Preview: UFC 291 Prelims

Even after some late hits, the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to Salt Lake City this Saturday offers an entertaining slate of prelims. Welterweights take center stage, as the featured spot on the UFC 291 undercard sees Gabriel Bonfim try to follow up on a successful Octagon debut by bringing the violence to Trevin Giles, who has quietly strung together some wins at 170 pounds. However, the biggest fight—figuratively and literally—sees Derrick Lewis try to halt his current late-career slide against Marcos Rogerio de Lima in what should at least start out as a heavyweight banger. Beyond that is the usual mix of well-matched fights, as some rising talents look to answer some questions, with the latest outing for flyweight C.J. Vergara standing out as a particularly good time.

Now to the preview for the UFC 291 “Poirier vs. Gaethje 2” prelims:

Welterweights

Gabriel Bonfim (14-0, 1-0 UFC) vs. Trevin Giles (16-4, 7-4 UFC)

ODDS: Bonfim (-320), Giles (+265)

Giles’ UFC career has been a frustrating ride thus far. A late-notice signee in 2017, “The Problem” looked like a well-rounded finisher and scored some impressive wins before a perplexing 2019 stalled most of his momentum. Giles continued to flash a lot of offensive tools, but his lack of defensive awareness walked him into sudden comeback losses at the hands of Zak Cummings and Gerald Meerschaert. That mix of offensive potency and defensive flammability continued to mark Giles’ middleweight career and even his first fight down at welterweight in 2022, when he was matched with a tall athlete in Michael Morales and ate another finish for his efforts. However, Giles’ two wins since have suggested he could make things work at 170 pounds going forward, even if it is in about the least inspiring fashion, with the San Antonio native using his physical gifts and well-rounded skills to neutralize his opponents and mostly take any danger out of the fight. That may prove difficult to do against Bonfim, the less technically sound but more dynamic of the two brothers that made their UFC debuts earlier this year. Even though “Marretinha” finds most of his finishes via submission, his approach mostly focuses on marching forward and hunting for a knockout—a script that played out in the aforementioned UFC debut in January. Mounir Lazzez looked for a takedown in the middle of a striking exchange and immediately found himself in a guillotine choke for his efforts. Given that Giles finds himself at parity here in terms of size and athleticism, this looks like a fight where he will not be able to avoid danger for long given the Brazilian’s aggression. The pick is Bonfim via first-round knockout.

Jump To »
Bonfim vs. Giles
Rogerio de Lima vs. Lewis
Kopylov vs. Ribeiro
Matthews vs. Flowers
Vergara vs. Salvador
Semelsberger vs. Medic
Maverick vs. Cachoeira