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Preview: UFC Fight Night 219 Prelims

Fletcher vs. Gorimbo


Welterweights

A.J. Fletcher (9-2, 0-2 UFC) vs. Themba Gorimbo (10-3, 0-0 UFC)

ODDS: Fletcher (-255), Gorimbo (+215)

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A fun pairing sees two welterweights look for their first UFC win. Fletcher kicked off the 2021 edition of Dana White’s Contender Series in style. Participating in the first fight of the season, Fletcher quickly ended things with a brutal flying knee for a sudden knockout. Despite having an interesting grab bag of skills, Fletcher has not gotten over the hump for a victory in the UFC after two tries. “The Ghost” has some surprisingly effective wrestling to go along with his ability to uncork some knockout power, but he has been undone a bit by his physical limitations. While Fletcher is a powerful athlete, he is about as short and squat as any welterweight on the roster; and the UFC did not do him any favors by matching him against some more typically sized powerhouses in Matthew Semelsberger and Ange Loosa. Given time, Fletcher should continue to figure things out, as he has shown a ton of grit and heart. He fought impressively through exhaustion against Loosa after dumping his gas tank in unsuccessful pursuit of a knockout. With that said, he badly needs a win in the short term against a promotional newcomer in Gorimbo. The second Zimbabwean in the UFC’s history, “The Answer” did well to even get to this point, fleeing the country as a teenager and starting his mixed martial arts career in South Africa. He has shown solid skills for the regional level. Even if he reads as a bouncy striker at first, Gorimbo has displayed some chops as a wrestler and grappler to earn a lot of his wins. The issue comes translating that up a level. The UFC picks up enough raw prospects that Gorimbo could be able to find a few wins, but he has clearly fallen short against opponents with strong wrestling games of their own. Fletcher seems to fit that bill, along with being a more powerful athlete, so this looks to be the UFC veteran’s fight to lose, despite the ever-present size disadvantage. The pick is Fletcher via first-round submission.



Jump To »
Lansberg vs. Silva
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Sadykhov vs. Elder
Fletcher vs. Gorimbo
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