Preview: UFC 329 Prelims
Packed with nine prelims, the UFC 329 undercard has its own fair amount of intrigue.Former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champion RobertWhittaker had one of the most successful moves up in weightclass of all time, so it makes sense he’d try that trick again, ashe’s now up at light heavyweight against NikitaKrylov in the featured spot. Right below that, former Olympicgold medalist GableSteveson makes his UFC debut; he gets a layup of a matchup andis still quite raw, but provides some much-needed fresh blood atheavyweight. Past that is a solid mix of well-matched action, evenif there’s not clearly much in the way of immediate stakes;AdrianYanez should make for a fun matchup against former bantamweightchampion CodyGarbrandt, and a flyweight bout between TracyCortez and Cong Wangcould put the winner in position for a big fight with a strongperformance.Light HeavyweightsOdds: Whittaker (-148), Krylov (+124)Whittaker’s move up to middleweight paid off more than anyonecould’ve imagined, so it’s understandable that he’d want to trythings up at light heavyweight, even if it might not work at thispoint in his career. Australia’s “Reaper” won the one-off “TUF:Smashes” season that pitted Australia against England, and hekicked off his UFC career as a fairly anonymous welterweight,splitting his first four fights before an eventual move up to 185pounds in 2014. It immediately became apparent that Whittaker madethe right move; his boxing popped more than ever with his newfoundspeed advantage, and his increased cardio made him an absoluteterror in terms of overwhelming his opponents — if he didn’tsimply just knock them out in short order. Years 2015 and 2016 sawWhittaker begin to stand out as one of the UFC’s first stars in theOceanic region, and a breakthrough win in 2017 over RonaldoSouza made it apparent that Whittaker could be champion soonerrather than later; that fight saw him break out a high-levelwrestling game for the first time, essentially leaving him as afighter with no clear weaknesses, even at a high level.Whittaker was indeed clearly the best 185-pound fighter in theworld within a year, but he never got the true coronation hedeserved, owing to a streak of bad luck. Whittaker won an interimtitle over Yoel Romero,but never wound up getting a unification bout; Georges St-Pierrecame out of retirement to beat champion MichaelBisping and eventually retired rather than face Whittaker, whowas simply named the now-undisputed champ. Whittaker also never gothis big return home as a conquering hero; cards in Australia werebuilt around Whittaker title defenses against LukeRockhold and KelvinGastelum, only for Whittaker to pull out due to injury beforeeach fight, including a career-threatening hernia hours before theGastelum bout. By the time Whittaker got his first title defense onAustralian soil, it came against New Zealand’s IsraelAdesanya, who had clearly stolen Whittaker’s thunder as themajor star of the region during that downtime — and who also tookcare of Whittaker in one-sided fashion to become the new king ofthe middleweights.Thankfully, Whittaker’s medical issues didn’t lead to an immediatefall-off, as he remained both a top contender and belovedambassador of the sport for the next half-decade or so, even if hestill found himself unable to overcome Adesanya in a rematch. Itwasn’t until Whittaker’s last two fights that some red flagsstarted to pop up; a quick loss to KhamzatChimaev was understandable, but a grimy decision againstReinierde Ridder was much more concerning, as the Dutchman was able touse his size to stifle Whittaker in a manner that most opponentshaven’t historically been able to get away with.Given that Whittaker’s struggles at middleweight have come againstlarger and more physical opponents, it’s a bit surprising that hedecided to move up to light heavyweight, though he might becatching NikitaKrylov at the right time to have a successful debut in his newweight class. Krylov was generally considered a punchline when hehit the UFC in 2013; then 21 years old, “The Miner” got signed offa particularly weak record and didn’t exactly cover himself inglory in his UFC debut, losing an extremely sloppy fight againstSoaPalelei when he was too exhausted to move. But Krylov cut downto light heavyweight shortly thereafter and somehow became one ofthe best young fighters in the division; now in shape, Krylov wasstill generally a technical mess, but his combination ofdurability, aggression and ability to wrestle a bit made him toomuch for most of his opponents to handle. Save for a brief returnto the Russian scene for some big paydays, Krylov’s careergenerally followed the pattern of a few wins leading into anover-aggressive submission loss, at least until a two-year layoffthat spanned 2023 to 2025.Upon his return, it was clear that Krylov was no longer the samefighter, particularly in terms of his durability; after adecade-plus of having one of the best chins in the sport, it was ashock to see him get finished within a round by both DominickReyes and BogdanGuskov. Krylov’s awareness of his own mortality has alsoinfluenced his aggression, as he’s been a much more passive fighter– though still strung together enough offense to get a win overModestasBukauskas in January, as Bukauskas himself was much tooreticent to pull the trigger. Most versions of Krylov would’ve beena particularly poor matchup for Whittaker, as he likely would’vebeen able to swamp the former middleweight champion with a lot ofwrestling in a control-heavy win. But it’s unclear if that versionof Krylov exists anymore, and while Whittaker doesn’t figure tohave a ton of upside at 205 pounds, he should get enough time andspace to impress here; the pick is Whittaker via first-roundknockout.Jump To »Whittaker vs. KrylovSteveson vs. EllisonGarbrandt vs. YanezRiley vs. Kamaka IIICortez vs. WangPinas vs. AlmeidaBasharat vs. GarzaGandra vs. ReeseDurden vs. CostaHeavyweightsOdds: Steveson (-2800), Ellison (+1300)GableSteveson has struggled to translate his amateur wrestlingsuccess into fame and fortune elsewhere, but his foray into mixedmartial arts has some clear potential to work out. As suggested byhis first name, Steveson was essentially born and bred to be awrestler and indeed proved himself to be a prodigy, winningmultiple collegiate titles and an Olympic gold medal at age 21.Rather than immediately pursue mixed martial arts, Steveson insteadwent the professional wrestling route, where he proved to be a flop– either due to a lack of charisma or Steveson’s notoriety fromhis legal issues making him hard to root for — and then a brieffootball career before becoming a professional fighter last year.Steveson’s now three fights deep into his career, and his upside isclearly evident — obviously and particularly as a wrestler — buthe’s still essentially unproven; opponents haven’t been able tooffer much resistance, so it’s unclear how Steveson will farewhenever things get tough. Of course, it could be a while untilthings actually get tough for the former Olympian, and it doesn’tfigure to be here against ElishaEllison.Ellison seems to have some decent enough athleticism, but even atthe regional level he was an overly patient fighter that often tookhis time waiting for a moment to strike – so it wasn’t necessarilya surprise that BrandoPericic took the initiative and beat him in short order duringboth men’s UFC debut last year. Ellison could always land that onebig shot, but unless Steveson decides to play with his food, theUFC newcomer should be able to get Ellison to the mat and overwhelmhim in short order; the pick is Steveson via first-roundstoppage.Jump To »Whittaker vs. KrylovSteveson vs. EllisonGarbrandt vs. YanezRiley vs. Kamaka IIICortez vs. WangPinas vs. AlmeidaBasharat vs. GarzaGandra vs. ReeseDurden vs. CostaBantamweightsOdds: Yanez (-410), Garbrandt (+320)AdrianYanez looks to be past a rough stretch, and so the former topprospect gets a chance to rebuild here. Yanez came to the UFC viaDana White’s Contender Series in 2020, standing out as aparticularly electric knockout artist that was also quite easy toroot for; Yanez was fighting in the memory of his late father,would eventually take over for late coach Saul Soliz in 2021, andgenerally seemed like a rare good egg in the sport. After aparticularly cathartic knockout win over Tony Kelleyin 2022 — his fourth knockout in five UFC fights — Yanez seemedready to take his spot as one of the faces of the UFC’sbantamweight division, but getting over the hump to contenderstatus has proven more difficult than expected.Yanez has remained one of the most entertainingly dynamic offensiveforces in the UFC, but that’s come with a disregard for what hisopponents are able to bring in return; that was perfectly fineagainst the bantamweight division’s lesser lights, but Yanez’swillingness to eat damage cost him greatly during a stretch ofthree losses during four fights, including finishes againstRobFont and JonathanMartinez. After losing another frustrating bout to DanielMarcos at the tail end of 2024, Yanez missed all of 2025 andbecame a bit of a forgotten man until his return this past March,where he looked sharp in a draw that was generally regarded as aclear Yanez win prior to the result being announced. Even despitethe result, Yanez now has some much-needed momentum, which shouldcontinue to build here against former champion CodyGarbrandt.Garbrandt’s 2016 was a breakout year to a level that few fightershave achieved; a raw prospect with quick-trigger reflexes,Garbrandt scored three brutal knockout wins to earn what seemedlike an undeserved title shot against DominickCruz, only to score a one-sided decision win over Cruz in thebest performance of his career. Still in his mid-twenties,Garbrandt figured to be one of the faces of the UFC going forward,but his reign as champion never got going; T.J.Dillashaw figured out that Garbrandt was quick and dangerousbut not much of a strategist, drawing out Garbrandt’s offense,landing counters and leaving Garbrandt unable to adjust, both in aDillashaw title win and an immediate rematch. Outside of one morebrutal knockout win over RaphaelAssuncao, Garbrandt’s next few years saw him continually losewhile seeming mentally broken; Garbrandt still had some of thequickest hands in the sport, but opponent after opponent was ableto maneuver around them and essentially put Garbrandt on tilt untilhe charged into a knockout.After missing all of 2022, Garbrandt came back in 2023 and had somenew ideas, but has still clearly been unable to balance safety withaggression; “No Love” now has a defensive mode where he can stayout of danger at the expense of any level of effective offense, butpursuing that offense also still leaves him just as open as ever tohis opponent finishing him instead. Garbrandt’s last fight, thispast March against a fairly anonymous brawler in Xiao Long,suggested that the former champion might no longer be effective atthe UFC level; it seemed like a stylistic layup, but instead turnedinto an ugly fight that Garbrandt only won due to repeated pointdeductions for a foul-happy Xiao. Yanez’s own lack of defense doestheoretically make it possible that Garbrandt can land a knockoutblow, but it’s unclear if the former champion can even pull thetrigger enough to make that happen before getting overwhelmed; thepick is Yanez via second-round knockout.Jump To »Whittaker vs. KrylovSteveson vs. EllisonGarbrandt vs. YanezRiley vs. Kamaka IIICortez vs. WangPinas vs. AlmeidaBasharat vs. GarzaGandra vs. ReeseDurden vs. CostaFeatherweightsOdds: Riley (-290), Kamaka III (+235)It’s unclear if Liverpool’s Luke Rileyis the future star that the UFC seems to hope he is, but at thevery least he’s currently a welcome addition to any card. A risingaction fighter on the European scene when the UFC picked him uplast year, Riley has been consistently successful in forcing ascrap on his opponents, though that might change as he moves up theladder; he’s a good but not great athlete and prone to slow starts,which has allowed some opponents to out-wrestle him up until thepoint that Riley adjusts and turns things up. After a surprisingco-main event spot in London this past March, Riley gets anotherlateral step in competition against Kai KamakaIII, a perennial tough out.A late-notice signing in 2020, Kamaka III has been impressivelyconsistent over the ensuing half-decade, for better or for worse;”The Fighting Hawaiian” checks a lot of boxes in terms of technicalproficiency, but has rarely shown much in the way of aggression anddynamism, resulting in a lot of fights where Kamaka III doesn’t getblown out but also struggles to separate himself on the scorecards.It was a mild surprise when he slid out of the UFC in late 2021,which in turn made it a mild surprise when he was back in the foldthis past April, which is essentially a testament to Kamaka III’sstatus as a fighter stuck between the regional and UFC levels.Kamaka III should do some solid work until Riley starts to heat up,but the lean is that the Englishman will wind up doing the bestwork of the fight before he turns a corner; the pick is Riley viadecision.Jump To »Whittaker vs. KrylovSteveson vs. EllisonGarbrandt vs. YanezRiley vs. Kamaka IIICortez vs. WangPinas vs. AlmeidaBasharat vs. GarzaGandra vs. ReeseDurden vs. CostaWomen’s FlyweightsOdds: Wang (-112), Cortez (-108)An interesting style clash should help sort some things out in theflyweight division. When the UFC signed Cong Wang in2024, it was with the clear intent to follow the AlexPereira blueprint to a grudge match with ValentinaShevchenko; the two had history stemming from a Wang win inkickboxing shortly before Shevchenko’s UFC career, and Wangappeared to be the level of quick study that could run up theladder with some advantageous matchmaking. Unfortunately, thingsgot derailed slightly in Wang’s second UFC bout; she’s clearly atalent, but her general disregard for her opposition wound up withher getting stunned and submitted by GabriellaFernandes in a fight that was otherwise going her way.Thankfully, Wang rebounded well and has looked sharper in her threefights since, balancing her aggression in a more thoughtful mannerin some one-sided wins – and her last win over EduardaMoura did show that she can manage to outpoint and outwork anopponent that’s continually looking to wrestle. And so it’s time totry and move Wang up the ladder again, with TracyCortez providing a test that’s potentially quite tough onpaper.Cortez was essentially a lock to get a contract with a win in her2019 appearance on the Contender Series; beyond an obviouslymarketable look, Cortez fighting in the memory of her late brothermade her quite easy to root for. But once her UFC career gotstarted, Cortez quickly proved that she was much more than just acharity case, standing out as a grimy and aggressive wrestler, evenin a few fights up at bantamweight. Despite her success, Cortez’srise was slower than expected due to a lack of activity – she’sfought at a pace of roughly one fight per calendar year – butthings still seemed set to work out after a 2023 win over JasmineJasudavicius, which saw Cortez leverage her wrestling advantageinto looking like the much quicker and more effective striker. Buther next bout in a main event slot against RoseNamajunas did raise the worry that Cortez might be becoming toowell-rounded for her own good, as she wasted a lot of time on thefeet and generally looked reticent in pursuing takedowns andgetting to the best parts of her game. Thankfully, Cortez embracedthe grind against VivianeAraujo in her next bout, but there’s still some worry as to howCortez might fare in deeper waters, especially after another losswhere ErinBlanchfield proved herself the better grappler and handed her asubmission loss. But even with Wang’s improvements on the mat, thisstill looks like a fight that Cortez can clearly win if sheembraces a wrestling-heavy gameplan; that’s not entirely a lock,but the pick is still Cortez via decision.Jump To »Whittaker vs. KrylovSteveson vs. EllisonGarbrandt vs. YanezRiley vs. Kamaka IIICortez vs. WangPinas vs. AlmeidaBasharat vs. GarzaGandra vs. ReeseDurden vs. CostaMiddleweightsOdds: Pinas (-225), Almeida (+185)This should be fun. DamianPinas is in the raw but talented mold that a lot of ContenderSeries prospects fit into, but so far so good for “The Baba Yaga”after earning a contract last year. Pinas is a bit of a mess andeven his wins can be a bit of an adventure, but it’s also apparentthat he has a ton of natural power once he gets going, as heobliterated both his Contender Series opponent and Wes Schultz infairly short order. The Aruban gets a solid step up in competitionhere against CesarAlmeida, who might not be a massive success story transitioningto mixed martial arts after a long kickboxing career, but hasadapted to his new sport quite well.The worry was that Almeida’s striking approach might be too passivein terms of looking to hit his opponents on the counter, but he’sdone a solid job of picking up the pace as needed while continuingto prove himself as a knockout threat – but title contention looksto be several steps too far for the Brazilian at age 38,particularly since he’s found himself quite helpless in the face ofdedicated wrestlers. Pinas is certainly explosive enough that aquick knockout isn’t out of the question, but Almeida hashistorically been quite durable and comfortable under fire, so itseems likelier that the veteran can land a big counter against themuch rawer prospect; the pick is Almeida via first-roundknockout.Jump To »Whittaker vs. KrylovSteveson vs. EllisonGarbrandt vs. YanezRiley vs. Kamaka IIICortez vs. WangPinas vs. AlmeidaBasharat vs. GarzaGandra vs. ReeseDurden vs. CostaBantamweightsOdds: N/AWhat was initially a quite excellent pairing between FaridBasharat and Ethyn Ewingwinds up with a clear downgrade, as Basharat now finds himselffacing a late replacement. Initially regarded as the lesser of thetwo Basharat brothers, Farid has quietly separated himself as themore effective fighter, slowly working his way up the ranks;”Ferocious” isn’t particularly flashy, but he sets a solid pace andmakes smart decisions, finding some particular effectiveness with asound wrestling and grappling game. He’ll look to impress againstUFC newcomer John Garza,a promising young talent that looks to be getting the UFC call abit too soon.Garza is aggressive and down to scrap and has shown some funstriking in a string of regional victories, but he’s yet to faceeither a well-rounded veteran or a wrestler, both of which aretests that Basharat should provide. Garza should make this fun fora bit before Basharat takes over; the pick is Basharat viasecond-round submission.Jump To »Whittaker vs. KrylovSteveson vs. EllisonGarbrandt vs. YanezRiley vs. Kamaka IIICortez vs. WangPinas vs. AlmeidaBasharat vs. GarzaGandra vs. ReeseDurden vs. CostaMiddleweightsOdds: Gandra (-130), Reese (+110)Two middleweights look to make a statement here. Despite alreadybeing in his thirties, Brazil’s Ryan Gandrafits into the mold of a raw but interesting prospect just fouryears into his professional career. Gandra doesn’t stand out in anyparticular area as of yet outside of his knockout power, which heused to great effect both on the Contender Series and in his UFCdebut against Jose Medina- but given that Medina was one of the worst UFC signings in recentmemory, the Brazilian is still quite unproven ahead of this fightagainst ZacharyReese, his first solid opponent.Reese was even more unproven upon his own Contender Seriesappearance in 2023, a massive middleweight that swamped hisopponents and typically finished them within two minutes. But Reeseimmediately paid for that opportunism in his UFC debut againstCodyBrundage, who took advantage of Reese’s willingness to hunt forsubmissions by picking him up and slamming him unconscious. Reesestill has some of that aggression, but he’s clearly attempting toround out his game with mixed results; Reese tires but doesn’tentirely implode over the long haul, even though he often winds uppivoting to a wrestling game that results in some ugly decisions.Gandra could just starch him here, but the Brazilian hasn’t shownmuch in the wrestling department and is basically unproven after around, so the lean is that Reese can slow Gandra down enough tosurvive early and then win a slog in the back half of the fight.The pick is Reese via decision.Jump To »Whittaker vs. KrylovSteveson vs. EllisonGarbrandt vs. YanezRiley vs. Kamaka IIICortez vs. WangPinas vs. AlmeidaBasharat vs. GarzaGandra vs. ReeseDurden vs. CostaFlyweightsOdds: Costa (-265), Durden (+215)Both of these fighters have been hanging around the middle tiers ofthe flyweight division for a while, so it’s a mild surprise thatthis fight hasn’t happened yet. Cody Durdencame to the UFC in 2020 as an interesting talent, showing somepotential as a pressure-focused wrestler but doing most of his workagainst a particularly weak level of competition. That came throughalmost immediately in his UFC career; Durden had some performanceswhere he put his nose to the grindstone and walked away with a win,but his lack of defensive awareness also resulted in him runningstraight into finishes against opponents that could handle what hebrought to the table. After four straight wins across 2022 and2023, Durden’s career essentially imploded with six losses in sevenfights, most of which saw him run into a finish; Durden’swillingness to step in short notice seemed to save his UFC career,but a particularly flat performance against NyamjargalTumendemberel seemed like it would certainly be Durden’s finalshot. Instead, he stepped in on late notice once again and somehowturned back the clock this past April, putting on his bestperformance in years to beat Jafel Filho– so maybe there’s hope heading into this bout against AlessandroCosta.Costa’s a particularly middle of the pack fighter, possessing agame that’s wide but not deep but also doesn’t have much in the wayof weaknesses; Costa can strike a bit, wrestle and grapple a bitand fight at a middling pace, either eventually landing on hisopponent’s weaknesses or finding himself unable to catch up againstcraftier opposition. The Brazilian’s willingness to cede initiativecould actually hand Durden a win if Durden shows up in a similarform to his last fight, but things are still at the point where thesafest bet seems to be Durden running into some fight-endingoffense over the course of fifteen minutes. The pick is Costa viasecond-round knockout.Jump To »Whittaker vs. KrylovSteveson vs. EllisonGarbrandt vs. YanezRiley vs. Kamaka IIICortez vs. WangPinas vs. AlmeidaBasharat vs. GarzaGandra vs. ReeseDurden vs. Costa
Diterbitkan : 2026-07-08 08:57:00
sumber : sports.yahoo.com
