Preview: UFC Houston Prelims

Welterweights

Philip Rowe vs. Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani

BETTING ODDS: Lebosonoyani (-210); Rowe (+170)

Rowe (11-6; 4-4 UFC) steps in on about a month’s notice in place of Austin Vanderford to test the Dana White's Contender Series Season 9 alum, Lebosnoyani. Rowe is a frustrating fighter: a massive welterweight who can deliver numbing power at range with an array of accurate punches and kicks, slick grappling and excellent durability who takes far too long to get into gear—if he does at all. The Queens, New York native sits at .500 in the UFC, which is maddening because you can make a solid argument that he was the more skilled and more dangerous fighter in every single fight. Even when he wins, he can look inert for minutes on end before coming alive late and blasting his opponent with a flurry of offense that he presumably could have uncorked at any time, as he did in third-round knockouts of Ange Loosa and Niko Price.

Lebosnoyani (9-2; 0-0 UFC) carries little or none of Rowe’s underachiever vibe, but there appears to be more of a ceiling for the 27-year-old Californian. Lebosnoyani is a powerful athlete, but compact by welterweight standards, and will be dwarfed by Rowe. His fantastic head kick knockout on the Contender Series might inspire visions of a new lights-out addition to the division, but that is not his usual game. His striking and wrestling are both basic but effective, powered by his physicality and high motor, and when he manages to haul his opponent down, he is a relentless force on the ground.

This is an interesting fight to handicap, because there is enormous upset potential; Rowe will be much bigger, much more experienced and is a proven finisher against a far higher level of competition than Lebosnoyani has faced thus far. The UFC newcomer will eventually hit a wall in the welterweight division, and it may happen immediately on Saturday, but given Rowe’s known tendency to give away the first round of most of his fights—and sometimes the second—it’s hard to trust him to fight to his best advantage. The pick is Lebosnoyani by decision.

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