Preview: UFC 268 ‘Usman vs. Covington 2’

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Featherweights

#14 FW | Shane Burgos (13-3, 6-3 UFC) vs. NR | Billy Quarantillo (16-3, 4-1 UFC)

ODDS: Burgos (-185), Quarantillo (+160)

Immediately pegged as a guaranteed action fight as soon as it was announced, it is gratifying to see this scrap wind up on the main card. Burgos cannot help but bring violence to the cage, but it does feel like the New Yorker is starting to hit the ceiling of an all-offense approach. Burgos is not a defensive void, but he clearly favors marching down his opponent and trying to pour on offense over all else, which led to some impressive wars during his rise through the featherweight ranks. However, faced with the level of competition that could get him into title contention with a win, Burgos has wound up losing the war of attrition, dropping a decision to Josh Emmett in 2020 before getting knocked out by Edson Barboza in May. It will be interesting to see if Burgos is prompted to make some adjustments, but even without any, he is guaranteed to hold a prominent spot as one of the most exciting fighters in the featherweight division—an honor he shares with Quarantillo. The 32-year-old Quarantillo took a while to make it to the UFC, competing on “The Ultimate Fighter” before getting a contract via Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019. Like Burgos, Quarantillo favors pressure and overwhelming his opponent over all else. While taking hard shots seems to be a consequence of Burgos’ approach, with Quarantillo, it seems to be a built-in feature, as he tends to rely on leveraging his durability to eventually outlast and take over against his opponents.

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Quarantillo’s style of pressure focuses much more around wrestling, which seemed to hit a clear wall against Gavin Tucker in December. Tucker was able to take his own wrestling advantage and prevent Quarantillo from getting the ball rolling. Still, Quarantillo rebounded quite well with a dominant win over Gabriel Benitez in July, showing plenty of skill on the mat and suggesting that there may yet be more for “Billy Q” to unlock. Burgos is the more skilled and dangerous fighter, but this bout really makes for an interesting dynamic, as both men figure to charge forward and eat offense. All things being equal, Quarantillo seems to be the more determined and unbreakable competitor. Quarantillo should take this over by the third round, but Burgos does seem to be a solid enough wrestler to at least make him work to get to the best parts of his game. That, in turn, should help Burgos stay ahead on the scorecards as the more effective and powerful striker, even if Quarantillo figures to make this uncomfortable the whole way through. It is a difficult fight to call, but the pick is Burgos via decision.

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