Preview: UFC Fight Night 222 Prelims

Featherweights

Francis Marshall (7-0, 1-0 UFC) vs. William Gomis (11-2, 1-0 UFC)

ODDS: Marshall (-205), Gomis (+175)

Two young featherweight prospects look to answer some questions in this pairing. France’s Gomis was a late addition to the UFC’s debut in Paris in September, and “Jaguar” put in a strong performance in his win over Jarno Errens. Gomis mostly leaned on his wrestling to find success, which has proven to be a solid change-up for the 25-year-old in the past. Typically, Gomis has been content to flit around as a rangy striker first before crashing into his opponents. The talent is there for Gomis, but it would be nice to see him develop some deeper gameplans to get him past opponents where an athletic advantage alone will not be enough to win. It will be interesting to see if he brings any new wrinkles into this fight against Marshall, who is in a similar spot. Marshall is well-rounded and poised for someone who just turned 24 years old, but he is clearly in need of some more experience to build out some depth to his approach. There are a lot of right ideas for “Fire” in terms of applying pace and pressure, but he still mostly leans on his athleticism and durability to see him through to a win. That could work for Marshall here, particularly if he proves himself to be the stronger wrestler whenever these two collide. However, Gomis’ speed advantage and Marshall’s lack of defense seem to line up where the Frenchman can put in plenty of work to separate himself on the scorecards, if not score an outright knockout. It is a good matchup that should benefit both men in the long run. The pick is Gomis via decision.

Jump To »
Glenn vs. Giagos
Jackson vs. Yahya
Dumont vs. Rosa
Tafa vs. Usman
Marshall vs. Gomis
Silva vs. Cachoeira
Danaa vs. Hiestand