Middleweights
Julian Marquez (7-2) vs. Saparbek Safarov (9-3)If nothing else, this should be an entertaining mess. It is good to see Marquez back after more than two years away due to injuries, as “The Cuban Missile Crisis” was gaining a reputation as a consistently entertaining fighter before being taken out of action. Marquez consistently throws heat, often expending his own gas tank in the process, at which point he keeps attempting to throw heat, only slightly cooler than before. Add in that Marquez is not much for striking defense, is ridiculously durable and has just enough in terms of grappling skills to get out of jams, and it is easy to see why his fights are nearly all action. After dropping his last bout to Alessio Di Chirico, Marquez looks to get back in the win column against Safarov. The 34-year-old Safarov was not a particularly impressive signing by the UFC back in 2016 and has been booked as a bit of a punching bag since, but the Russian does have a somewhat admirable commitment to making fights as grimy as possible. Against someone on his own level in Nicolae Negumereanu, Safarov kept pursuing an ugly wrestling game while committing as many fouls as he could get away with. That approach could actually find some success here given Marquez's lack of takedown defense, but if this fight is the 15 minutes—or less—of the sloppy nonsense that it appears to be on paper, the Syndicate MMA product should be able to win a back-and-forth war of attrition. The pick is Marquez via third-round stoppage.
Continue Reading » Anders vs. Arroyo