Preview: UFC 293 Prelims

Lightweights

Nasrat Haqparast (14-5, 6-4 UFC) vs. Landon Quinones (7-1-1, 0-0 UFC)

ODDS: Haqparast (-470), Quinones (+360)

It will be nice to see Haqparast back in action after a year-plus layoff, even if this fight does not figure to contain much intrigue. Freshly turned 22 years old at the time of his UFC debut in 2017, Haqparast looked every bit the blue-chip prospect, before and afterwards. Haqparast turned back fellow top talent Marc Diakiese in his sophomore UFC bout—the first fight of a three-fight win streak that suggested he was set for bigger things. However, Haqparast’s confidence in his own abilities led to his walking into a flash knockout against Drew Dober in 2020, and he has mostly stagnated in the last three and a half years. Haqparast can do a bit of everything and is an obvious natural talent, but that has allowed him to coast on his ability, leaving him with a somewhat aimless approach and not much of a second gear in his fights. Haqparast can still handily beat the lower half of the UFC roster, but any step up against the higher reaches of the lightweight division typically sees him slowly get taken out of the fight as he runs out of ideas. The good news for Haqparast is that this late-notice fight against a UFC newcomer in Quinones figures to be one of the fights he can easily win. Quinones is a solid prospect, even if the timing for his UFC debut is a bit odd. He just competed on the most recent season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” where his lone fight saw him get submitted by Jason Knight in just 55 seconds. Quinones has a decent pressure game that is high on power but low on speed and output, which is probably enough to find a knockout win or two somewhere on the UFC roster. Still, Haqparast figures to be able to outmaneuver and outstrike the UFC newcomer without much difficulty. With that said, this also looks like another fight where Haqparast will coast to a win rather than make a definitive statement. The pick is Haqparast via decision.

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