The bantamweight division is already an embarrassment of riches,
but Castaneda could break through and add himself to the list of
interesting talents at 135 pounds. After failing to earn a contract
with a win on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2017, Castaneda
eventually found his way to the UFC three years later as a late
replacement. At that point, “Sexi Mexi” looked like a fighter
destined to be stuck on the UFC fringes. On the regional scene,
Castaneda had the requisite level of wrestling and grappling to
switch things up and score some wins, but he did not appear to have
one particular skill on which to hang his hat against better
competition. A tough debut against Nathaniel
Wood seemed to drive that point home, but Castaneda has strung
together two impressive wins since, knocking out Eddie
Wineland and handily beating Miles Johns
on his way to a third-round submission. Castaneda looks to make it
three straight victories against Brazil’s Santos, who is coming off
a fun loss in his UFC debut in April. An experienced veteran still
on the right side of 30, Santos has a fairly straight-ahead
approach built around marching down his opponents and throwing
power, often in the form of a spinning strike. Julio Arce
was able to outmaneuver the “Willycat” over three rounds, but
Castaneda’s scrappier style may make that proposition a bit more
difficult, particularly since Santos does not seem to get
discouraged by a lack of success. This should be a nip-tuck affair,
but the thinking is that Castaneda can still mix things up enough
to come out on the right end of things. The pick is Castaneda via
decision.
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