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Light Heavyweights

Mike Rodriguez (10-4) vs. Marcin Prachnio (13-4)

ODDS: Rodriguez (-235), Prachnio (+195)

It has been tough sledding in the UFC for each of these light heavyweights, but this should at least be an extremely entertaining fight for however long it lasts. Boston’s Rodriguez scored a quick and flashy knockout on Dana White’s Contender Series to earn his contract in 2017, but he has had trouble replicating that success since. He managed to bomb Adam Milstead, but Devin Clark and John Allan showed that a combination of durability and any sort of wrestling game can quickly make Rodriguez uncomfortable; and while Da Un Jung looks like an interesting prospect in his own right, it was still disheartening to see Rodriguez get beaten at his own game with a quick knockout loss. He looks to rebound against Poland’s Prachnio, who has not so much brought the excitement as had the excitement brought to him. Prachnio’s UFC debut was one of the worst instances of fight IQ in recent memory, as the Pole just essentially charged forward and let Sam Alvey tee off on him until he hit the mat. While Prachnio took a more cautious approach in his next bout, it did not do him any good as Magomed Ankalaev still picked him apart from range and scored another brutal knockout. Rodriguez is obviously far from invincible, but no matter how Prachnio approaches this, his counterpart should still be the better fighter with more firepower. The pick is Rodriguez via first-round knockout.

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