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Light Heavyweights

NR | Ion Cutelaba (15-6, 4-5 UFC) vs. NR | Dustin Jacoby (14-5, 2-2 UFC)

ODDS: Cutelaba (-130), Jacoby (+110)

Even by 2020 standards, Cutelaba had a strange year. It seemed normal enough at first, as “The Hulk” was matched with Magomed Ankalaev in an intriguing bout prior to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the fight itself went sideways in a way that nobody could have expected. Cutelaba decided to oversell Ankalaev’s strikes in the hopes of luring the Russian into a false sense of security but instead wound up triggering the referee to step in for an early stoppage that the Moldovan immediately protested. The UFC opted for an immediate rematch, but between the pandemic and Cutelaba repeatedly testing positive for COVID-19, it took about eight months and at least four different attempts before the rematch actually took place. After all that, it ended in another Ankalaev first-round stoppage victory. Cutelaba looks to get back to some semblance of normalcy against Jacoby, who looks to continue a highly successful second stint inside the UFC. It has been a long road back to the Octagon for Jacoby, who quickly washed out of the UFC nearly a decade ago and fell into a kickboxing career in the intervening years. However, he has ridden that striking skill to two wins in as many fights since his return, even if there was some rough going in his last bout against Maxim Grishin. Cutelaba’s style centers around presenting unchecked aggression at every level, so this figures to go one of two ways: the Moldovan either overwhelms Jacoby with his pressure and likely has some success ending the fight on the mat, or Cutelaba runs directly into a counter and careens completely off the rails. The former seems a bit more likely given that Jacoby is still somewhat of a one-dimensional fighter. The pick is Cutelaba via first-round stoppage.

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