Preview: UFC Fight Night 246 ‘Moreno vs. Albazi’

Middleweights

Marc-Andre Barriault (16-8, 5-7 UFC) vs. Dustin Stoltzfus (15-6, 2-5 UFC)

ODDS: Barriault (-205), Stoltzfus (+170)

Barriault has done an impressive job of evolving over the course of his UFC career, and he looks to redeem a rough 2024 campaign in this outing. “Power Bar” was a top Canadian prospect when the UFC picked him up in 2019, but Barriault didn’t seem to have a style that would find much success against a higher level of competition. He was a fairly straightforward mauler, and even his regional career saw him get lucky to score a few narrow decision victories in some grinding fights. Indeed, Barriault immediately found his ceiling on the UFC roster, getting turned back handily in his first three UFC bouts. However, he saw the need to change and upended his life and his training situation, finding a new approach that resulted in plenty of gains. He now has some craft as a striker, showing a surprisingly deft range game compared to his previous standards, with the option to revert back to a grinder if need be. With that said, there are still some flaws, as Barriault is a bit of a plodder and can be caught cold—as he was against Joe Pyfer in July—but he has gone much further than anyone could have expected given where he started. After two straight losses—a split decision against Chris Curtis and the Pyfer knockout—Barriault gets a step back to try and score a win on home soil against Stoltzfus.

An American based out of Germany, Stoltzfus is a solid enough middleweight but is constantly fighting an uphill battle as one of the slowest fighters on the roster. After earning a contract via the Contender Series—thanks to an injury suffered by the aforementioned Pyfer, in fact—Stoltzfus started his UFC career with three hard-fought losses before finally getting in the win column against Dwight Grant; and he has alternated wins and losses since. Stoltzfus’ wrestling has been his most reliable weapon, particularly going back to his days on the German regional scene, and while his striking is decent, that speed deficit means he’s usually in some sort of danger. Even his UFC wins have seen him have to survive and adjust through some dicey moments. It wouldn’t be shocking if Stoltzfus gutted this through enough to lose a tough decision, but Barriault should be the sounder fighter everywhere and handle this fairly easily, particularly with his opponent providing little threat of a knockout. The pick is Barriault via first-round knockout.

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Moreno vs. Albazi
Blanchfield vs. Namajunas
Diniz vs. Lewis
Machado vs. Ribeiro
Barriault vs. Stoltzfus
Malott vs. Giles
The Prelims