UFC Vegas 45 | Prelim Preview
Saturday, December 18th (7:00 PM EST Main Card, 4:00 PM EST Prelims)
Dustin Stoltzfus vs. Gerald Meerschaert
WATCH - 2 fights ago GM3 was at rock bottom. All the trash talk he did in the lead up to his fight against the hyped up Khamzat Chimaev came back to bite him when he was defeated by a single punch. It was the biggest spotlight GM3 had ever had, and he crumbled under the pressure. It would have been easy to count him out after that but against all odds he has mounted back to back submission wins against heavy favorites. 2 fights ago Stoltzfus was the king of the world, with an amazing highlight slam finish victory on the DWCS which propelled him into the UFC. But since then, he has lost his first 2 UFC fights (against ridiculously tough opponents for a new UFC fighter) and now is facing another tough vet who is favored to send him to the cutting board. Career trajectories have changed quickly for these fighters before, can it happen again?
Raoni Barcelos vs. Victor Henry
WATCH - Forget about lightweight. Bantamweight is the best division in the UFC and if you can't see that you are legally blind. Barcelos won his first 5 UFC fights before finally dropping a loss which was a majority decision that was awarded Fight of the Night. And he never even was in the conversation for the top 15. Henry is debuting in the UFC and recently won 2 fights on Rizin (both by finish) before winning a regional title. These are phenomenal fighters who find themselves largely irrelevant to the division because they are already 34 and lately it seems like a fighter needs to string 10 wins in a row just to move up in this division of killers. That doesn't mean we can't have fun with this one though because both these guys know that any loss at all is death to their careers and they will be looking to show that just because they made it to the UFC on the wrong side of 30 doesn't mean they can't bang like the rest of them!
Justin Tafa vs. Harry Hunsucker
WATCH - It is outrageous that this fight is on the prelims instead of headlining a card of its own. Every single fight that Harry "God Amongst Men" Hunsucker has fought in, in his entire MMA career, has finished inside the 1st round. Justin "Muhammad Ali" Tafa has never had a UFC fight that wasn't the best finish or most exciting fight on the card. Don't let their combined 1-4 UFC record distract you from the fact that these two are the absolute GOATs of permanently unranked heavyweight MMA.
Sijara Eubanks vs. Melissa Gatto
WATCH - When was the last time we had a UFC women's flyweight fight in which both fighters were coming off victories by finish? I feel like this fight is now doomed to go to a boring decision but Gatto is 25, undefeated, and dominated her debut so maybe watch for the 1% chance she's the one to dethrone Shevchenko.
Charles Jourdain vs. Andre Ewell
BATHROOM BREAK - This fight has everything that screams irrelevant coinflip journeymen. Both coming off losses by finish. Both have just as many (or more) losses as wins. Both have fought long enough in the UFC for us to know that they just don't have what it takes to ever come close to getting a ranked opponent. Massive age difference between the fighters. And a late career switch in weight class. Hard pass!
Raquel Pennington vs. Macy Chiasson
BATHROOM BREAK - #8 vs #10, both coming off a 2-win streak. Boring! This fight is so one-week ago. Don't they know this division is about to undergo a glorious best of 7 between Nunes and Pena to determine the true all-time MMA GOAT. Get out of here with this "moving the division along" bull-crap.
Don'Tale Mayes vs. Josh Parisian
BATHROOM BREAK - It's truly a life-changing experience to witness slow paced bottom-of-the-unranked light heavyweight action. Things like paint drying and grass growing don't seem so dull in comparison anymore. But this fight really begs the question, when two absolute snoozers go toe to toe, does it cancel out and create a highlight knockout for the ages? Probably not, but what if?
Jordan Leavitt vs. Matt Sayles
WATCH - A smart man skips the first two hours of the prelims, thus strategically missing the first 4 irrelevant fights and arriving just in time for the good stuff. But you are not a smart man. You are an enlightened genius! Much like the philosopher warrior Jordan "Monkey King" Leavitt who will purge all heretics and scourge the earth of all of those who do not believe that this man will not be the greatest, and smartest, and best dancing fighter of all time!
*Nothing contained in this post is financial advice, please bet at your own risk