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Welterweights

Daniel Rodriguez (12-1) vs. Takashi Sato (16-3)

ODDS: Rodriguez (-185), Sato (+160)

Two surprisingly successful welterweights square off in this one. Japan’s Sato has some obvious talent, but there were some questions about how his approach would work against his competition in the UFC. Sato is a dyed-in-the-wool counterpuncher, and while he can fire with some blistering power and accuracy, he does so all too infrequently. Belal Muhammad took advantage of a lot of those issues along with Sato’s suspect wrestling game, but he has otherwise done well to win his other two UFC fights, including a 48-second win over Jason Witt in June. Sato looks to build off that victory here against Rodriguez, who is undefeated in the UFC since making his debut earlier this year. Rodriguez stepped in on late notice in February and figured to be cannon fodder for Tim Means, but he managed to stun “The Dirty Bird” at the tail end of the first round and finish him in the second. Rodriguez’s last bout was much more of a full-on showcase for his skills, as he won a fun striking match against Gabriel Green in May. Rodriguez should be able to take this. He is hittable, but he is also mindful enough on defense and durable enough that Sato should not be able to blast him with a knockout blow. To his credit, Sato does seem to be getting more comfortable with pulling the trigger, but he will have to show a ton of process in doing so in order to cleanly win here. The pick is Rodriguez via decision.

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