Bantamweights
NR | Julio Arce (17-5, 4-3 UFC) vs. NR | Daniel Gustavo Santos (8-1, 0-0 UFC)This should be a fun scrap, as Arce continues his run as one of the UFC’s most underrated fighters. The Team Tiger Schulmann representative is not particularly spectacular, but Arce has shown his skill as a reliable all-terrain fighter and a perennial tough out, both in his old weight class of featherweight and now down at bantamweight. Arce’s UFC debut—a 2018 win over fellow newcomer Dan Ige—has aged into the best win of his career, and he has shown a variety of looks in his victories over the years since, whether it was bullying Andre Ewell in his first UFC win at bantamweight or defaulting towards his typically more evasive style. At featherweight, Arce struggled to clear the hurdle of athletes who could match his pace or technical level—even so, losses to Sheymon Moraes and Hakeem Dawodu resulted in entertaining split decisions—which sadly seems to have carried forward to 135 pounds, as he is coming off the first knockout loss of his career to Yadong Song. Still, Arce should continue holding his own in a deep bantamweight division, including in this assignment, as he finds himself on welcoming duty for a UFC newcomer.
Santos is talented and should be yet another intriguing entrant for the UFC at 135 pounds, but a lot of his style seems based on marching down his opponents and trying to land with power, often with some manner of flashy or spinning strike. “Willycat” is certainly a dogged fighter who can march through damage and also show some things on the mat, but he does seem like the type of straight-ahead opponent that Arce can outmaneuver and outpoint, even if the Brazilian figures to have a few big moments of offense that make it a tough win. Santos should make this interesting, but the pick is Arce via decision.
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