half dozen fights into his UFC career. Maness has always been a rangy fighter who hasn’t taken advantage of his length, instead often fighting in close quarters and seeing what shakes out. That worked out surprisingly well at the beginning of Maness’ UFC career as a bantamweight, even if it did seem like “Mayhem” was skating by on a razor’s edge to get his wins, particularly in come-from-behind victories over Luke Sanders and Tony Gravely. Once Maness ran into a few Dagestani wrestlers—first Umar Nurmagomedov at 135 pounds, then Tagir Ulanbekov in his first cut down to flyweight—he got much more clearly stifled, but he did manage to rebound with a win over Matheus Mendonca in October. It was another example of Maness putting together a few moments of dynamic offense to score a sudden victory. Flick is going to get a chance to play his game early, and from there, it comes down to whether or not Maness can survive long enough to find his moment to turn the fight around. The massive size advantage that Maness possesses at flyweight seemed to pay off quite nicely while scrambling with Mendonca, so the lean is that it’ll also allow him to get things done here. The pick is Maness via second-round stoppage.

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