Preview: UFC on ESPN 33 Prelims

Featherweights

NR | Luis Saldana (15-7, 1-1 UFC) vs. NR | Bruno Souza (10-2, 0-1 UFC)

ODDS: Saldana (-120), Souza (+100)

This has the potential to be an entertaining scrap, but that is mostly thanks to the efforts of Saldana. A nine-year veteran when he earned a contract via Dana White’s Contender Series in 2020, Saldana figured to be an exciting all-terrain fighter based on that performance and mostly lived up to that hype in 2021. His win over Jordan Griffin and loss to Austin Lingo were entertaining affairs throughout. If there is one obvious knock against Saldana thus far, it is his tendency to flag over the course of his fights, which figures to be something that Souza can exploit. A protege of the Machida brothers, Souza unsurprisingly fights with a neutralizing karate style that can sometimes slow his fights to a crawl. Even on the regional scene, Souza was playing with some thin margins with his reliance on individual moments of offense in a slow-paced approach, but he did at least put together a strong third round against Melsik Baghdasaryan in his November UFC debut. However, that came after two interminable rounds during which Souza did not accomplish much. Saldana should win this clearly for two rounds, at which point the fight becomes interesting, given that he should be tired enough for Souza to start taking over on offense and potentially earn a finish. With that said, it is hard to outright pick Souza given his low-percentage approach. The pick is Saldana via decision.