Preview: UFC Fight Night 212 Prelims

The Ultimate Fighting Championship's latest outing from the Apex has a solid seven-fight prelim slate, with bantamweights leading the way. Leomana Martinez and Brandon Davis take the featured slot, but just past that is the jewel of this prelim card as former perennial contender Raphael Assuncao looks to snap a prolonged losing streak against Victor Henry, who is coming off a shockingly impressive UFC debut in January. Further down there are some prospects to watch: Nick Maximov and Jacob Malkoun are middleweight wrestlers with some potential, Piera Rodriguez and Sam Hughes square off in a clash of promising strawweights, and C.J. Vergara looks to derail the hype train of fellow flyweight Tatsuro Taira.

Bantamweights

Leomana Martinez (9-3) vs. Brandon Davis (14-9)

ODDS: Martinez (-155), Davis (+135)

It remains to be seen if his second stint with the UFC will go better than the first, but for now it's nice to see Davis back making trips to the Octagon. "Killer B" earned a contract via the Contender Series in 2017, launching a seven-fight run during which Davis was one of the most reliably exciting fighters on the roster. Thanks to his willingness to take tough fights on late notice, Davis had trouble stringing together victories up until the point that the promotion released him in 2019. Given Davis's exciting reputation, he figured to make a UFC return as long as he kept winning on the regional scene, and indeed he got another late-notice call, this time to take on Batgerel Danaa around this time last year. During his time away from the UFC, Davis showed some further refinement to what's typically been a fairly straightforward pressure game, though the Danaa matchup didn't give him much of an opportunity to build on that; instead, Danaa knocked him out in a shade over two minutes. Given how much Davis relies on his durability to see him through a war of attrition, that could be a worrying sign for his success going forward - or it could just be a matter of Danaa being a particularly hard hitter. That's a crucial question coming into this bout against Mana Martinez, whose main weapon has historically been his knockout power. Martinez has been an interesting case, since he didn't read as a particularly overwhelming force on the regional scene - but it's hard to argue with the results, as Martinez managed to string together knockout after knockout. Those finishes have dried up since Martinez made the jump up to the UFC last year, but he's still proven himself able to deliver consistent power, outpacing Guido Cannetti in his UFC and staging a late comeback in a decision loss to Ronnie Lawrence in February. The worry is that Davis can outpace Martinez himself over three rounds or find some success with his wrestling, but the bet is that Martinez can separate himself as a harder hitter over fifteen minutes, or - if the Danaa loss is a particularly bad omen for Davis - find a knockout outright. The pick is Martinez via decision.

Jump To »
Assuncao vs. Henry
Maximov vs. Malkoun
Brito vs. Alexander
Rodriguez vs. Hughes
Taira vs. Vergara
Jackson vs. Rodriguez