Preview: UFC Fight Night 194 Prelims

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC, PFL, Dana White’s Contender Series and “The Ultimate Fighter” live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Advertisement

Lightweights

NR | Steve Garcia (11-4, 0-1 UFC) vs. NR | Charlie Ontiveros (11-7, 0-1 UFC)

ODDS: Garcia (-300), Ontiveros (+250)

This should be a fun mess between two fighters looking to rebound from forgettable UFC debuts. Garcia is an entertaining fighter, but it will be interesting to see how well he does if he continues to stay at lightweight. He has spent most of his career as an oversized bantamweight, able to drown his opponents in volume and aggression. However, a weight-cut miss on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019 forced “Mean Machine” up to featherweight, and he made his UFC debut in a late-notice spot against Luis Pena at lightweight. Facing a much larger fighter who looked to grapple and control him, Garcia just was not able to get much done despite his best efforts. About a year and a half later, Garcia makes his UFC return against Charlie Ontiveros.

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC, PFL, Dana White’s Contender Series and “The Ultimate Fighter” live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

While Garcia is fighting up from his historical weight class, Ontiveros is coming down in weight, having spent most of his career at welterweight before taking his own late-notice debut up a division at middleweight against Kevin Holland in 2020. Ontiveros got little done against Holland, quickly getting slammed and suffering a fight-ending rib injury, but “The American Badboy” gets a much more winnable fight here. Ontiveros is at his best when he can snipe at his opponents from a distance, but Garcia is not likely to let that happen, given his usual tendency towards pressure and aggression. Garcia’s approach could just cause him to walk right into a knockout, but it seems likelier that he takes the Fury Fighting Championship vet out of his comfort zone and takes over in a messy brawl, particularly since Ontiveros has been finished multiple times during his career. The pick is Garcia via first-round knockout.