Featherweights
#12 FW | Sodiq Yusuff (12-2, 5-1 UFC) vs. Don Shainis (12-3, 0-0 UFC)It will be interesting to see if Yusuff can find a new gear, since it seems like he has plateaued in recent years. Of course, there are worse fates than if “Super Sodiq” stays in his current position, given that Yusuff essentially came to the UFC as a readymade Top 15 featherweight after an impressive win over Mike Davis on Dana White’s Contender Series. From there, Yusuff quickly moved up the rankings behind his powerful striking game, stringing together four wins that included impressive victories over veterans Sheymon Moraes and Andre Fili. However, after the Fili win early in 2020, Yusuff’s career has stalled out a bit. Part of that is inactivity—this is essentially Yusuff’s third fight over the past three years—but Arnold Allen made him look a little one-dimensional in handing him his first UFC loss, and the Nigerian-American did not show much in the way of new wrinkles in a rebound victory over Alex Caceres in March. After some late shuffling, Yusuff gets a clear step back with a UFC newcomer in Shainis. A well-traveled competitor on the Northeast scene, “Shameless” should be able to cause some damage up to a certain level on the UFC’s featherweight roster. He is a fireplug of a fighter with some impressive resilience and can be quite persistent with his willingness to charge forward with powerful strikes in pursuit of a takedown. If he survives the early going, there is a chance he can make this an ugly affair—Yusuff is still a strong enough wrestler and grappler in his own right to take this—but Shainis figures to march forward into plenty of pain almost immediately out of the gates. The pick is Yusuff via first-round knockout.
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Dern vs. Yan
Brown vs. Trinaldo
Barcelos vs. Jones
Yusuff vs. Shainis
Castaneda vs. Santos
Davis vs. Borshchev
The Prelims