Preview: UFC Fight Night ‘Whittaker vs. Brunson’

Lightweights

Jake Matthews (10-2) vs. Andrew Holbrook (11-1)

THE MATCHUP: Two prospects meet in this matchup, with both men surely feeling the disappointment that comes with a one-sided loss. In his last fight, Holbrook was knocked out in mere seconds by Joaquim Silva, whereas Matthews was dominated on the floor before being pounded out by Kevin Lee.

Matthews is the younger man by far, at 22, and has more potential to improve and build on his recent experiences. He already seemed well on the way to refining his game, showing tenacity and educated combination striking in his win over the well-rounded Johnny Case. The totality of Matthews’ game, however, has yet to be revealed, and he has not beaten any established UFC veterans with ease, usually being forced to grit his teeth and survive a few scares en route to the win. Like many athletic MMA natives, Matthews’ greatest asset is his ability to flow in transitions. The onus will be on Holbrook, then, to close down Matthews’ options and exploit the relative shallowness of his single skill sets.

Whether Holbrook can do that remains to be seen. He is certainly an accomplished submission grappler, with a penchant for front headlock submissions like the guillotine and brabo choke. His wrestling, however, has yet to really show up in the UFC other than in scrambles. Holbrook is not a bad striker, but he is a little stiff and predictable with his attacks and tends to leave himself open defensively.

THE PICK: In this matchup, Matthews has all of the innate advantages. Speed, power, athleticism, tenacity and even durability seem to be in his corner. Holbrook is crafty enough to hang in there with very good fighters, but it seems for the time being that only undeveloped regional talent and journeymen will lose to him convincingly. Matthews by second-round TKO is the pick.

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