Preview: UFC Vegas 107 Prelims

Lightweights

Bolaji Oki (9-2, 1-1 UFC) vs. MarQuel Mederos (10-1, 2-0 UFC)

ODDS: Oki (-180), Mederos (+150)

This is a fascinating and well-matched fight. After a year-plus layoff ahead of his March win over Austin Hubbard, it’s nice to see Mederos take a quick turnaround and step in about two months removed from that fight. Mederos is working on an interesting approach held together by his athleticism, adopting a herky-jerky striking style with constant pressure that he hopes can keep opponents on their toes. Mederos can occasionally land the perfect knockout shot in the process, but there are some ways his game has gone a bit sideways at the UFC level thus far, as he’s not a consistent power puncher and has yet to show a particularly strong wrestling game that could help serve as a backup plan. Mederos has won both of his UFC bouts despite those fights being messy and close, and he looks to keep the momentum going against Oki. Belgium’s Oki is much more in the standard mold of a Contender Series prospect—a clear athlete and power puncher that simply needs more experience. He looked like a terror throughout his 2023 DWCS victory. However, he was unable to find a knockout in a tepid win over Timothy Cuamba in his UFC debut, then got caught in a guillotine choke against Chris Duncan in September. The tools are still there for Oki to handle a lot of opponents who choose to meet him head-on, and for all of Mederos’ motion, it does seem like he will wind up leaving himself open for a lot of the Belgian’s offense. Oki should land the harder shots and looks to have the level of physical strength needed to at least make the wrestling a stalemate. The pick is Oki via decision.

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Oki vs. Mederos
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