Preview: UFC Fight Night 189 Prelims

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Welterweights

NR | Muslim Salikhov (17-2, 4-1 UFC) vs. NR | Francisco Trinaldo (26-7, 16-6 UFC)

ODDS: Salikhov (-255), Trinaldo (+215)

Even at 42 years old, Trinaldo can still get it done. Trinaldo is one of the success stories from the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter Brazil,” during which he competed as a middleweight. After getting enough money to become a full-time fighter, “Massaranduba” improved rapidly and eventually put together a seven-fight winning streak that made him a top UFC lightweight. However, Trinaldo was never quite able to get over the hump into title contender or headliner status, as losses to Kevin Lee and James Vick saw him get handled rather easily. Still, Trinaldo has rebounded after a rough stretch and put together three straight wins. While he has become less willing to pull the trigger in recent years, his counterstriking remains dangerous, as his knockout win over Jai Herbert in July showed. That Herbert fight saw Trinaldo miss weight for the first time in his UFC career, so the Brazilian is going forward as a full-time welterweight—a move he will kick off against Salikhov.

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A decorated wushu sanda competitor, Russia’s Salikhov had a disappointing UFC debut, getting outwrestled and tapped out against Alex Garcia. However, “The King of Kung Fu” has righted the ship since. He has mostly faced opponents willing to accept his terms and fight a range striking battle, and he looks to have shored up his takedown defense enough to hold his own when situations start to go sideways. That latter development figures to be the big dynamic here. Trinaldo is willing to wrestle but sometimes does not press the issue, while Salikhov was surprisingly able to stuff Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos’ takedown attempts but still is not known as a stronger defensive wrestler. Trinaldo’s waning output suggests he will cede a lot of ground, but this figures to be an ugly fight either way. The slow pace of Salikhov’s wins mean he often does not separate himself much from his opponents if he fails to knock them out. This has split decision written all over it. The pick is Salikhov via decision.

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