Preview: UFC on ESPN 11 ‘Blaydes vs. Volkov’ Prelims

Lightweights

Max Rohskopf (5-0) vs. Austin Hubbard (11-4)

ODDS: Rohskopf (-170), Hubbard (+150)

Hubbard came into the UFC as a perfectly fine prospect, even if he does not have much of a standout skill at this level. He is a bit of a defensive sieve, but he has good size for the division and can hold his own anywhere in terms of offense. However, outside of his win over Kyle Prepolec, the UFC has been content to throw Hubbard into the deep end against high-level grapplers like Davi Ramos and Mark Madsen, who have handled him with ease. It looked like Hubbard might get a bit of a reprieve when Joe Solecki was pulled from this bout, but into the void steps a promising promotional newcomer. Rohskopf was a standout collegiate wrestler and has supplemented his base skills with an aggressive and creative submission game. Hubbard has a chance here, particularly if he can survive into the later rounds where Rohskopf is still unproven. With that said, the newcomer should take control of this early and run things from there. The pick is Rohskopf via first-round submission.