Preview: UFC 265 Prelims

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Bantamweights

NR | Miles Johns (11-1, 2-1 UFC) vs. NR | Anderson dos Santos (21-8, 1-2 UFC)

ODDS: Johns (-210), dos Santos (+175)

Each man appears flawed enough in a way to make this one interesting. Johns is obviously the higher-upside prospect of these two, but he has been an odd mix of intriguing and frustrating in his three UFC fights to date. The best part of Johns’ repertoire is his wrestling, but even when he can get that part of his game going, it is hard to say he does much with it. He can get takedowns but has not found much in the way of control or submission finishes at a high level. While his striking has a lot in the way of good ideas, he has yet to become a natural at that phase of the game; the gears are obviously turning in his head before he makes his next move, enough so that he can get caught cold, like in his loss to Mario Bautista in 2020. There is a lot to like about Johns, but there is an overall sense that things have yet to fully click, which makes dos Santos a solid next test.

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Brazil’s “Berinja” had a well-traveled career before getting the late-notice UFC call in 2018, and he has the game you would expect of a battle-tested veteran—able to hold his own anywhere and scrap but without one real standout phase to his approach. He put in a game effort in clear losses to Nad Narimani and Andre Ewell but finally got his first UFC win in November, earning a quick submission over Martin Day to show how dangerous he can be in the cage. Johns’ wrestling and athletic advantages should be enough to carry him through to a win, but there are enough defensive holes in his approach that dos Santos should make him uncomfortable at points, particularly on the feet. The pick is Johns via decision.

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