Light heavyweights look for their first UFC win in this
striker-versus-grappler matchup. Turkalj came to Dana White’s
Contender Series in 2022 with a decent bit of hype, and while “The
Pleasure Man” certainly brought the pre-fight charisma, the fun
came to a halt once his fight started. Turkalj’s wild striking can
make things an entertaining adventure, but the Swede is at his most
comfortable when he can implement his wrestling; and his Dana
White’s Contender Series win over Acacio
dos Santos was an ugly decision that came via a low-output
grind. Turkalj was not granted a contract immediately but still
found his way to the UFC as a late-notice sacrificial lamb a few
weeks later, stepping in against surging heavyweight prospect
Jailton
Almeida and getting run over for his troubles. With his foot in
the door, Turkalj cuts back down to 205 pounds to take on a fellow
DWCS alum in Petrino, who did in fact earn a contract outright in
September. Petrino is much more the typical prospect that gets
picked up from DWCS nowadays, a high-upside slugger with a thin
resume, though the Brazilian at least took out historically
flammable UFC vet Gadzhimurad
Antigulov in 2021. Takedown defense proved to be a weakness for
Petrino before he turned things around on DWCS, which presents a
clear path to victory for Turkalj here in what appears to be a
fairly binary matchup. Either Turkalj wins in a grind or he gets
knocked out trying. It is a toss-up, but the pick is Turkalj via
decision.
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