Preview: UFC Vegas 100 Prelims

Bantamweights

Da’Mon Blackshear (14-7-1, 2-3-1 UFC) vs. Cody Stamann (21-7-1, 7-6-1 UFC)

ODDS: Blackshear (-285), Stamann (+230)

The UFC’s bantamweight division continues to be ridiculously deep, as two fighters that could contend in most weight classes each look to break a losing streak here. Blackshear was a fun if inconsistent talent for the first few fights of his UFC career. He managed to be an adept scrambler with questionable wrestling defense of his own, resulting in a lot of back-and-forth fights where “Da Monster” would give as much as he got on the mat. It appeared he was finally having a breakthrough moment in the middle of 2023. After a strong showing against Luan Lacerda, Blackshear scored a rare Twister submission on Jose Johnson, then attempted to win his second fight in seven days with a quick turnaround against Mario Bautista on the UFC 292 main card. Everything since has been a reminder of how quickly the zeitgeist can move past a fighter. Blackshear lost a hard-fought decision to Bautista, took nearly a year off, shockingly got knocked out by Montel Jackson in 18 seconds in July and has now gone from potential breakthrough fighter to forgotten man.

In the other corner is Stamann, who hit the ground running as a spoiler. “The Spartan” was an unremarkable but consistent fighter when he hit the UFC in 2017 but scored upsets of Tom Duquesnoy and Bryan Caraway within his first year on the roster to establish himself as a potential contender. Eventually, Stamann’s squat frame and lack of finishing ability quickly ran him into a ceiling against the best athletes of a deep division, but he has chugged along and shown some clear improvements in recent years. Stamann’s wrestling has long been his best weapon, but he has learned to sit down on his punches and provide a bit of pop while being more comfortable as a boxer. While Stamann is in career-best form, it hasn’t led to career-best results thanks to a narrow loss to Douglas Silva de Andrade and a defeat against Taylor Lapilus in January. Lapilus was able to leverage his long frame into keeping Stamann at bay, and Blackshear’s similar size advantage could be a worrisome. Unlike Lapilus, Blackshear has a fairly straight-ahead approach that should be much more in Stamann’s wheelhouse. Stamann might be fighting an uphill battle physically, but he has the level of wrestling chops that should generally be able to stall out Blackshear in scrambles and turn things into a stalemate at worst. The pick is Stamann via decision.

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