Preview: UFC Fight Night 182 Prelims

Heavyweights

Don'Tale Mayes (7-4) vs. Roque Martinez (15-6-2)

ODDS: Mayes (-225), Martinez (+185)

Mayes is an interesting talent, even if his style has not coalesced into anything overwhelmingly effective. He is surprisingly agile for a man his size and takes advantage of that accordingly, adopting a karate style of sorts that involves a lot of spinning strikes. When it works, it looks great, but he has been unable to get much done against Ciryl Gane and Rodrigo Nascimento Ferreira in his two UFC fights to date, as both opponents were able to exploit his complete lack of a ground game. Martinez is also looking to find his first UFC win, as the Guamanian did not get the chance to show much against Alexander Romanov in September. Martinez can go a lot more than his formless frame would suggest, but he has often had to absorb damage until he can outlast his opponents. Picking this type of heavyweight bout is folly, as neither man is particularly reliable, but Mayes’ physical advantages have to make him the favorite. The pick is Mayes via second-round knockout, though this one is all about the entertainment value.