Preview: UFC Fight Night 245 ‘Hernandez vs. Pereira’

Featherweights
Darren Elkins (28-11) vs. Daniel Pineda (28-16, 3 NC)
Odds: Pineda (-118), Elkins (-102)

Two featherweight veterans square off in a bout that somehow hasn't happened already at some point during their long careers. Daniel Pineda's career is the hope for any finish-oriented brawler, as despite being 39 years old with over a decade and a half of experience under his belt, "The Pit" still has a young man's approach; Pineda's fought nearly fifty times and somehow has yet to win a fight via decision. Now in his second stint with the UFC, Pineda's continued to live up to that billing; he's developed the timing and patience to pick his best spots, but nearly everything that Pineda tries is geared towards ending the fight, with the clear acceptance that he might be putting himself in position to lose in the process. After a win over Tucker Lutz early last year, Pineda's perennial gambit has worked against him in losses to Alex Caceres and Nathaniel Wood, so a fight here against Darren Elkins - who is still chugging along at 40 years old - is a much-needed opportunity to get back in the win column. It's a bit of a shock that Elkins is still going, since his nickname of "The Damage" was mostly earned through his ability to keep taking abuse while marching forward in an attempt to out-wrestle his opponents. That grinding style managed to get Elkins into the fringes of the featherweight title picture until Alexander Volkanovski took him apart in 2018, and Elkins's subsequent performances suggested he was in the midst of a career-ending slide. It's hard to say Elkins looks great at this point, even with some improvements as a striker over the years, but he's managed to alternate wins and losses over the last three years and change; the defeats have been brutal, but there's enough chaff on the UFC roster that Elkins can still manage to drag into his type of fight. There's a chance that Pineda fits into that last category, as he is somewhat willing to fight in whatever phase his opponent prefers, but he's a good enough grappler that he should be hard for Elkins to control, and it seems inevitable that one of Pineda's hard strikes will eventually hit its target. The pick is Pineda via second-round knockout.

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Hernandez vs. Pereira
Font vs. Phillips
Johnson vs. Sumudaerji
Smotherman vs. Hadley
Elkins vs. Pineda
The Prelims