Preview: UFC Fight Night 185 Prelims

Luis Pena lives up to the @violentbobross moniker with this finish #UFCGreenville pic.twitter.com/n6O9NICyAX

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 22, 2019

Lightweight

NR | Drakkar Klose (11-2-1, 5-2 UFC) vs. NR | Luis Pena (8-3, 4-3 UFC)

ODDS: Klose (-190), Pena (+165)

Pena certainly catches the eye. A lot of that is the shock of red hair that birthed his “Violent Bob Ross” nickname, but Pena also leveraged his long frame and natural athleticism into some impressive highlights on the regional scene. However, that has led to a frustrating UFC career, as Pena has yet to turn his flashes of potential and talent into anything consistently effective. Pena had only four pro fights before getting the UFC call, and that shines through with a lot of problems in his game. Pena’s striking is not where it needs to be just yet, leaving him to turn to a grappling game that mostly leans on his size to control the fight. Pena has been able to overwhelm his worst opponents and show some impressive slipperiness thanks to his long frame, but his 2020 win over Steve Garcia—Pena himself called it disappointing—was emblematic of how frustrating Pena can be in the cage. He managed to immediately neutralize Garcia’s wild striking by taking the fight to the mat, but he just held the Jackson-Wink MMA rep in relatively passive positions while cruising to an interminable win. With that said, Pena has the physical gifts to be a contender whenever this all clicks, though he steps in on late notice for a tough test. Klose can be frustrating in his own right—his muscular physique feels like it should result in a lot more finishing ability—but his own neutralizing style has led to much more consistent success than Pena’s. Klose applies pressure and can do a little bit of everything, which is all backed up by his durability and strength in the clinch. That made Klose a bit of a prospect killer early in his UFC career, as he slowed down fights with Marc Diakiese and Lando Vannata to derail each man’s hype train. A knockout loss to Beneil Dariush looks better now with the latter’s recent resurgence, and it will be interesting to see if Klose can stall out Pena for a rebound victory. Pena’s difficulty winning anything outside of a messy grappling battle makes it difficult to have much faith in him, but Klose figures to take this fight against the fence and give him exactly the type of fight he desires. Despite Klose’s strength in the clinch, Pena’s height and ability to leverage his frame into advantageous grappling positions should allow him to get the better of their exchanges. This should be a weird and ugly fight, and neither man may separate himself much from the other. The pick is Pena via decision.

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