Preview: UFC Nashville Prelims

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For a card noticeably short on divisional relevance up top, the undercard of UFC on ESPN 70 actually features several intriguing up-and-coming fighters who are either relatively new to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or to the weight class in which they plan to do work on Saturday. In the former category, Fatima Kline and Eduarda Moura will both enter the Octagon as massive favorites, looking to cement themselves as rising contenders in the strawweight and women’s flyweight divisions, respectively. In the latter category, a pair of Nigerian-American knockout merchants, Kennedy Nzechukwu and Chidi Njokuani, look to keep up the momentum they have built since moving up to heavyweight and down to welterweight. Add in a likely banger between Max Griffin and Chris Curtis in the top prelim, and the six-fight slate is not a bad collection of scraps.

Now to the preview for the UFC Nashville prelims:

Welterweights

Max Griffin (20-11, 8-9 UFC) vs. Chris Curtis (31-12, 1 NC; 5-2, 1 NC UFC)

ODDS: Curtis (-310); Griffin (+250)

Griffin continues to be a tough riddle to solve—for his opponents as well as anyone trying to preview his fights or predict their outcomes. The Californian was a bit of a late bloomer in the UFC, making his way to the promotion after a solid regional career but not cracking the .500 mark until five years and a dozen fights into his tenure. At his best, “Pain” is a tough, athletic and well-rounded competitor who is a classic jack of all trades, master of none. That being the case, his success in the cage often hinges on whether his opponent has a clear advantage over him in some aspect of the game and possesses the tactical acumen to parlay that to his advantage.

Look no further than Griffin’s most recent outing at UFC 310 last December, where Michael Chiesa, as pure a specialist as you’re likely to find in today’s UFC, managed to keep the fight in his wheelhouse and snared Griffin in a late submission. To his credit, Griffin usually tries to fight to his best advantage, with one notable exception being his clash with Michael Morales two years ago, in which he made little attempt to test the undefeated Ecuadorian kickboxer’s ground game. Factor in that Griffin is due to turn 40 this fall, and his always narrow margin of error is growing razor thin.

Curtis, who turns 38 next week, is no spring chicken either, but he remains capable of eye-popping performances in the cage. Arriving in the UFC four years ago after a long and well-traveled career, “Action Man” exceeded all expectations by knocking off Phil Hawes, Brendan Allen and Rodolfo Vieira in his first three outings, the first two by knockout. The eternal journeyman was suddenly a surprise middleweight contender despite being a welterweight for most of his career and visibly undersized for 185 pounds. When he’s on, Curtis is one of the sharpest boxers in the UFC, perfectly comfortable getting in the pocket against taller, larger foes and counting on his speed and reflexes to carry him. Pair that with outstanding takedown defense—look no further than the Vieira fight, in which he pitched a near no-hitter against a determined grappler who looked two weight classes larger than himself—and the sky seemed to be the limit.

However, Curtis returned to Earth when savvy veterans Jack Hermansson and Kelvin Gastelum were able to deny him the kind of fight in which he thrives, and subsequent foes have generally tried to do the same, forcing Curtis into going first and leaving him looking frustrated and ineffectual. After back-to-back losses in his rematch with Allen and against Roman Kopylov, Curtis decided to change things up and is returning to 170 pounds.

All of that makes this fight difficult to call, even more so because it is Curtis’ first fight back at welterweight. The wide betting line is a likely indication that of the two, Curtis has had the higher ceiling, as a former Top 15 fighter, main card headliner and the younger of the two. Curtis’ hand speed and power should be clear advantages for him against Griffin, who would be best served by making things ugly: wrestling Curtis, forcing clinches against the fence and being patient on the feet. The pick here is that even if he sets out to do so, the combination of his own brawling instincts and Curtis’ sharper striking skills will carry the day. Curtis by decision.



Jump To »
Griffin vs. Curtis
Matthews vs. Njokuani
Murphy vs. Moura
Nzechukwu vs. Walker
Ramirez vs. Davis
Kline vs. Martinez