The UFC Vegas 271 prelim card features nine bouts, the first four of which will be previewed in this post. These five fights take place across four different weight classes and features the UFC debut of prospect Mike “Blood Diamond” Mathetha (pictured above). All win probabilities are based on a fighter’s CC Rating and their place in the CC Rankings.

Jeremiah Wells vs. Blood Diamond (Men’s Welterweight)

Jeremiah Wells

• Record: 9-2-1
• Division Ranking: 57/75 welterweights
• Vegas Odds: -230 (Favorite)

Blood Diamond

• Record: 3-0-0
• Division Ranking: 68/75 welterweights
• Vegas Odds: +190 (Underdog)

Wells is coming off a convincing win over UFC veteran Warlley Alves. He dropped Alves with a right hook before finally KO’ing him on the ground. It was a statement debut and he’ll look to keep that up in his second bout inside the octagon. Seven out of nine of Wells’ wins have come by finish (four KOs, three submissions). Wells is a relatively old 35 for a fighter with only one fight under his belt in the UFC. The former Cage Fury champion has little time to go on a run in an increasingly crowded division.

Blood Diamond comes in as one of the most fascinating prospects in a while. Diamond emigrated from Zimbabwe to New Zealand and quickly joined the famed City Kickboxing gym. He’s logged over 100 fights as a kickboxer before making the transition to MMA, where he’s yet to lose. His style is as unorthodox as they came, and even he’ll admit you never know what you’re going to get when he steps in to the cage. We’ll see if that same quirkiness shows through under the bright UFC lights.

Subjective Spin on Objective Reality: Wells has experience and finishing ability not yet displayed by Blood Diamond. However, no one can be fully prepared for what they’ll see when they step in the cage with him. If you’re inclined to roll the dice, Diamond ought to be a fun one.

Editor’s Pick: Blood Diamond

Douglas Silva de Andrade vs. Sergey Morozov (Men’s Bantamweight)

Douglas Silva de Andrade

• Record: 27-4-0
• Division Ranking: 24/78 bantamweights
• Vegas Odds: +180 (Underdog)

Sergey Morozov

• Record: 17-4-0
• Division Ranking: 48/78 bantamweights
• Vegas Odds: -220 (Favorite)

Andrade has been in the cage with some of the bantamweight division’s very best. In the last five years, he’s fought top contenders Rob Font (#4 CC, #5 UFC) and Marlon Vera (#5 CC, #8 UFC), current interim champ Petr Yan, and former UFC bantamweight champ Renan Barao. He also faced off against the undefeated Lerone Murphy. This bout will be Andrade’s tenth fight in the UFC. He’s 5-4 over the first nine.

Morozov had the unfortunate responsibility of welcoming Umar Nurmagomedov to the UFC in what was also his own debut. Morozov was submitted by rear naked choke in the second round. Morozov would recover with a decision win over Khalid Taha six months later. In his 17 pro wins, 11 have come by way of finish (eight KOs, three submissions).

Subjective Spin on Objective Reality: Morozov might be the brighter young star with a future in the UFC, but Andrade will come in having seen talent far greater than Morozov. His strength of schedule has been through the roof. Don’t let the 5-4 UFC record fool you. Andrade belongs in there with top tier talent. It’s yet unclear whether Morozov meets that standard.

Editor’s Pick: Silva de Andrade

Jacob Malkoun vs. AJ Dobson (Men’s Middleweight)

Jacob Malkoun

• Record: 5-1-0
• Division Ranking: 60/67 middleweights
• Vegas Odds: +130 (Underdog)

AJ Dobson

• Record: 6-0-0
• Division Ranking: 52/67 middleweights
• Vegas Odds: -110 (Favorite)

There’s no good way to spin Malkoun’s UFC debut. He was starched by Phil Hawes in just 17 seconds, ending his 4-0 career unbeaten record. He then recovered with a decent win over the dangerous veteran Abdul Razak Alhassan. Malkoun is looking to do all of hid fellow Aussies proud by stringing together another win. He only has three KOs to his name thus far in his career. At the young age of 26, he’ll have time to add to that.

Despite making his UFC debut, Dobson will be the older fighter by four years in this bout. Dobson comes in after delivering a nice first round finish in his appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS). Dobson, like Malkoun, has only had six professional MMA bouts. In those six, Dobson has delivered five finishes (two KOs, three submissions). Given Malkoun has never been part of a submission in his career, it will be interesting to see if Dobson tries to take this fight to the ground early

Subjective Spin on Objective Reality: Malkoun has more experience in the UFC cage. At 26, he’s starting to get his feet underneath him early. That could be dangerous if Dobson gives him enough time in the standup game. Standing and striking likely won’t bode well for Dobson.

Editor’s Pick: Malkoun

Carlos Ulberg vs. Fabio Cherant (Men’s Light Heavyweight)

Carlos Ulberg

• Record: 3-1-0
• Division Ranking: 39/41 light heavyweights
• Vegas Odds: -260 (Favorite)

Fabio Cherant

• Record: 7-3-0
• Division Ranking: 40/41 light heavyweights
• Vegas Odds: +210 (Underdog)

Ulberg went to absolute war with Kennedy Nzechukwu in his UFC debut back at UFC 259. That fight earned him a fight of the night bonus from the UFC brass. Almost a year later, he’s ready to step back into the octagon. With only four fights to his name, Ulberg is already a touted prospect, despite his last loss. Ulberg will hopefully have worked on his cardio in the meantime. He exhausted himself trying to finish Nzechukwu in the first round (which he very nearly did) before being finished himself in the second.

Cherant has yet to make it out of the first round in his UFC career. That’s not a good thing for him. In his debut at UFC 260, he was submitted within the first two minutes by Alonzo Menifield via the elusive Von Flue choke. Five months later, Cherant was KO’d by William Knight (who’ll also be fighting at UFC 271). Cherant will want to get this fight to the ground, having five submissions over his seven career wins, against a standup artist like Ulberg.

Subjective Spin on Objective Reality: Ulberg is supremely talented and underrated because of his lack of experience. As long as he can maintain a reasonable gas tank, there’s little reason to believe he won’t be able to put away Cherant. Cherant’s only hope is a submission.

Editor’s Pick: Ulberg

Photo Credit: Newshub