Preview: UFC on ESPN 43 Prelims

Welterweights

Trevin Giles (15-4, 6-4 UFC) vs. Preston Parsons (10-3, 1-1 UFC)

ODDS: Giles (-110), Parsons (-110)

Giles is one of the more frustrating talents on the UFC roster. When things are fully clicking for “The Problem,” Giles has looked like a potential title contender able to combine some strong wrestling with knockout power. However, things often do not seem to fully come together for Giles, who also has a tendency to be a victim of his own success. There usually comes a point in each fight where Giles starts to get overconfident and leaves himself open for his opponent’s offense. In fact, each of his four losses to date have seen him get ahead early only to suddenly wind up on the business end of a quick come-from-behind finish. Still just 30 after over five years on the UFC roster, the hope remains that Giles can fully turn a corner, even if it is unclear how his recent cut down to welterweight will pan out. The UFC did Giles a bit dirty in matching him against a middleweight-sized welterweight in Michael Morales in his first fight down at 170 pounds, and while he clearly won a decision over Louis Cosce in September, it was notable for being a particularly ugly and low-output performance from both men. Giles looks for a strong showing here against Parsons, who is a much simpler fighter to read. There is not much mystery going on with the Jacksonville, Florida, native, whose nickname of “Pressure” essentially sums everything up. Parsons looks to close ranks on his opponents quickly and pursue an aggressive takedown game in the hopes of working towards a submission. He drew a rough debut assignment in a one-sided loss to Daniel Rodriguez, but rebounded well with a win over Evan Elder in 2022. Parsons went to the scorecards for the first time in his career but showed improved cardio relative to a lot of his previous performances. Parsons could just make this a grind over 15 minutes, but the bet is that Giles can bring enough dynamism to the table to wear him out by the later rounds and take over, particularly since the Floridian does not look to be a one-shot knockout threat. The pick is Giles via ugly decision.

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