Flyweights
Stewart Nicoll (8-0, 0-0 UFC) vs. Jesus Santos Aguilar (10-2, 2-1 UFC)UFC 305: Du Plessis vs. Adesanya Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!
This should be an interesting debut for Nicoll. Australia’s Nicoll has looked solid to date on the regional scene, doing his best work as a wrestler and grappler but setting things up well with a striking game heavy on pressure while also showing a decent amount of patience. Given that his career has mostly been one-way traffic and that the Australian scene is still generally subpar in terms of churning out wrestlers, it’s time for Nicoll to get a step up in competition on the international scene, which comes here against Aguilar. Mexico’s Aguilar’s approach is fairly straightforward, mostly built around winging as much power as possible in an attempt to crash into his opponents and get into grappling exchanges, at which point he usually jumps for his signature guillotine choke. Tatsuro Taira was enough of a submission artist in his own right to shut Aguilar down and earn a finish himself. However, Aguilar has stormed back in impressive fashion, quickly knocking out Shannon Ross before earning a controversial win over Mateus Mendonca in February. This is basically a litmus test to see if Nicoll can handle the jump up to the toughest opponent of his career, and he looks solid enough to be worth the flier. The pick is Nicoll via decision.
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Nicoll vs. Aguilar