Preview: UFC Vegas 106 ‘Burns vs. Morales’

Lightweights

Mairon Santos (15-1, 2-0 UFC) vs. Sodiq Yusuff (13-4, 6-3 UFC)

ODDS: Santos (-135), Yusuff (+114)

Some surprising matchmaking sees this bout get thrown together on late notice up a weight class, but it at least serves as an important fight for both Yusuff and Santos. Yusuff is in a tough spot at the moment, as it seems like his momentum has now thoroughly cooled after a burgeoning move up the featherweight ranks. Yusuff was one of the standouts on the 2018 edition of the Contender Series, winning a contract with an excellent win over fellow UFC vet Mike Davis, then reeling off four straight victories under the UFC banner, including a few impressive knockouts. However, as someone who was quite sharp at an early point in their career, Yusuff just hasn’t evolved much in the time since and also hasn’t been much of an adaptive fighter. He’s well-rounded with a lot of excellent weapons but gives up a lot of ground against opponents who either have him scouted or survive his early offense. That has led to losses in Yusuff’s last two fights, both major spots, as he faded over the course of a main event against Edson Barboza before eating a quick knockout from Diego Lopes. The Lopes loss has at least aged well, but it has still left Yusuff stuck, with him teasing a move up to lightweight. Given the late-notice nature of this fight, it’s unclear if this marks a permanent move up to 155 pounds. That might rely on the result here against Santos.

Santos had been on the UFC’s radar for a bit before winning Season 32 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” which the Brazilian capped off with a particularly sharp performance. He could look a bit aimless at times as a dedicated counterpuncher, but he was able to take apart Kaan Ofli before scoring a brutal knockout. That led to some hope that Santos had turned a bit of a corner to become a more consistent knockout threat, but that fell to the wayside a bit after his March performance against Francis Marshall, who looked like the much more thoughtful and effective fighter over three rounds, only to wind up losing the decision. It was a poor case of judging that even Santos admitted he lost upon watching the fight back. This being up at lightweight does bring some intrigue, as it could wind up unlocking some additional power or cardio for either fighter that wasn’t present before, but Yusuff should win this on skill and horsepower, particularly since Santos doesn’t seem like much of an adaptive fighter in his own right. The pick is Yusuff via decision.

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Burns vs. Morales
Bellato vs. Craig
Santos vs. Yusuff
Ruziboev vs. Stoltzfus
Costa vs. Erosa
The Prelims