Welterweights
Bryan Battle (10-2, 5-1 UFC) vs. Kevin Jousset (10-2, 2-0 UFC)A compelling pairing of two streaking welterweights should set the winner up for a big fight. The UFC decided to revive “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2021, and when Battle won the season’s middleweight bracket, it didn’t register as any sort of game-changing moment. Battle was obviously a fun fighter and inexperienced enough to have some potential, but he didn’t read as much of an athlete, which suggested his approach—built around overwhelming his opponents with pace and volume—would quickly hit a clear ceiling. That might have held true had Battle stayed down at 185 pounds, but he instead quickly cut down to welterweight, which looks to have been an excellent choice. Leaner and meaner, Battle now reads as much more athletic while also usually having a clear size advantage on his opponents. That seems to have coincided with him figuring some things out surrounding his game. He can still lean on pace when needed, but he has proven to have a knack for leveraging his size as a sniping striker, complete with some newfound knockout power. After getting outwrestled by Rinat Fakhretdinov in 2022, Battle has reeled off three straight wins and looked impressive every step of the way. Next up for “The Butcher” is Jousset, who makes his return to France for his most significant UFC bout to date.
Born in France, Jousset settled in Australia in his 20s and eventually took up mixed martial arts, putting together a successful regional career before getting the late-notice call for an event Down Under about a year ago. Part of the highly regarded City Kickboxing team, Jousset is well-trained and impressively effective, picking his spots as a striker while possessing some sneaky skills on the ground, which he showed off in his UFC debut against Kiefer Crosbie. “Air” seems set to maximize his athletic gifts, but the main issue is a lack of athleticism compared to his opponents. Jousset is large for the division but stock-stiff, which figures to be a liability at some point, if only in terms of the sheer speed of his reflexes. Jousset did well to make up the athleticism gap his last time out against Kenan Song, but the Korean traditionally been slow-paced and content to throw one strike at a time. Given Battle’s relative fluidity, this fight might be a much tougher ask. It will be interesting to see how Battle approaches this, as he might be better off abandoning his recent developments in terms of patience. Each man is at some rare size parity, so Jousset has a solid shot at winning this if it turns into a slow-paced striking match. With that said, the bet is that Battle will turn up the pace and come out the better for it, even if Jousset figures to have his moments. The pick is Battle via decision.
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Carneiro vs. St. Denis
Imavov vs. Allen
Brito vs. Gomis
Battle vs. Jousset
Charriere vs. Miranda
Ziam vs. Frevola
The Prelims