This figures to be a banger of a bout between middleweights who
could make a charge up the rankings. It was a bit absurd a former
Bellator MMA headliner in Njokuani had to prove himself an earn a
contract via Dana White’s Contender Series, but “Chidi Bang Bang”
did what needed to be done, scoring a third-round knockout of Mario
Sousa in 2021 to secure his spot on the UFC roster. Njokuani is
obviously a well-rounded talent, but his career has been marked by
some frustrating patches where his fights have been slow-paced and
uglier than they appear on paper. The start to his UFC career has
been a hot streak for Njokuani, who has looked electric in his two
fights to date, viciously knocking out Marc-Andre
Barriault and Dusko
Todorovic, both within a round. He gets a big step up against
Rodrigues, who is proof that DWCS is not the only path to the
Octagon. In his outing on the 2020 edition of the show, “RoboCop”
got quickly blasted by Jordan
Williams for a knockout loss. That did highlight a weakness in
Rodrigues’ game—he can be a ridiculously potent offensive force and
solid defensively but rarely both at the same time—but it has not
cost him greatly since he received the late-notice UFC call in
2021. Rodrigues has eaten his fair share of offense, particularly
in a name-making war against Jun Yong
Park in October, but he has yet to be finished. However, he did
give up just enough defensively to lose a split decision to
Armen
Petrosyan in February. After the Petrosyan loss, it was nice to
see Rodrigues charge back in the most impressive performance of his
career. The Brazilian stormed out and completely dominated Julian
Marquez, fighting behind his wrestling before knocking out one
of the most reliably durable middleweights on the UFC roster. There
is a chance Rodrigues can just get the jump on the former Tachi
Palace Fights champion and score another quick finish, but the bet
is for Njokuani to survive and turn this into a fun war where the
Brazilian’s inability to mix offense and defense eventually costs
him. There is clear “Fight of the Night” potential here. The pick
is Njokuani via second-round knockout.
UFC News & Features
