Preview: UFC 268 Prelims

Welterweights

NR | Ian Garry (7-0, 0-0 UFC) vs. NR | Jordan Williams (9-5, 0-2 UFC)

ODDS: Garry (-360), Williams (+300)

Williams was one of the more memorable graduates of Dana White’s Contender Series. Beyond fighting three times on the series until he earned a UFC contract, Williams has also been open about his struggles as a Type 1 diabetic, even resorting to taking insulin meant for dogs at one point in order to make ends meet. Those issues also prevented Williams from cutting much weight and forced him to get by as an undersized middleweight, leaning on his durability to march through damage and outlast his opponents. His UFC debut was not particularly successful, as Nassourdine Imavov mostly teed off on him at will, but with Williams finding a sponsor for his insulin and capable of making his long-awaited cut to welterweight, the hope was that a move down to his natural weight class could help unlock some physical potential. Unfortunately, early returns on that front were not good. In a July bout against Mickey Gall, not a notably physical welterweight, Williams did not look particularly strong or even durable, quickly getting clipped and submitted. Williams faces an uphill battle against Ireland’s Garry, who makes his UFC debut and immediately becomes one of the promotion’s highest-upside prospects. Garry is an impressively complete prospect for someone just shy of his 24th birthday and less than three years into his professional career, as he is a poised striker with a strong grappling game to back things up. Garry also has the physical side of the equation down, as he is a powerful and muscular fighter with a long 6-foot-3 frame; and he has already proven his gas tank with a five-round Cage Warriors Fighting Championship title win over Jack Grant in June. There are some questions once Garry starts facing the stronger wrestlers of the UFC’s welterweight division, but those are issues to be sorted out once he starts what figures to be an impressive march up the divisional ladder. As far as this fight goes, the Irishman appears to have the skill to both finish this early or take it on the scorecards if Williams rediscovers his durability. The pick is Garry via first-round submission.

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