Preview: UFC Vegas 105 Prelims

The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday will return to the UFC Apex with a respectable undercard in Las Vegas. After an impressive showing on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2024, flyweight prospect Luis Gurule gets his first assignment against Ode Osbourne in the featured UFC on ESPN 65 prelim. Beyond that, the bantamweights and strawweights rule the roost. At 135 pounds, Davey Grant takes on Daniel Santos in what figures to be an all-action affair, while Victor Henry and Pedro Falcao are paired together in a clash of underrated veterans. On the strawweight side, it’s always nice to see Loma Lookboonmee in the cage, and a Vanessa Demopoulos-Talita Alencar confrontation should wind up producing some fun grappling exchanges.

Now to the preview for the UFC on ESPN 65 prelims:

Flyweights

Luis Gurule (10-0, 0-0 UFC) vs. Ode Osbourne (12-8, 4-6 UFC)

ODDS: Gurule (-218), Osbourne (+180)

The UFC wound up putting together a two-fight series between Nick Piccininni and Jack Duffy on the most recent edition of the Contender Series, and the big winner wound up being Gurule. Duffy got injured ahead of the rematch, and Gurule stepped in and upended Piccininni to wind up with a UFC contract. It was the next step of a quick but consistent rise for Gurule, who has answered the bell with every step up in competition. A bowling ball of a wrestler, the UFC newcomer keeps doing a workmanlike job of marching down his opponents and either handing out hard offense or winning wrestling exchanges as each opportunity presents itself. Gurule reads as a prospect with a high floor but a low ceiling as he faces the elite athletes in the UFC’s flyweight division, so Osbourne is the right type of first test to see exactly where the newcomer is going to slot. Osbourne has a rare combination of size and speed for the flyweight division, so when things click for “The Jamaican Sensation,” he looks absolutely electric, picking his opponents apart with knockout power. However, things have tended to go south if opponents can track him down. Despite showing some solid grappling chops earlier in his career, Osbourne has gotten tapped out by some standout grapplers and generally isn’t at his best if an opponent can make things a grind. There’s a clear risk for Gurule, as he’s both on the slower and stockier side, which could just allow Osbourne to pick him apart at will. With that said, he has shown enough to get the benefit of the doubt, particularly as Osbourne’s physical skills seem to result in less success than they should. The pick is Gurule via decision.

Jump To »
Osbourne vs. Gurule
Santos vs. Grant
Frunza vs. McKee
Barbosa vs. Belbita
Lookboonmee vs. Nunes
Henry vs. Falcao
Alencar vs. Demopoulos