Preview: UFC on Fox 26 ‘Lawler vs. dos Anjos’

Featherweight

Josh Emmett (12-1) vs. Ricardo Lamas (18-5)

ODDS: Lamas (-275), Emmett (+235)

ANALYSIS:: It goes without saying that things would be more interesting here if this was a rematch between perennial top-five talent Lamas and Jose Aldo, but alas, Frankie Edgar’s face got broken. Now, Lamas gets a tough yet little-known replacement opponent in Team Alpha Male’s Emmett, fresh off of his return to 145 pounds in a blowout decision win over Felipe Arantes on Oct. 21.

Emmett is a talented up-and-comer, but Lamas is a tough ask for him stylistically, never mind the short turnaround. The 32-year-old is a big strapping featherweight, well-conditioned and growing into the wrestle-boxer mold. However, Lamas is already a more matured, refined and dangerous incarnation of these things. Emmett has a good right hand in a general sense; Lamas has a great right cross, hook and uppercut. More importantly, while the Chicago native is not a high output fighter for the most part, he has a great and varied jab, which gave Emmett problems in his loss to Desmond Green earlier this year and in the second round against Arantes.

Emmett is a wrestler by trade, but Lamas is a better one, plus a grappler that can find multiple ways to set up his submission offense, notably the guillotine choke he put on Dennis Bermudez and Charles Oliveira. Lamas thumps harder than Emmett does when on top, as evidenced by how badly he stapled Jason Knight in July or how savagely he hacked up Erik Koch years ago.

In order to win, Emmett will need to either land the picture-perfect right-hand counter on an encroaching Lamas or find some way to outwrestle the more seasoned grappler. Given his physical gifts and well-rounded craft, what seems more likely is that the Californian stays competitive but gets largely treated as a hard workout for “The Bully.”

Lamas’ steady combination of jabs and low kicks figures to keep Emmett off-balance and allow him to seek heavy counterpunches; if he wants to force wrestling exchanges, it is his prerogative. Emmett will not get washed out, but unless Lamas gives away his chin or neck in an exchange, he should be a step ahead of Emmett every step of the way -- behind his jab and wrestling game alone. Lamas via unanimous decision is the call, but it will be interesting to see if the perpetually overlooked contender pushes the issue and aggressively hunts a straight stoppage.

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