Image: John Brannigan/Sherdog.com illustration
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is pulling into the home stretch, and this weekend, at least, it’s set to finish in style.
Add in the (sur)name value of Alexandre Topuria, a mid-card fan favorite in Nicolas Dalby, and a couple of young heavyweight talents, and you have a lineup that sits comfortably aside most other free cable cards this year. Here is the preview for the undercard of UFC Fight Night 265, also known as UFC Qatar:
Featherweights
Bogdan Grad (15-3; 1-1 UFC) vs. Luke Riley (11-0; 0-0 UFC)Odds: Riley (-275); Grad (+225)
Undefeated Cage Warriors standout Riley makes his Octagon debut against two-time Dana White's Contender Series veteran Grad in an intriguing all-European clash at 145 pounds.
If there were a Central Casting for MMA fighters, Grad is what you might get if you called up and asked for “a scrappy Continental Europe overachiever.” The 30-year-old Austrian is neither particularly big nor a standout athlete for the division but has carved out a very respectable record with balanced offensive skills, aggression and pressure. The appropriately nicknamed “Unleashed” comes forward, uncorking a basic repertoire of kickboxing combinations with good power, which he achieves in part by tending to overswing on things.
Combined with his propensity for throwing flying and spinning attacks, Grad’s approach can leave him wide open for his opponents’ strikes, as Tom Nolan showed in blasting him on the Contender Series. He is a decent offensive wrestler, but once on the ground he can give up position too easily, and while he has yet to lose via submission, numerous opponents have had him in trouble on the mat.
For however long his UFC run lasts, Riley is going to be a fun ride. A teammate of Paddy Pimblett, the 26-year-old Englishman is similarly brash and humorous, and if he sticks around, he will be a lightning rod for opponents and a fertile source of sound bites.
Riley shares some of Pimblett’s penchant for getting in wild brawls to his own strategic detriment, but there is a significant difference: While Pimblett sometimes swangs n’ bangs when he should be shooting for takedowns and dragging opponents into his world, striking is Riley’s world. He is a skilled striker, capable of disciplined, technical kickboxing, but often makes things more interesting than they need to be by going toe-to-toe with less talented opponents.
Thus far, the approach has not cost Riley too badly, as evidenced by his spotless record. Grad might be the one to do it, but he has his own tactical and technical foibles on the feet and is probably not quite as quick or hard-hitting as the Brit. Grad could also try to exploit Riley’s takedown defense, which is sometimes hampered by his aggressive approach on the feet, but Grad also shares Riley’s taste for a brawl. With two fighters who favor the same general type of fight, give me the one who is a bit younger, a bit bigger, and riding the naïve confidence of a man who has yet to taste defeat as a professional. The pick is Riley by second-round KO.
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Grad vs. Riley
Dalby vs. Izagakhmaev
Perez vs. Almabayev
Yakhyaev vs. Cerqueira
Almakhan vs. Topuria
Naurdiev vs. Loder
Aliev vs. Rock
Bujlo vs. Freeman