UFC News & FeaturesWelterweights
Carlston Harris (17-5, 2-1 UFC) vs. Jared Gooden (22-8, 1-3 UFC)Advertisement
Some late reshuffling has resulted in what is still an interesting welterweight pairing. The UFC’s first fighter from Guyana, Harris was already a seasoned vet upon signing with the promotion early in 2021. He figured to slot into the middle of the UFC’s welterweight division, but those expectations were raised a bit after his first two fights—quick wins over Christian Aguilera and Impa Kasanganay. Those expectations came back to earth a bit with a loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov that was just as one-sided, though that has dulled a bit with Rakhmonov’s success in the meantime. After some late opponent changes, Harris’ chance to rebound comes over a year later against a UFC returnee in Gooden. The 29-year-old Gooden has the type of effective but limited game that should serve him well on the regional scene while finding less consistent success in major promotions. A tall athlete, “Nite Train” is an upright boxer content to march forward and trade with his opponent. Even if Gooden has not been knocked out quite as often as expected, it still leaves him open to take damage and able to be easily outmaneuvered, both of which were clear problems in the three losses that dotted his first four-fight UFC tenure. Harris has a fairly basic approach, swinging for the knockout before pursuing some ugly takedowns, both of which figure to work here, even if Gooden remains consistently dangerous. The pick is Harris via first-round knockout.
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