Preview: UFC on ESPN 22 Prelims

Bantamweights

NR | Tony Gravely (20-6, 1-1 UFC) vs. NR | Anthony Birchak (16-7, 2-3 UFC)

ODDS: Gravely (-310), Birchak (+255)

When the UFC opted not to renew Birchak’s contract in 2016, it came as a surprise. “El Toro” was coming off of a win over Dileno Lopes and had proven to be reliably entertaining over the course of his four UFC appearances. Four years later, the promotion corrected its mistake, re-signing Birchak as a late-notice replacement for a bout with Gustavo Lopez in November. Birchak is still essentially the same fighter, relying on hot starts and tense aggression to find most of his success, but he is also capable of getting quickly sparked out, as he was in that return bout against Lopez. Birchak looks to rebound against Gravely, an interesting prospect who feels like he should be capable of more. Gravely put together a strong resume prior to his 2019 bout on Dana White’s Contender Series—both in terms of level of competition and sheer volume of fights—and he has shown both striking power and some strong wrestling. However, that has yet to coalesce into an excellent performance, as Gravely often gets nothing done with his takedowns or gives up control of his fights. That made for a fun back-and-forth affair in a loss to Brett Johns, but what should have been a cleanly winnable fight against Geraldo de Freitas saw the Brazilian stage a huge third-round comeback after two flat Gravely rounds. It would not be a shock if things suddenly came together and clicked for Gravely, just as it would not be a surprise if Birchak immediately took the fight with one of his hot starts. The call is for it to be somewhere in the middle, with Gravely consistently being able to take Birchak to the mat and not getting much done in an ugly encounter. The pick is Gravely via decision.