UFC on ESPN 24: Undercard Preview and Prediction Part 2
Ľudovít Klein vs Michael Trizano
L’udovit Klein (17-2-0) made the most of his UFC debut with a 1st round knockout of Shane Young to extend his winning streak to 8. The Slovakian has only been to the judges scorecards once in his pro career. He has scored 8 wins by KO/TKO and 8 by submission. His two losses have come by knockout and submission as well though.
Michael “The Lone Wolf” Trizano (8-1-0) won The Ultimate Fighter 27 by scoring a split decision in the finale. He carried that momentum into his official debut where he locked up another split decision victory, this time over Luis Pena. However, it was too much too soon for the New Jersey fighter as the UFC matched him up with surging prospect, Grand Dawson. Dawson finished Trizano in the second round by rear naked choke, snapping the unbeaten streak in the process.
Trizano will enjoy 4 inches of height over his opponent, but will also give up 1 inch of reach to “Mr. Highlight”.
Opponents have sure been trying their damnedest to take Trizano down to the mat. He’s spent a lot of time defending takedowns and cage pressure during his UFC tenure. The good news is he will not have to worry about that with L’udovit Klein. The bad news is he’s probably getting knocked out. Klein is a legit powerhouse and has excellent accuracy. I’m thinking he’s going to look to counter throughout the fight and will eventually connect with something fight ending. He did miss weight by a large margin last time out so we’ll keep an eye on weigh-ins but it just seems like a rough match for Trizano. The one angle Trizano could find success with his really firing out his jab, which is excellent. If he does just touch Klein with the jab and stay out of danger then a decision victory isn’t out of the question. But with the reach disadvantage and momentum of Klein, I’m backing “Mr Highlight” to add another one to the reel.
Prediction: L’udovit Klein
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Ryan Benoit vs Zarrukh Adashev
Ryan Benoit (10-7-0) has been fighting in the UFC since 2013. During his pro stint, “Baby Face” has been alternating wins and losses like it’s his job. He broke that pattern by losing two in a row to Tim Elliot and Heili Alateng in 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Zarrukh “The Lion” Adashev (3-3-0) enjoyed a three fight winning streak in Bellator before getting the call to the big show. His first two fights in the UFC did not go his way as he suffered a knockout loss to Tyson Nam and a unanimous decision defeat to Su Mudaerji back in January. He’s got to think he gets his walking papers if he loses this one so his back is certainly against the wall here.
Both flyweights are 5’5 but “Baby Face” will have a 3 inch reach advantage for this one.
Benoit’s greatest shining moment was knocking out Sergio Pettis as a +500 underdog. He did so while on that special gym sauce though, which came to light when USADA laid down the hammer. We won’t get into the whole pulsing picograms debate here but we’ll focus on Benoit’s most recent performances. Although it went down as a loss, most media outlets scored his fight against Elliot in his favor. Benoit has a fight style that is certainly the opposite of the flyweight meta game. He really sticks to his counter striking, low output style. There’s no doubt he has power though, as indicated by 8 of his 10 wins coming by KO.
Despite Adashev’s light MMA record, he actually has nearly 20 kickboxing fights. It is very likely that this entire fight plays out on the feet. Even with Adashev’s kickboxing experience, I feel like Benoit is going to get the better of him. Benoit has a really good body kick and the counter punching power is a very real avenue for victory. Benoit has never been knocked out so even if “The Lion” connects, there's a strong probability that Benoit survives and fires back. We saw Adashev slept badly by a similar fighter, albeit one weight class up in Tyson Nam. I’m going with Benoit here but this one is certainly close!