Middleweights
Tresean Gore (4-2, 1-2 UFC) vs. Antonio Trocoli (12-4, 0-1 UFC)After a two-year layoff, it’s time to check in on Gore. He was part of “The Ultimate Fighter” revival in 2021 and looked to have the highest upside of the bunch, even if he was obviously raw as a knockout artist. While “Mr. Vicious” had his moments of violence, he has had trouble getting past opponents who don’t offer him a certain level of respect. His first post-reality show fight saw Bryan Battle drown him in volume, and Cody Brundage was able to return fire and catch Gore for a knockout in his sophomore effort. Things weren’t going particularly well for Gore in his last bout against Josh Fremd, either. However, Gore was at least able to suddenly clamp on a powerful guillotine choke to stage a successful comeback. It has now been over two years since that win over Fremd, and it will be interesting to see what form Gore shows up in after a few major injuries. He could look rusty, or the time off could have served him well heading into this bout against Trocoli.
Trocoli finally made his UFC debut in June in an unsuccessful effort against Sharabutdin Magomedov, ending a five-year saga that got a bit comedic at times. Trocoli initially earned a UFC contract on the Contender Series in 2019, failed his post-fight drug test, then would continually get floated for late-notice debut spots that would eventually fall through. Trocoli was slated for three different UFC debuts until the Magomedov fight finally came through on attempt No. 4. As far as Trocoli’s fighting approach, based on what little he has done over the last half-decade, he mostly looks to clinch with his opponents and swamp them with size and strength, which worked well enough against Magomedov until he completely gassed himself out. Gore still has a ton of questions, but unless Trocoli shows a new gear, he should at least be able to outlast the Brazilian and make something happen eventually, even if getting there might be ugly. The pick is Gore via second-round knockout.
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Zaleski dos Santos vs. Scroggin
Gomes vs. Kowalkiewicz
Radtke vs. Semelsberger
Blackshear vs. Stamann
Mullins vs. Sygula
Romious vs. Bolanos
Gore vs. Trocoli