Welterweights
Josh Quinlan (5-0, 0-0 UFC) vs. Jason Witt (19-8, 2-3 UFC)Witt looked like a safe bet to fall quickly off the UFC roster, but “The Vanilla Gorilla” has managed to overachieve. Witt is a bit of a throwback as a plodding pressure fighter who looks to swing his way forward into a wrestling game. That served him well on the regional scene, but getting knocked out by Takashi Sato in just 48 seconds in his UFC debut suggested that Witt would not have the speed or durability to hang around in the long term. Witt is still capable of getting sparked out at any time during his fights, but he has put together some impressively gutsy wins when given the opportunity, with a decision over Bryan Barberena about a year ago serving as a huge upset and aging well in the interim. Witt looks to rebound from a February loss to Phil Rowe against an Octagon newcomer in Quinlan. Only a pro since 2019, Quinlan is quite raw, but he is an impressive physical specimen. He may not always be able to dictate the terms of his fights, but he cracks with some thudding power, as evidenced by the 47-second knockout on Dana White’s Contender Series that earned him a contract in September. After failing a drug test, Quinlan’s contract status was up in the air until this debut was announced, and it will be interesting to see how he looks, between the drug test layoff and the fact that this is his toughest test to date. Witt does seem to fall short against anyone with one-shot knockout power, which certainly describes Quinlan, so the newcomer looks to be the much safer bet. However, things may be quite dicey up to that point, so it would not be a shock to see Quinlan suddenly turn things around in a fight he is otherwise losing. The pick is Quinlan via first-round knockout.
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Hill vs. Godinez
Buday vs. Brzeski
Benitez vs. Ontiveros
Osbourne vs. Nam
Zalal vs. Blackshear
Lipski vs. Cachoeira
Quinlan vs. Witt