Preview: UFC 271 Prelims

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Light Heavyweights

NR | Maxim Grishin (31-9-2, 1-2 UFC) vs. NR | William Knight (11-2, 3-1 UFC)

ODDS: Grishin (-170), Knight (+150)

Knight is not the most effective fighter, but the “Knightmare” is a pleasure to watch. He is a bowling ball of muscle, and the resulting natural strength and power always leads to anticipation that he might break out something impressive. Sometimes Knight’s physicality scares his opponents into ineffectively wrestling; sometimes he scores a knockout despite poor form; and sometimes his opponents are composed enough to just pick him apart from range. It remains a crapshoot, but it is always at least somewhat entertaining, whether the reasons are intentional or not. Knight is now riding a two-fight winning streak that includes a controversial decision over Alonzo Menifield in December, and he steps in on late notice here to take on the seasoned Grishin. A pro since 2008 who did not get the UFC call until 2020, Grishin has seen it all at this point, so it is not a surprise that “Maximus” has an adaptive style. Sometimes that is more of a curse than a blessing. Grishin often seems content to work within whatever parameters his opponent is trying to set, and while he can be effective in neutralizing or countering, there are a lot of stretches where he does not press much of anything. He did seem to try and pick up the pace a bit more in his last fight against Dustin Jacoby—it resulted in an entertaining decision loss—but that may not be the best idea against Knight. Grishin has a large frame for the light heavyweight division and should have the level of composure to where he can just win a slow-paced fight from range. The tension from Knight’s knockout power should hopefully carry the entertainment value, as otherwise, this could be an ugly, low-output affair. While Knight’s power might be enough to eke things out with the few blows that he throws, the pick is for Grishin to win via decision.

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