This is a big bounce-back opportunity for Crute, who looks to
rebound from a disappointing 2021 and a lost 2022. The Australian
was just 22 years old upon making his UFC debut in 2018 and seemed
a bit overhyped, but he got off to a solid start. Paul Craig
and Sam
Alvey were the type of tricky veteran tests that could easily
take advantage of such a raw prospect, but Crute navigated his way
through danger and finished both of them. Since then, there has
been a kill-or-be-killed tenor to Crute’s last few fights—none of
his last six have made it to a second round—as aggression has
marked his approach. He ran through Michal
Oleksiejczuk and Modestas
Bukauskas but suffered a leg injury against Anthony
Smith before getting quickly knocked out by Jamahal
Hill. Those last two results marked the entirety of Crute’s
2021 campaign. There were some silver linings—he was doing well
against Smith before that injury, and Hill has since ascended to
champion status—but after being out of action for all of 2022, he
could use a win at home against Menifield. Nearly a decade older
than Crute, Menifield has settled into a solid groove after coming
to the UFC as a raw prospect in his own right. Initially a knockout
artist and little else, “Atomic Alonzo” has not really rounded out
his game so much as found some consistency. He is big and durable,
and he is now able to throw power for 15 consistent minutes. Most
opponents do not even last that long, but those who do usually need
to find a way to scare Menifield off in order to walk away with the
win. Ed
Herman could not, but William
Knight notably threw enough power of his own to coerce
Menifield into a losing effort. Crute could wind up throwing enough
at the wall to keep Menifield on his toes, but even in an ugly
three-round fight, it does seem like an uphill battle for the
Aussie to eke out a win while his opponent is throwing much harder
offense and also being difficult to outwrestle. Again, that comes
with the caveat that Crute has to survive for 15 minutes—a coin
flip in itself. The pick is Menifield via first-round knockout.
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