The UFC 272 prelim card features eight bouts, the first four of which will be previewed in this post. It features former flyweight title contender Tim Elliott and undefeated bantamweight prospect Umar Nurmagomedov (pictured above). All win probabilities are based on a fighter’s CC Rating and their place in the CC Rankings.

Dustin Jacoby vs. [14] Michal Oleksiejczuk (Men’s Light Heavyweight)

Dustin Jacoby

• Record: 16-5-1
• Division Ranking: 23/39 light heavyweights
• Vegas Odds: -200 (Favorite)

Michal Oleksiejczuk

• Record: 16-4-0
• Division Ranking: 15/39 light heavyweights
• Vegas Odds: +170 (Underdog)

Jacoby, the former Cage Fury middleweight champion, is an undefeated 4-0-1 in five fights since joining the UFC. The lone draw came against Ion Cutelaba (NR CC, #15 UFC), where Cutelaba had Jacoby in trouble early, but clearly gassed himself out for the latter two rounds. Jacoby has ten career KOs, including two in the UFC. He enters looking to continue his rise in a relatively thin division. Staying undefeated would go a long way toward earning him a ranked opponent and a ranking of his own.

The Pole Oleksiejczuk comes in on a two-fight win streak. He entered the UFC at the young age of 22, already an accomplished light heavyweight champion in Poland. He won each of his first three (with one being overturned for a positive substance test). He then fell to former title challenger Ovince Saint Preux and contender Jimmy Crute (NR CC, #14 UFC) in successive bouts. He’s since returned to his winning ways, with his most recent bout being a first round KO over Shamil Gamzatov. That’s nothing new for him, as he has 11 KOs in his career already.

Subjective Spin on Objective Reality: Despite the odds, this will be a very even fight between two fighters with similar styles. Both have tasted adversity and powered through. Oleksiejczuk does have a slightly higher strength of schedule and is the younger fighter by six years.

Editor’s Pick: Oleksiejczuk

L’udovit Klein vs. Devonte Smith (Men’s Lightweight)

L’udovit Klein

• Record: 17-4-0
• Division Ranking: 52/74 featherweights
• Vegas Odds: +125 (Underdog)

Devonte Smith

• Record: 11-3-0
• Division Ranking: 60/84 lightweights
• Vegas Odds: -150 (Favorite)

Klein will take this fight on short notice, replacing Erick Gonzalez. Klein is one of the most exciting prospects in the UFC. OF his 17 wins, 16 have come by finish. Even more impressively, those finishes are evenly split between knockouts and submissions. He is an artist in multiple facets. After backing up the hype with a first round KO in his UFC debut, the Slovak Klein has dropped his last two in a row. He’ll look to right the ship before returning to featherweight.

Smith is another dazzling fighter to watch and this will surely be a fight of the night contender. He boasts a perfect 100 percent finishing rate with ten KOs and one submission. He also has a propensity to get finished, as all of his losses were also KOs. That includes his most recent, which came against Jamie Mullarkey. Smith certainly hopes to be on the right side of this one.

Subjective Spin on Objective Reality: Klein ought to have the advantage on the ground. However, Smith is the bigger fighter and he may be able to prevent it from getting there. Given Klein is coming in on short notice, it is likely Smith will be able to tire Klein out in round one and go for an easy finish in the later rounds.

Editor’s Pick: Smith

Tim Elliott vs. [12] Tagir Ulanbekov (Men’s Flyweight)

Tim Elliott

• Record: 18-12-1
• Division Ranking: 28/35 flyweights
• Vegas Odds: +190 (Underdog)

Tagir Ulanbekov

• Record: 14-1-0
• Division Ranking: 13/35 flyweights
• Vegas Odds: -230 (Favorite)

Elliott (NR CC, #14 UFC) is one of the more unorthodox fighters you’ll ever see. If you watch him fight, it’s clear that no one would ever voluntarily teach someone to fight that way. Yet, it has worked for him. He became the three-time Titan FC flyweight champion and turned that into a title shot against the best flyweight of all-time, Demetrious Johnson. He managed to go the distance with him, but fell in defeat as did most all other flyweights against Johnson. Elliott has lost four of his last six, but all four losses came to fighters in the UFC’s top eight, including current champ, Deiveson Figueiredo.

Ulanbekov (#12 CC, #15 UFC) came in as the former Gorilla Fighting flyweight champion. He’s backed up his resume by winning each of his first two fights inside the UFC octagon. He suffered a couple of cancellations, but finally finds himself in a ranked matchup. Ulanbekov will likely look to get this fight to the ground early to nullify Elliott’s disjointed standup style and add another submission to his resume, which already has seven on it.

Subjective Spin on Objective Reality: It appears Elliott’s best days are behind him. Yes, he’s faced a ridiculously strong schedule, but he is not the contender he used to be and will almost certainly pave the way for the next generation in this one.

Editor’s Pick: Ulanbekov

Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Brian Kelleher (Men’s Bantamweight)

Umar Nurmagomedov

• Record: 13-0-0
• Division Ranking: 35/78 bantamweights
• Vegas Odds: -800 (Favorite)

Brian Kelleher

• Record: 24-12-0
• Division Ranking: 28/78 bantamweights
• Vegas Odds: +550 (Underdog)

Nurmagomedov has finally recovered from a knee injury that held him out more than a year. Now, he gets back to the work of carrying on his older cousin, Khabib’s legacy. He didn’t disappoint in his debut, delivering an early rear-naked choke submission. Nurmagomedov has been about as dominant as they come and will likely crack the bantamweight rankings soon if he can stay healthy and active. He has six submissions and one KO across his 13 wins.

Kelleher has a wealth of experience, entering his 14th fight in the UFC. He hasn’t quite been able to get consistent success, posting an 8-5 record thus far. His signature win came in 2018 when he dispatched former bantamweight champion, Renan Barao. While he came into the UFC on a six-fight win streak, he’s been unable to win more than two in a row since joining the big promotion. Winner of his last two, he can change that with an upset victory over the Russian favorite.

Subjective Spin on Objective Reality: Nurmagomedov is just in a different class. Unless he re-injures himself in the octagon, this is almost a foregone conclusion.

Editor’s Pick: Nurmagomedov

Photo Credit: SCMP