Featherweights
#14 FW | Shane Burgos (14-3, 7-3 UFC) vs. Charles Jourdain (13-4-1, 4-3-1 UFC)Featherweight wildmen collide in this intriguing matchup. Burgos quickly made a name for himself as an entertaining action fighter, as “Hurricane” consistently came to the cage with an approach built entirely around offense. Burgos is content to keep marching his opponent down, pour on volume and bank on his head movement and durability to see him through whatever comes back. Unfortunately, it is that last bit that has caused Burgos to reach something of a plateau. As Burgos has found himself on the cusp of title contention, fights against the likes of Josh Emmett and Edson Barboza—along with an earlier bout against Calvin Kattar—have seen him lose that war of attrition, including suffering late knockouts against Kattar and Barboza. If Burgos only tops out as one of the most exciting fighters in the sport, there are worse fates, and he got back to his winning ways in November with another violent bout against Billy Quarantillo, even if the two had the tough task of following Justin Gaethje’s all-time war against Michael Chandler. Up next for Burgos is a fellow maniac in Jourdain, who is ready for his latest chance at a breakthrough win. Jourdain came to the UFC in 2019 as a top prospect out of his native Canada and very much had the type of structureless approach built entirely around finding a flashy finish. While Jourdain has retained some of that mentality—this is still a man who has a flying knee built in as part of his entrance routine—he has become a much more functional bringer of violence in the last year, staying active and showing a tendency to keep building throughout his fights. Jourdain’s submission win over Lando Vannata in April was a nice reminder that the Quebecois can also be dangerous on the mat, though that is unlikely to come into play in what figures to be a standup war. Burgos should be able to take an early lead and pour on his usual volume, given that Jourdain seems to be the more likely to cede ground, but it is an open question as to how much the Canadian can turn things around, whether that is in terms of taking the overall direction of the fight or scoring a knockout outright. Given Jourdain’s ability to cycle through options and Burgos’ willingness to eat whatever comes his way, the bet is that the former can snatch a victory once he hits on something that works. With that said, this is basically a coinflip that should bring about enough violence to earn each man some more fans. The pick is Jourdain via third-round knockout.
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Ortega vs. Rodriguez
Lemos vs. Waterson
Salikhov vs. Li
Mudaerji vs. Schnell
Burgos vs. Jourdain
Tate vs. Murphy
The Prelims