Preview: UFC Fight Night 244 ‘Royval vs. Taira’

Welterweights

Daniel Rodriguez (17-5, 7-4 UFC) vs. Alex Morono (24-10, 13-7 UFC)

ODDS: Rodriguez (-198), Morono (+164)

Veteran welterweights square off in this confrontation. Rodriguez has had a rough stretch, with his last win coming in 2022, but “D-Rod” has still looked fairly solid in recent years. Rodriguez immediately made himself known in his late-notice UFC debut, finishing Tim Means in 2020, then quietly became one of the division’s dark horses with seven wins in his first eight UFC fights. Rodriguez is a fairly meat-and-potatoes fighter, a sharp boxer who has done well to balance his technique with his scrappiness. While it’s not a shock that he found significant success up to a certain point, it’s also not a surprise that his lack of athleticism and one-dimensional approach would eventually find a ceiling. Indeed, that has come in Rodriguez’s last three fights. He fell short against eternal divisional gatekeeper Neil Magny, got picked apart by top prospect Ian Garry and got outwrestled by Kelvin Gastelum, the last of whom badly mismanaged his weight and leveraged that size advantage as a result. Even with Rodriguez’s lack of recent success, it’s hard to say he has slipped much even as he closes in on his 38th birthday, so he should be game for an attempted rebound against Morono.

Morono has been a fighter with a high floor and a low ceiling during his decade under the UFC banner, and it has been a pleasure to watch him go to work. He might be among the least athletically gifted fighters on the UFC roster, but “The Great White” has a sharp enough mind for fighting that he has usually been able to game plan around more talented opponents. A loss to Santiago Ponzinibbio to cap off 2022 stopped a four-fight winning streak and basically reaffirmed that ceiling. Morono was doing well until Ponzinibbio buckled down and hunted for a knockout, at which point the Texan was clearly overmatched. He has struggled to build much momentum since, alternating wins and losses in his subsequent four fights. Morono’s last two performances have raised some worries that he has slipped past his margin for error. A decision win over Court McGee was a flat performance, and Morono tired badly in his next fight against Niko Price, which can perhaps just be chalked up to taking that bout on a quick turnaround. At any rate, this probably would have been a Rodriguez pick most of the time anyways, owing to his ability to lean on his weapons consistently and throw some sharp counters. The potential for some slippage from Morono only makes that lean stronger. The pick is Rodriguez via decision.

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Royval vs. Taira
Park vs. Tavares
Dawson vs. Garcia
Polastri vs. McKenna
Rodriguez vs. Morono
Alhassan vs. Fremd
The Prelims