Preview: UFC on ESPN 37 ‘Kattar vs. Emmett’

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Even with a strong main draw for UFC on ESPN 37, the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to Austin, Texas, this Saturday still has enough left over to put together a fun eight-bout slate of prelims. In an increased rarity, the featured pairing is also the clear highlight, with Houston native—and increasingly impressive bantamweight prospect—Adrian Yanez coming back to Texas for what should be an enjoyable scrap opposite Tony Kelley. Beyond that, there is a solid mix of action and some prospects to watch. Jasmine Jasudavicius looks to build on an impressive UFC debut against Natalia Cristina da Silva, and a welterweight encounter between Court McGee and Jeremiah Wells matches an impressive physical talent against one of the division’s steadiest vets. Even deeper on the card, there is a well-matched bantamweight scrap between Eddie Wineland and Cody Stamann, along with two surprisingly relevant middleweight bouts. From top to bottom, this is an event worth tapping into.

Now to the preview for the UFC on ESPN 37 “Kattar vs. Emmett” prelims:

Bantamweights

Adrian Yanez (15-3, 4-0 UFC) vs. Tony Kelley (8-2, 2-1 UFC)

ODDS: Yanez (-320), Kelley (+250)

Yanez has provided absolute bangers throughout his UFC career, and the Houston native's return to Texas here should be no exception. Yanez blasted Brady Huang on the Contender Series to earn a contract in 2020, but the worry going forward was what would happen for Yanez if he was unable to find a knockout. A practiced and powerful boxer, Yanez was often content to start slow and stay overly patient with the confidence that he could finish his opponent at some point within 15 minutes. Yanez has obviously improved during his UFC tenure, but those core issues have still been present in his last two fights, big tests against Randy Costa and Davey Grant. Neither resulted in a clean victory, but Yanez showed an unbreakable chin and consistent willingness to throw down that should serve him well in a deep bantamweight division. Up next for Yanez is Kelley, who was completely off the radar when he got the late-notice UFC call in 2020. Kelley lost an absolute war to Kevin Aguilar in 2016 that apparently left an impression on UFC matchmakers, as he had all of one fight between that and his signing. Kelley has been a grimy scrapper during his three UFC bouts to date, though he is at least been somewhat adaptable in his approach, mixing things up to a much more clinch- and wrestling-heavy style to defeat Costa in December. However, he does tend to fade as fights go on, and he does not appear to be the kind of one-shot finisher that can take advantage of Yanez’s slow starts in any type of major way. If Kelley relies on a more neutralizing style as he did against Costa, he could bank some rounds, but the ending phase of this fight still figures to be Kelley tiring out as Yanez heats up and starts to tee off. The pick is Yanez via third-round stoppage.

Jump To »
Kattar vs. Emmett
Cerrone vs. Lauzon
Holland vs. Means
Duraev vs. Buckley
Ismagulov vs. Kutateladze
Rodrigues vs. Marquez
Yanez vs. Kelley
Jasudavicius vs. Cristina da Silva
McGee vs. Wells
Ramos vs. Chavez
de Paula vs. Oliveira
Stamann vs. Wineland
Hawes vs. Winn
Daukaus vs. Dolidze