Preview: UFC Vegas 104 Prelims

Bantamweights

Josias Musasa (8-0, 0-0 UFC) vs. Carlos Vera (11-4, 0-1 UFC)

ODDS: Musasa (-650), Vera (+470)

If nothing else, this should be an interesting clash of styles. Musasa is one of the more fascinating signees coming off the most recent season of the Contender Series. Fighting out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Musasa was a dynamic knockout artist on some lower-level African circuits. However, his Contender Series win was a bit of a coming-out party. It wasn’t a dominant performance, but Musasa put together three rounds of consistent offense against the best opponent of his career, showing a combination of skills and potential that’s worth tracking going forward. Musasa gets a curveball in his UFC debut against Ecuador’s Vera, a Ryan Hall protege who fights with the approach that pedigree suggests. Vera combines an unorthodox striking style with a low-percentage but aggressive grappling game that has been able to find submissions at a regional level, but might not be guaranteed to work against UFC-level competition. Vera accomplished little in a late-notice UFC debut against Rinya Nakamura in 2024, but Musasa may be inexperienced enough to fall into one of the Ecuadorian’s tricky techniques in his sophomore effort. Based on what little wrestling Musasa has shown, it seems worth the flier that he can survive here. Vera should still be able to succeed in making this a frustrating fight for everyone involved, but Musasa should be able to land the hardest offense of each round even if this winds up as a grind. The pick is Musasa via decision.

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