Preview: UFC Fight Night 239 ‘Tuivasa vs. Tybura’

Welterweights

Bryan Battle (10-2, 5-1 UFC) vs. Ange Loosa (10-3, 2-1 UFC)

ODDS: Battle (-180), Loosa (+150)

This should be a compelling match between two welterweights looking to build on some impressive results. Battle handily won the middleweight bracket of the “The Ultimate Fighter” revival in 2021, but it was unclear how he would fare with the promotion going forward. Battle certainly showed an ability to wear out his opponents through pace and cardio, but he read as a subpar athlete who could hit a physical wall in short order. Battle has fought his way into shape over the course of his UFC career, buoyed by a cut down to welterweight that has unlocked an impressive amount of finishing potential. Battle is massive for a 170-pounder, and his poise has led him to some brutal knockout victories over Takashi Sato and Gabriel Green. A 2022 loss to Rinat Fakhretdinov still lingers for Battle when it comes to his ability to hang with elite athletes, as he had little answer for the Russian’s powerful wrestling game. To that end, a win over Loosa could help assuage a lot of those concerns.

Loosa is a high-upside talent who has gone under the radar in his three-fight UFC career to date, but “The Last Ninja” is slowly figuring things out. Loosa had the bad luck to get paired with Jack Della Maddalena on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021, but after his performance in a hard-fought loss, it was not a shock when the UFC picked him up a few months later. Loosa has all the tools in the world but just needs to find some consistency in their application, which seems like it will come with experience given his improvements from fight to fight. Wins over A.J. Fletcher and Rhys McKee saw Loosa start picking up the aggression from his previous affairs, as well as start to mix in an effective takedown game. Loosa has yet to put together the clean performance that his talents suggest he could provide, as Fletcher had his moments and McKee nearly scored a finish late, but it does feel like a breakout is coming as long as he continues to stay active. That could happen here, but for now, this seems like a fight where Battle can set enough of a pace to eventually get Loosa uncomfortable and finish it late, even if he will have to once again eat some offense to do so. The pick is Battle via third-round stoppage.

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Tuivasa vs. Tybura
Battle vs. Loosa
Nzechukwu vs. St. Preux
Dulgarian vs. Rodriguez
Chiasson vs. Kianzad
Meerschaert vs. Barberena
The Prelims