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This weekend sees the UFC return to Las Vegas for UFC Fight Night: Mackenzie Dern vs. Marina Rodriguez.
This UFC Fight Night card isn’t that heavy on name value, nor does it have the same appeal as last week’s event, but it still looks watchable.
So, with a number of high-level fighters on offer as well as a potential title eliminator in the main event, UFC fans should still keep an eye on this one.
Here are five reasons to watch UFC Fight Night: Mackenzie Dern vs. Marina Rodriguez.
#5. Matheus Nicolau could be a dark horse in the UFC flyweight division
The UFC flyweight division is relatively thin on title contenders right now. After current champion Brandon Moreno defends against former champ Deiveson Figueiredo in their trilogy bout, it’s uncertain who’ll be next in line for the winner.
That’s why this weekend’s battle of top 15-ranked 125lbers is definitely one worth watching. The fight sees No.9-ranked Tim Elliott face off with No.11 Matheus Nicolau. While former title challenger Elliott is higher on the ladder right now, it’s Nicolau who might be the more intriguing prospect.
The Brazilian has a sneakily good record of 4-1 in the UFC, with his only loss coming at the hands of Dustin Ortiz in 2018. Overall, his record of 16-2-1 is one of the better ones in the flyweight division right now.
Nicolau isn’t quite the full package just yet. He struggled on the feet with Manel Kape at times in his last fight. However, he matches up relatively well with Elliott thanks to his dangerous submission game. Despite being a great grappler in his own right, Elliott has been known to fall into submission losses before.
If Nicolau can defeat him, he should move up into the top 10. With one more win, a title shot might well be in reach.
#4. ‘King Kong’ is a heavyweight prospect worth watching
This weekend’s UFC Fight Night preliminary card is hardly loaded with notable talent. However, one fight worth watching sees Alexander Romanov taking on Jared Vanderaa in a heavyweight clash.
Known as ‘King Kong’, Romanov isn’t the biggest heavyweight on the UFC’s roster right now. However, he’s arguably one of the only true prospects that the division has to offer. A native of Moldova, Romanov is a powerful wrestler and grappler with bricks for hands. He’s already gone 12-0 in MMA, with three of those wins coming in the UFC.
His last victory over Juan Espino admittedly wasn’t the most impressive. Prior to that, though, his one-sided victories over Roque Martinez and Marcos Rogerio de Lima were definitely enough to open the eyes of UFC fans.
Romanov will be slightly outsized again this weekend when he faces Vanderaa, who stands at 6’4”, cuts weight to make the 265-pound heavyweight limit and is nicknamed ‘The Mountain’. However, Vanderaa has not shown the abilities in the octagon that ‘King Kong’ has to date.
Romanov should rightly be considered the favorite here. If he wins this one, he’ll be 4-0 in the UFC and would have to be considered a contender in the division.
#3. Randy Brown and Jared Gooden might not be UFC title contenders, but they’re fun to watch
This weekend’s co-main event is a strange one. Welterweights Randy Brown and Jared Gooden are not really title contenders right now and even with a win they won’t move into that kind of spot on the roster. However, it’s safe to say that both men are definitely exciting to watch, which explains their high position on this card.
Of the two, Gooden is almost certainly the less proven inside the octagon. ‘Nite Train’ is 1-2 in the UFC right now, but his last fight was a wild one. He waylaid Niklas Stolze with a brutal punch with just a minute gone inside the first round.
Brown, meanwhile, has been with the UFC now for nearly six years after being discovered on the Looking for a Fight series. In that time, ‘Rude Boy’ has gone 7-4 in the years that have followed. Notably, only three of those eleven bouts have gone the distance.
Essentially, win or lose, ‘Rude Boy’ comes to finish his fights. In Gooden, he’ll be meeting an opponent who feels exactly the same way. That means that the chances of a violent finish in this fight seem pretty high. While it’s not a co-main event with high stakes, it should be great to watch.
#2. Phil Hawes might be the best prospect in the UFC middleweight division
Outside of the main event, the best fight on this card from the perspective of producing a potential UFC title contender is the main card opener between middleweights Phil Hawes and Deron Winn.
As a protégé of former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, Winn arguably entered the promotion with more hype. However, he hasn’t quite lived up to expectations. he’s gone 2-2 and has had issues when he’s been unable to impose his powerful wrestling game.
Hawes, on the other hand, has taken a longer route to the UFC, losing on Dana White’s Contender Series back in 2017. Since then, however, ‘Megatron’ has looked genuinely excellent.
He went on a strong run outside the UFC. Since being signed in 2020, he’s gone 3-0, beating three tricky opponents in Jacob Malkoun, Nassourdine Imavov and Kyle Daukaus.
More to the point, Hawes has the wrestling ability to stop Winn in his tracks and perhaps use his heavy hands to earn a fourth win in the octagon. Right now, there are few better prospects in the UFC at middleweight than ‘Megatron’. This is another chance for him to prove that, which makes this fight a must-see clash.
#1. The winner of the main event might be in line for a UFC title shot
Naturally, the most intriguing fight on offer this weekend is the headline clash between UFC strawweight contenders Mackenzie Dern and Marina Rodriguez. Both women have been on excellent runs as of late. An impressive win here could well net either one a title shot in 2022.
Sometimes fights with this much on the line can easily turn into damp squibs, but it doesn’t feel likely that this one will. In fact, it should provide fans with a classic clash of styles, with Dern, a world class grappler with a still-developing striking game, going against Rodriguez, who is excellent standing but has some issues on the ground.
So who will win this fight? It’s honestly hard to say. Dern is arguably more dangerous thanks to her venomous ground game. She’s submitted three of her last four opponents and looks to be in the best shape of her career.
However, Rodriguez also picked up the biggest win of her career in her last bout, outpointing perennial contender Michelle Waterson. Prior to that, she handed Amanda Ribas the first defeat of her UFC career.
Regardless of who wins, this should be a fantastic fight between two of the strawweight division’s brightest young contenders. It makes this show well worth watching overall.
