Preview: UFC 322 Prelims

Middleweights

Gregory Rodrigues (17-6, 8-3 UFC) vs. Roman Kopylov (14-4, 6-4 UFC)

BETTING ODDS: Rodrigues (-166), Kopylov (+140)

This should be an entertaining affair, which is essentially true of all Rodrigues fights. “Robocop” comes from a grappling background, but you wouldn’t know it based on the majority of his fights, as he has spent most of his career attempting to march down his opponents and hunt for the knockout. Rodrigues isn’t much for defense, which has come back to bite him a few times. His Dana White’s Contender Series knockout loss to Jordan Williams in 2020 was a surprise at the time and a massive upset in retrospect, and a similar 2023 defeat to Brunno Ferreira made Rodrigues’ aggression look like a fatal flaw. Instead, that Ferreira loss seemed to be the impetus needed for Rodrigues to start rounding out his game. He mauled Denis Tiuliulin on the ground in his rebound win and has since shown a much more balanced level of aggression, even if, at the end of the day, he’s still clearly someone who would rather just add to his highlight reel. Rodrigues’ first main event, which came against Jared Cannonier in February, does suggest that he has a clear ceiling even in his current form. Cannonier survived some rough early going, but Rodrigues looked like a fighter who peters out as he runs out of ideas rather than someone that builds over time. With that said, he’s still a consistently violent fighter with a high floor, and a frightening knockout of Jack Hermansson in June gave Rodrigues back any momentum he might have lost from the Cannonier result. Rodrigues looks to continue his comeback trail against Kopylov, who also seems to be settling in on the fringes of the UFC’s middleweight rankings.

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Kopylov looked like an interesting talent on the Russian scene, favoring volume over power to outstrike his opponents over the long haul, but it took him several years to find his footing at the UFC level. Injuries and visa issues slowed down Kopylov’s career at the start, and during his rare trips to the Octagon, he looked overpowered and lost against more athletic opposition. Kopylov eventually learned to sit down on his punches just a bit, which has made him an entertaining knockout artist who can flow quite well once he gets the ball rolling downhill. Kopylov can also still look quite lackluster given the wrong matchup. He’s a much worse fighter whenever an opponent can get him moving backwards, and while he has done better to deal with those stylistic issues over the years, he still eventually tends to fold in the face of consistent and well-rounded pressure. Given those realities, Rodrigues should be able to take this fight over in short order, even if Kopylov figures to put up a game effort in a losing battle. The pick is Rodrigues via second-round submission.

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