UFC Fight Night ‘Henderson vs. dos Anjos’ Preview

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Featherweights

Max Holloway (9-3, 5-3 UFC) vs. Clay Collard (13-4, 0-0 UFC)

The Matchup: Collard enters the UFC on extremely late notice following an injury to uber-prospect Mirsad Bektic and finds himself in a potential barnburner with a young, talented veteran in Holloway. Collard is best known for a thrilling win over UFC veteran Justin Buchholz, and while he has flown under the radar, he has legitimate potential.

Holloway has already built a career for himself beating the stuffing out of the middle tier of the featherweight division.

The debutante is mostly a striker who does his best work with his opponent’s back to the cage. Collard fires off three-, four-, five- and even six- and seven-punch combinations with ease, punctuating those flurries with hard, chopping low kicks as his opponents cover up and move backward. He is technically sound, at least offensively, and gets good weight transfer into his shots, which he throws at a ridiculous, unrelenting pace. Collard also excels in the clinch, with an array of hard knees and sneaky elbows. Wrestling is not his best skill, though he is perfectly capable of basic takedown defense and the occasional takedown.

With two and a half years and eight fights in the UFC under his belt, it is easy to forget that Holloway is still only 22 years old. He came into a brutal debut against Dustin Poirier as a talented but incredibly raw, one-dimensional striker; while his game still revolves around rangy punch-kick combinations that exploit the length of his frame, he has also evolved into a smooth grappler dangerous enough to submit hyped prospect Andre Fili back in April. Offensive wrestling is not Holloway’s strong suit, but he has consistently shown takedown defense rugged enough to stuff monsters like Dennis Bermudez. Holloway’s best asset, however, is his pace. He produces oodles of offense over the course of a fight and consistently finds a rhythm sufficient to wear down even well-conditioned opponents.

Betting Odds: N/A

The Pick: Unlike Bektic, Collard is not really capable of testing Holloway’s wrestling defense and bottom game, and while the Hawaiian might shoot for a takedown, he will likely prefer to keep this standing. If so, this profiles as a fantastic, quick-paced striking match. Collard excels in that kind of fight, but it also happens to be Holloway’s bread and butter. He has beaten fighters far better than Collard on the feet, and the same should happen here. Holloway takes a unanimous decision in an exciting, back-and-forth fight.

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