Light Heavyweights
#12 LHW | Jimmy Crute (12-3, 4-3 UFC) vs. Alonzo Menifield (13-3, 6-3 UFC)This is a big bounce-back opportunity for Crute, who looks to rebound from a disappointing 2021 and a lost 2022. The Australian was just 22 years old upon making his UFC debut in 2018 and seemed a bit overhyped, but he got off to a solid start. Paul Craig and Sam Alvey were the type of tricky veteran tests that could easily take advantage of such a raw prospect, but Crute navigated his way through danger and finished both of them. Since then, there has been a kill-or-be-killed tenor to Crute’s last few fights—none of his last six have made it to a second round—as aggression has marked his approach. He ran through Michal Oleksiejczuk and Modestas Bukauskas but suffered a leg injury against Anthony Smith before getting quickly knocked out by Jamahal Hill. Those last two results marked the entirety of Crute’s 2021 campaign. There were some silver linings—he was doing well against Smith before that injury, and Hill has since ascended to champion status—but after being out of action for all of 2022, he could use a win at home against Menifield. Nearly a decade older than Crute, Menifield has settled into a solid groove after coming to the UFC as a raw prospect in his own right. Initially a knockout artist and little else, “Atomic Alonzo” has not really rounded out his game so much as found some consistency. He is big and durable, and he is now able to throw power for 15 consistent minutes. Most opponents do not even last that long, but those who do usually need to find a way to scare Menifield off in order to walk away with the win. Ed Herman could not, but William Knight notably threw enough power of his own to coerce Menifield into a losing effort. Crute could wind up throwing enough at the wall to keep Menifield on his toes, but even in an ugly three-round fight, it does seem like an uphill battle for the Aussie to eke out a win while his opponent is throwing much harder offense and also being difficult to outwrestle. Again, that comes with the caveat that Crute has to survive for 15 minutes—a coin flip in itself. The pick is Menifield via first-round knockout.
Jump To »
Makhachev vs. Volkanovski
Rodriguez vs. Emmett
Della Maddalena vs. Brown
Tafa vs. Porter
Crute vs. Menifield
The Prelims