Preview: UFC on ESPN 26 Prelims

Tom FeelyJul 15, 2021


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Heavyweights

Alan Baudot (8-2) vs. Rodrigo Nascimento Ferreira (8-1)
Odds: Nascimento (-340), Baudot (+280)


Ferreira does have one huge plus skill for a heavyweight: "Yogi Bear" is a surprisingly effective wrestler and submission artist in a division badly in need of such talents. Of course, the downside is that everything else for the Brazilian is a bit of an adventure. Ferreira doesn't necessarily immediately look to leverage his strengths, resulting in some meandering fights where he can get clipped on the feet. In fact, his last bout against Chris Daukaus didn't even get that far, as Daukaus took the early advantage and knocked Ferreira out in just 45 seconds. Ferreira figures to rebound here against France's Baudot, who lost to Tom Aspinall on the same October card where Nascimento suffered his last defeat.

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Baudot has some knockout power, but he's a wild striker who didn't even show much on the regional scene; also, he's surprisingly opting to stay at heavyweight, even though most figured he'd cut down to his natural weight class at 205 pounds after taking a late-notice UFC debut. Ferreira's going to give Baudot every bit of the Frenchman's puncher's chance, but this is clearly his fight to lose; the pick is Ferreira via first-round submission.