Flyweights
Francisco Figueiredo (12-3-1, 1 N/C) vs. Malcolm Gordon (12-5)Odds: Figueiredo (-310), Gordon (+255)
Figueiredo keeps with the tradition of lesser siblings throughout mixed martial arts history in a familiar way; while the "Sniper" has a similar approach to his brother Deiveson, he has nowhere near the level of dangerous athleticism that makes Deiveson such a fearsome force. But Francisco's still a solid fighter in his own right, though his adaptation of the stalking Figueiredo approach tends to result in a lot of control and clinchwork, rather than his brother's sudden finishes. That makes for an interesting contrast against Canada's Gordon, who's about as much of a "kill or be killed" fighter as anyone on the UFC roster. Even Gordon's regional fights told the same story: he's an aggressive fighter that's talented enough to score a finish on both the feet or the mat, but Gordon also tends to implode once things start to go south, including reacting as poorly to getting hit as anyone at a UFC level.
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In his two UFC bouts thus far, Gordon has quickly found himself on the losing end of things, but Figueiredo's patient and often slow-paced approach could provide him an opening to get something done here. Of course, it's hard to tell exactly what that would be -- Figueiredo's still the much harder hitter and more durable fighter, and enough of a physical specimen that Gordon is unlikely to overpower him to the mat and score a submission. So this likely just winds up ending in the same way for Gordon, just taking a little bit longer than usual. The pick is Figueiredo via second-round stoppage.
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