Preview: UFC Vegas 105 Prelims

Bantamweights

Daniel Santos (12-2, 2-1 UFC) vs. Davey Grant (16-7, 7-6 UFC)

ODDS: Santos (-162), Grant (+136)

Grant’s UFC career got off to a slow start to say the least. After coming in as runner-up on “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2013, the Englishman spent the better part of five years on the shelf, briefly staying healthy enough in 2016 to sneak in two fights. Since 2018, “Dangerous” has been able to keep up an active schedule and become one of the bantamweight division’s most reliably entertaining fighters. Grant’s technique might not be the best, but his unorthodox approach allows him to land hard and outscrap a lot of prospects on the feet, all while having a similarly tricky ground game in his back pocket. Top bantamweight prospects with either high-level athleticism or better technique can outwork him—Grant’s last three losses have come to Marlon Vera, Adrian Yanez and Daniel Marcos—but even then, his aggression and durability means those wins are rarely clean. For his next test, Grant takes on Santos, who’s returning from his own long layoff after nearly two years out of action. “Willycat” is firmly in the mold of his fellow Chute Boxe Diego Lima teammates, favoring pressure and aggression over all else, and Santos has the right combination of doggedness and durability to pull it off better than most. Santos’ first two UFC fights seemed to paint a pretty clear picture of how to either succeed or fail against the Brazilian, as Julio Arce successfully outmaneuvered him while John Castaneda tried to outpace him and wound up eating a come-from-behind knockout. His last bout showed at least one new wrinkle, with Santos mixing in a surprising amount of wrestling to beat Johnny Munoz Jr. Trying that approach might be a mistake here considering Grant’s skills on the mat, but perhaps this stays as a nip-tuck striking match given that each man is capable of absorbing as much offense as he throws out. Grant might be the smarter pick, but Santos seems worth the flier, if only because he’s likely to get the type of straight-ahead fight that he prefers. Nevertheless, this should be a close one. The pick is Santos via decision.

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