Preview: UFC Vegas 105 ‘Emmett vs. Murphy’

Bantamweights

Chang Ho Lee (10-1, 1-0 UFC) vs. Cortavious Romious (9-3, 0-1 UFC)

ODDS: Lee (-166), Romious (+140)

The 2023 winner of the bantamweight “Road to UFC” tournament—injuries forced the final fight to take place in 2024—Lee kicks off his UFC career in earnest here. Much was made over the course of the tournament about Lee’s desire to be known as “The Korean Khabib,” and while he has fallen short of that standard, he has proven to be a tough and dogged fighter. Lee got stalled out or overtaken at points in wrestling-heavy fights but kept making things happen, whether it was staging comebacks with some brutal ground-and-pound or simply landing enough in the clinch to win a slow-paced fight. It’s a solid if unspectacular package that should find Lee some success even in a deep bantamweight division, and a win against Romious would be a solid proof of concept.

It’s unclear exactly what to make of Romious, who has made most of his hay as a wild finisher before seemingly retooling his game after a 2023 loss on the Contender Series, which eventually resulted in his upending his life and changing camps. Romious’ return engagement on DWCS in 2024 was a workmanlike win against an overmatched opponent that suggested he had found some necessary patience, but that made his proper UFC debut a disappointment, as he hunted for submissions and lost a surprising amount of grappling exchanges to kickboxer Gaston Bolanos. Romious is enough of an athlete that if he takes a smart approach, he should be able to pick Lee apart and turn the wrestling and grappling into a wash. However, his last performance suggests he will play right into Lee’s game and hunt for submissions while getting outwrestled. The pick is Lee via decision.

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Emmett vs. Murphy
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Lee vs. Romious
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The Prelims