Preview: UFC Fight Night 200 Main Card

Middleweights

NR | Punahele Soriano (8-1, 2-1 UFC) vs. NR | Nick Maximov (7-0, 1-0 UFC)

ODDS: Soriano (-190), Maximov (+160)

Soriano’s last fight—the first loss of his professional career—was a setback, but the Hawaiian is still an interesting entrant in the UFC’s middleweight division. Soriano’s game is pretty simple on paper. “Story Time” has some thudding power, backed up by a solid enough wrestling game that he can usually use to keep his fights standing. It is not a particularly deep approach, but few of Soriano’s opponents thus far have been able to stand up to it, leading to his kicking off his career with eight straight wins, seven via first-round knockout. Brendan Allen in July managed to expose the issues in Soriano’s game by pouring on volume and banking on his durability to quickly tire out the Hawaiian. However, Soriano seems poised to bounce back against Maximov. A Nick Diaz disciple, Maximov is both young and talented enough to be a prospect to watch, but he has likely gotten the UFC call much too soon due to his connections. At this point, Maximov is a dogged wrestler and grappler and little else, and while he was still able to grind out a win in his UFC debut against Cody Brundage in September, even that was a performance that left him tired and showed that he needs more seasoning. Maximov may find some early success with his takedowns, but this seems like a bout that will quickly go south from there. Both men figure to be tired in any sort of extended grind, but even then, Soriano should be able to find a knockout against an uncomfortable striker like Maximov. The pick is Soriano via second-round knockout.



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