Preview: UFC 259 Prelims

And that's a wrap!@TElliott125 gets the Anaconda choke in round 2! #UFC219 off to a good start! pic.twitter.com/0hmpQ4daoS

— UFC (@ufc) December 31, 2017

Flyweights

NR | Jordan Espinosa (15-8, 2-3 UFC) vs. #12 | Tim Elliott (16-11-1, 5-9 UFC)

ODDS: Espinosa (-125), Elliott (+105)

Elliott might have the most misleading record in the UFC. While he has only won five of his 14 bouts to date in the promotion, he has been consistently thrown against a tough slate of competition and has basically been the dividing line between contenders and chaff. Elliott’s first UFC stint was a clear demonstration of that dynamic. He lost three straight bouts to Ali Bagautinov, Joseph Benavidez and Zach Makovsky, but he was still ranked when the UFC decided to show him the door. Elliott did quickly earn his ticket back to the UFC via “The Ultimate Fighter,” however, also earning a title fight against Demetrious Johnson that was memorably one of the toughest tests for “Mighty Mouse.” With all that said, Elliott’s style still has some clear issues that only seem to have gotten worse. Elliott has an awkward, movement-heavy style on the feet and looks to turn ground exchanges into non-stop scrambles. While that theoretically should confuse and tire out his opponents, Elliott almost always winds up tiring faster than they do. He is still a tough out and can beat the lower reaches of the division, but it will be interesting to see if he has worked out some kinks ahead of this bout. Espinosa might be the fastest man in the UFC, and he leverages it with a sniping approach. That sometimes leads to some beautiful performances, such as his June win over Mark De La Rosa, but Espinosa does not really make the best of most exchanges. He can be countered by fast-handed opponents, and his willingness to mix things up with a takedown has typically led to his charging into a fight-ending submission. Espinosa could do so again against Elliott. However, for as much as Elliott likes to cause chaos on the ground, he has not proven to be a particularly adept finisher. Espinosa is still quite flawed defensively, but as long as he is able to survive and force Elliott to chase him around, he should start to open up this fight once the veteran begins to tire. The pick is Espinosa via decision.

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