Preview: UFC 321 Prelims

Lightweights

Ludovit Klein (23-5-1, 7-3-1 UFC) vs. Mateusz Rebecki (20-3, 4-2 UFC)

BETTING ODDS: Klein (-135), Rebecki (+114)

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Rebecki has been on a heater recently in terms of entertainment value, and he looks to continue that streak—along with getting a win—in this assignment. Rebecki impressed on the Contender Series in 2022, then went about continuing to prove himself as a bowling ball of violence. He can grab a submission or land a knockout blow, but at its base, his approach is built much more around winning a war of attrition and crashing into his opponent with the expectation that they will eventually break first. Diego Ferreira was surprisingly able to outlast Rebecki in May 2024 to hand him his first UFC loss, and he has now seemingly settled into an action role, with his last two bouts each winding up as “Fight of the Year” contenders. Rebecki and Myktybek Orolbai essentially took turns nearly finishing each other in a narrow win for the Pole, and his last fight against Chris Duncan saw him march forward and do a lot of good work while still eating the much cleaner strikes. This time around, Rebecki draws a matchup that might be in his sweet spot of being both potentially violent and forgivable, as he takes on Klein. Slovakia’s Klein came to the UFC in 2020 as a featherweight who lived up to his “Mr. Highlight” nickname but quickly had the flaws in his game exposed. He could be an absolute terror from range given time and space to work but could easily be taken out of his game and outworked by an opponent willing to put on the pressure. Klein moved up to lightweight in 2022, which paid serious dividends, as he went undefeated in his first seven bouts at 155 pounds. However, a lot of those same issues persisted. While Klein was still able to land with enough power to win rounds in his new weight class, he was clearly worse under constant pressure. His winning streak earned him a shot at Mateusz Gamrot earlier this year, but it wasn’t much of a shock when the former two-division KSW champion—a consistently effective wrestler—was able to take Klein to the mat early and often. Rebecki doesn’t figure to neutralize Klein quite that much, but his commitment to pressure should make this the Polish fighter’s type of fight, putting him on the winning side of the output equation. The pick is Rebecki via decision.


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