Preview: UFC Abu Dhabi Prelims

Featherweights

Mohammad Yahya (12-5, 0-2 UFC) vs. Steven Nguyen (9-2, 0-1 UFC)

Odds: Nguyen (-350); Yahya (+280)

The good news is that, barring something unforeseen, one of these gentlemen will pick up his first UFC win on Saturday. Yahya is already a part of history as the first Emirati to compete in the UFC, but he looked flat and ineffectual against Trevor Peek in his UFC debut, then was overwhelmed by Kaue Fernandes in a first-round KO loss last August.

At his best, Yahya does well in deliberately paced fights where he can pelt opponents at range on the feet, then use his wrestling and grappling to take advantage of scrambles when they either shoot for takedowns or try and clinch with him. That approach failed badly against two athletic UFC lightweights, so the drop to 145 pounds here might bear fruit.

Like Yahya, Nguyen is still under the gun to prove he belongs in the UFC, but it is perhaps less surprising considering it took him three tries on Dana White's Contender Series to get there. Nguyen is a lanky featherweight who has excellent reach, good speed and surprising power, but even at the regional level sometimes struggled to throw enough volume. In his UFC debut, Nguyen figured to have a speed advantage against Jarno Errens but was repeatedly beaten to the punch.

This matchup features two fighters with some similarities, in that the qualities that got them to the UFC simply haven’t been enough once they got there, but of the two, Nguyen appears to have the greater upside. Despite Yahya being the one coming down in weight, Nguyen is the naturally bigger man, and unless he has another flat, tentative outing, should have a significant advantage on the feet. The pick is Nguyen by lopsided decision.



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