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Preview: UFC 289 Prelims

Dvorak vs. Erceg


Flyweights

#10 FLW | David Dvorak (20-5, 3-2 UFC) vs. Steve Erceg (9-1, 0-0 UFC)

ODDS: Dvorak (-260), Erceg (+220)

This fight does take a hit with Matt Schnell’s late withdrawal but should still provide plenty of enjoyment. Dvorak is looking to rebound from a rough 2022 that dulled a lot of momentum from a hot start to his UFC career. “The Undertaker” did not come to the promotion with much in the way of hype, but the Czech fighter impressed greatly in knocking off Bruno Silva, Jordan Espinosa and Juancamilo Ronderos, outworking his opponents with opportunistic offense and leaning on his durability to see him through any rough stretches. However, Dvorak did not make much headway in attempting to take over his fights against Matheus Nicolau and Manel Kape. Between Nicolau’s technical accuracy and Kape’s athleticism and power, Dvorak’s opponents were able to temper his aggression enough for him to never build any consistent success. Dvorak draws an interesting test in Erceg, an Australian newcomer who quickly got rebooked after his slated UFC debut fell apart a few weeks ago. Tall for the flyweight division, “Astro Boy” can be a bit stiff on the feet, but he shines once he can get his hands on most of his opponents, impressing as a slick grappler while racking up a majority of his wins via submission. If Erceg had to be forced to face a ranked opponent on short notice, Dvorak figures to be one of the more forgiving matchups, as the Czech fighter does not possess the type of high-level athleticism that could blow him out of the water. Dvorak is a solid enough grappler that an Erceg submission win is not a guarantee. From there, the call is that Dvorak has enough speed and power of his own to land some huge offense on the UFC newcomer and close the show. The pick is Dvorak via second-round knockout.

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