Preview: UFC Abu Dhabi Prelims

Bantamweights

Davey Grant (16-7, 7-6 UFC) vs. Da'Mon Blackshear (17-7-1, 5-3-1 UFC)

Odds: Blackshear (-270); Grant (+210)

Grant continues to defy the odds—and the calendar—by racking up wins in one of the UFC’s deepest and youngest divisions even as he approaches his 40th birthday later this year. He has been sidelined by injuries more often in recent years but nonetheless has won three of his last four heading into this weekend. Gritty, game and very well-rounded, the “Dangerous” Brit has carved out a role for himself as an acid test for rising strikers. Even in losses to younger, quicker, bigger foes like Daniel Marcos, Adrian Yanez and Marlon Vera, Grant has stood in there stubbornly, forcing them into his style of mid-paced kickboxing match.

Blackshear will at least be a change-up from those three, as he is a rising young fighter, but much more of a threat on the ground. Like a lanky Aljamain Sterling or a bantamweight Luke Rockhold, Blackshear presents as a big standout athlete for the division, but those physical gifts are expressed in his venomous grappling, while his striking has remained a work in progress.

Blackshear’s hyperaggressive ground assault, where takedown attempts are designed to create scrambles rather than end up parked in his foe’s guard, has overwhelmed many opponents, as in his sensational first-round twister on Jose Johnson. It has also hung him out to dry when faced with a fighter who can keep things standing long enough to take advantage of his iffy striking defense and sometimes clumsy entries, whether that meant 15 minutes of being jabbed and kicked by Mario Bautista or 18 seconds before Montel Jackson put him out cold with a right cross.

This fight seems unlikely to end in a first-round blitz either way. Grant has the reflexes and discipline to catch Blackshear on the way in but lacks the blistering hand speed and power of a Jackson, and while Blackshear is capable of catching anyone in the world in transition for a back-take or front headlock, Grant is a very sturdy, tricky grappler in his own right. This should be a sensational fight—and it will probably look more competitive than the betting line would seem to imply—but the pick is for Blackshear to win a decision by grounding Grant and putting him in trouble on the ground in at least two of the three rounds.



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