In the co-main event that night, former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold returned to the Octagon for the first time in more than three years, facing a former UFC who has not fought since October 2021. UFC middleweight title challenger Paul Costa.
Ahead of the ESPN+ streaming pay-per-view event on August 20, I’ll take a look at the storyline for the preliminary portion of ABC’s UFC 278 Fight Card, which will air Saturday night, on ESPN+ And after the early heats of the UFC Fight Pass.
Leonardo Santos and Jared Gordon
Leonard Do Santos’ unbeaten streak started in March 2010 and ends in March 2021. During that time, Santos advanced from World Victory Roads to BAMMA and Shooto to Cage Warriors. In 2013, the Brazilian joined the UFC. Santos advanced 7-0-1 before Grant Dawson knocked him out at UFC Vegas 22.
Despite his success, UFC matchmakers never seemed to favor Santos. From the way he looked at things, he quickly became the guy the UFC used to test budding but unranked lightweight fighters. Losing to Dawson likely ended Santos’ hopes of securing a ranking opponent. Those hopes faded even more when he followed that setback to Clydgeda.
The 42-year-old is in front of him at UFC 278 at Jared Gordon. Santos started Guida’s fight like a house on fire, but lost focus after he seemed to think the referee should have waved off the game early in the opening round of the first round.
I’m really worried about Santos’ mentality in this fight. The UFC’s lack of respect, and how he got Jeddah back into their fights, may suggest that Santos may be mentally close to quitting the fighting game.
If I were Gordon, I’d be guided by Santos’ fight with Jeddah and plan to do nothing but pressure Santos , let him defend knockdowns or get out of the way on the ground. This wrestling pressure can frustrate Santos and grapple with what could be a vulnerable mindset. It will also take advantage of Santos’ cardio, which failed in the Guida showdown.
Gordon himself was losing to Dawson. While this fight may not generate a lot of heat before the event, it is a very important fight in the careers of the two unranked 155-pounders.
Wu Yanan
vs . Lucy Pudilova
Wu Yanan is only 26 years old and has been fighting professionally since 2013 and entered UFC 278. Yanan is about to lose to Mayra Bueno Silva in the April decision. Despite being the biggest loser on the UFC Vegas 51fight card, Yanan earned himself a “Fight of the Night” bonus.
Yanan is new to Jackson Wink MMA and is heading into the Bueno Silva showdown. With more time in the gym, she thinks she’ll have better comfort with her team. With that, Yanan is confident that she will get her first UFC win after beating Lauren Miller in 2018.
Another positive for Yanan is that she won’t be in this fight and trying to get rid of cage rust. Played once in 2018, played once in 2019, never played in 2020, played once in 2021.
Yanan welcomes Lucie Pudilova back to the UFC. Pudilova used to be in the same position as Yanan before UFC 278. When she dropped her decision to Justine Kish in 2020, she was on the verge of a three-fight loss and came out on top of the “Fight of the Night” performance. A fourth setback in a row cost Pudilova her promotion job. Pudilova, 28, returned to the UFC in Saturday’s UFC 278 preliminaries after a 5-1 bout with Oktagon in the Czech Republic.
Given the stakes in this fight and the fact that both women are active forwards, their offense The defense is flawed and expect some action in this bantamweight scrap.
Sean Woodson
and Luis Saldana
When Sean Woodson made his UFC debut in 2019, one of the questions he faced was, can he How long to lose weight to 145 pounds. Well, it’s 2022, and the 6-foot-2 Woodson isn’t weightless under the UFC banner. The lanky 30-year-old has put his size to good use and, like his previous UFC fights, will have a greater height and reach advantage over opponent Luis Saldana.
Woodson is very relaxed inside the octagon, which I think is largely far from him It’s about the ability to fight. He did his best when mixing goals and techniques, averaging 5.75 major strikes per minute despite his low percentage of major strikes (44 percent).
Saldana is a talented striker but I have questioned his in the past heart and heart. Because of his opponent’s ability to get Saldana in and out of range without being tagged, I’m concerned about both items when it comes to Saldana at UFC 278.
Miranda Maverick and Shanna Young
This is an interesting fight for several reasons. First, it’s a rematch. The two women competed in an exhibition match under the 2019 Invicta banner. The Mavericks won that game with a first-round submission. The second is that this is the last battle of the 24-year-old Mavericks contract.
Maverick opens her UFC career with two victories career, which put her on the fast track. In her third UFC fight, the UFC was compared to then-23-year-old Gillian Robertson, the 15th-ranked flyweight who was at the time the most active fighter in UFC flyweight division history (10). Maverick won that race, which moved her into the rankings (13) and pitted her against Maycee Barber, who was ranked 14th at the time. Barber won that game by split decision. Erin Blanchfield’s decision setback followed that scrap. The Mavericks, which had slipped off the leaderboard, returned to winning ways in March with a surrender victory over Sabina Mazo.
At the time of writing, Maverick is an overwhelming darling of Young, Young In her last game ended her two-game loss. Young is about to take on Gina Mazzani at TKO in April. Her losses came from Stephanie Egger and Macy Chiasson. Both fights were at bantamweight.
What I want to see in UFC 278 , the favored Maverick has made further progress in his overall MMA skills. I don’t think her fight with her trade is a sign that the UFC is ready to drop her as a prospect, but if she wants to have any negotiating power after UFC 278, the Mavericks need to play well against the opponents she has before doing well. Defeated in the first round.
