Rodrigues was one of the standouts of this most recent season of
Dana White’s Contender Series. A bit of a mystery man coming off
the Brazilian scene, Rodrigues impressively shut down Santo
Curatolo to earn a contract, showing some solid defensive
wrestling and putting together plenty of effective offense. After a
bit of a delay, “KR” finally makes his UFC debut in a potentially
fun bout against Vergara, who finds himself suddenly in need of a
win. Vergara was another Contender Series participant in 2021, and
the hope was that his contract-earning victory was a moment where
he turned a corner. Up until that point, Vergara was an
entertaining scrapper who needed to win wars of attrition, so it
was nice to see him put down Bruno Korea in just 41 seconds with
some brutal combinations and a knee to the body. However, Vergara’s
UFC debut, a November loss to Ode
Osbourne, dulled most of that momentum. It was a solid enough
performance in a clear defeat, but it did raise the worry that
Vergara just does not have the level of speed or athleticism to
find consistent success in the shark tank that is the UFC’s
flyweight division. He is still extremely durable, so he might gut
out a win here, but this figures to be another fight where
Rodrigues pours on the offense against an opponent who refuses to
go away.
FEELY'S PREDICTION: The pick is Rodrigues via
decision.
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