Lightweights
NR | Devonte Smith (11-2, 3-1 UFC) vs. NR | Jamie Mullarkey (13-4, 1-2 UFC)ODDS: Smith (-155), Mullarkey (+135)
Smith is building something interesting as he attempts to make up for lost time. He fit into the “raw but promising” mold after earning his UFC contract with a 2018 knockout of Joseph Lowry on Dana White’s Contender Series, then continued to impress with quick finishes of Julian Erosa and Dong Hyun Ma in his first two trips to the Octagon. Some reshuffling resulted in Smith facing friend and former training partner Khama Worthy, and after suffering a knockout that ranks among the biggest betting upsets in UFC history, he faced a lot of questions. His wins were all impressive performances, but Smith still had not proven much past his ability to score a first-round knockout; and a pre-UFC loss to John Gunther, a one-dimensional grinder who later proved himself as a minus athlete for the UFC level, loomed large when it came to Smith’s ability to survive in deeper waters. A torn Achilles only made matters worse as Smith missed all of 2020, but “King Kage” rebounded well with a win over Justin Jaynes in February. Jaynes is a notoriously boom-or-bust fighter who has his own issues beyond the first round, but Smith looked sharp and even showed off some wrestling chops on route to an injury stoppage victory. That adds some intrigue to this bout against Australia’s Mullarkey, who is looking to build on the first success of his UFC career.
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At first blush, Mullarkey seemed to be just the type of fighter that would succeed on the Australian scene but struggle in the UFC—a wrestling-first competitor without much in the way of athleticism. However, Mullarkey has shown enough toughness and doggedness that his approach just may work, even if his UFC career did get off to a rough start. Mullarkey lost an absolute war to Brad Riddell that has aged well with the latter’s success, then lost a controversial decision to Fares Ziam. Mullarkey snapped his losing streak with a quick knockout of Worthy, and the Aussie has the type of style that could give Smith fits. That Gunther loss still causes concern against any opponent willing to apply pressure and wrestle, but Smith looked good enough against Jaynes that the bet is he can keep the fight standing enough to cause some damage and take this bout on the scorecards. The pick is Smith via decision.
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