Preview: UFC on ESPN 56 Prelims

Welterweights

Trey Waters (8-1, 1-0 UFC) vs. Billy Goff (9-2, 1-0 UFC)

ODDS: Waters (-170), Goff (+142)

This should be fun for however long it lasts. Waters is a fascinating welterweight prospect, if only for his physical gifts, as “The Truth” cuts a massive frame for the division at 6-foot-5. It’s a mixed bag as to whether or not Waters takes advantage of his frame, however. It allows him to intimidate opponents and catch them at some unorthodox angles, but a lot of his approach still involves marching forward in a way that leaves him defensively vulnerable. Josh Quinlan couldn’t find a knockout in Waters’ late-notice UFC debut about a year ago, which is a solid start to his UFC career. Waters looks to repeat that result here. Goff has a clear ceiling, but he’s going to provide a good time during his UFC career, as a lot of his fights follow a similar script. Goff tends to eat a lot of abuse before staging a sudden and violent comeback. Goff’s contract-earning win on the Contender Series and UFC debut in August were each messy affairs that ended with him finding a first-round knockout, and that seems like the safest bet in this pairing. Waters might be able to crack him, but Goff also seems to be the right type of aggressive to ignore his massive size disadvantage and hunt for his opponent’s chin. The pick is Goff via first-round knockout.

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