Featherweight
NR | Charles Rosa (13-4, 4-4 UFC) vs. NR | Darrick Minner (25-11, 1-1 UFC)This should be a fun fight between two unorthodox fighters. Rosa has had an up-and-down UFC career to date—he has alternated wins and losses in his eight Octagon appearances—but “Boston Strong” has consistently been a tough out who can, at the very least, greatly frustrate his opponents. Rosa mostly plays a low-power striking game from range that is meant to peck and annoy his opponents; and if they are able to close the distance, Rosa can usually fall back on a slick submission game to get his opponents in trouble. A neck injury early in 2018 looked like it might end Rosa’s career, but he managed to return in late 2019 for what might be the best win of his career thus far—a quick submission over the much more hyped Manny Bermudez on a card in Boston. After another loss and win in 2020, Rosa looks for the first winning streak of his UFC career against Minner. A late-notice signing early last year, Minner has a single-minded approach built on blitzing his opponents and dumping his gas tank in search of a submission finish. Things often go wildly off the rails, even as soon as late in the first round, but he still continues to catch opponents by surprise; Minner tapped top Canadian prospect T.J. Laramie in just 52 seconds in September. The first few minutes of this fight should be relatively even, but Rosa looks to have the grappling chops to survive and have this well in hand once Minner burns out. The pick is Rosa via second-round submission.
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