Preview: UFC Fight Night 199 Prelims

Featherweights

NR | Charles Jourdain (11-4-1, 2-3-1 UFC) vs. NR | Andre Ewell (17-8, 4-4 UFC)

ODDS: Jourdain (-200), Ewell (+170)

This should be an entertaining scrap, though Jourdain cannot help but be in an exciting fight. “Air” Jourdain made his way through the Quebecois regional scene as an athletic striker who could find success with whatever came to mind, and he has slowly been channeling that into a more effective approach after learning some hard lessons against better competition. Jourdain still has not lost the mentality that brought him to the dance, however. He still finds himself gutting through back-and-forth bouts that are probably more even than they need to be, as his defense continues to come around. After dropping his latest entertaining war to Julian Erosa in September, Jourdain welcomes Ewell up to featherweight, which is an interesting proposition. Ewell’s main advantage as a bantamweight was his length, as he had his best performances keeping his opponents at distance and picking them apart from range. Ewell has struggled whenever his fights get out of that comfort zone, though he has put in some obvious work to shore up those weaknesses, even if they are clearly still there. Ewell still has a massive reach advantage that may frustrate Jourdain, but the Canadian should be able to mix things up enough to find something that eventually catches him unawares. The pick is Jourdain via second-round knockout.

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