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Preview: UFC Fight Night 210 ‘Sandhagen vs. Song’

Njokuani vs. Rodrigues


Middleweights

Chidi Njokuani (22-7, 2-0 UFC) vs. Gregory Rodrigues (12-4, 3-1 UFC)

ODDS: Njokuani (-125), Rodrigues (+105)

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This figures to be a banger of a bout between middleweights who could make a charge up the rankings. It was a bit absurd a former Bellator MMA headliner in Njokuani had to prove himself an earn a contract via Dana White’s Contender Series, but “Chidi Bang Bang” did what needed to be done, scoring a third-round knockout of Mario Sousa in 2021 to secure his spot on the UFC roster. Njokuani is obviously a well-rounded talent, but his career has been marked by some frustrating patches where his fights have been slow-paced and uglier than they appear on paper. The start to his UFC career has been a hot streak for Njokuani, who has looked electric in his two fights to date, viciously knocking out Marc-Andre Barriault and Dusko Todorovic, both within a round. He gets a big step up against Rodrigues, who is proof that DWCS is not the only path to the Octagon. In his outing on the 2020 edition of the show, “RoboCop” got quickly blasted by Jordan Williams for a knockout loss. That did highlight a weakness in Rodrigues’ game—he can be a ridiculously potent offensive force and solid defensively but rarely both at the same time—but it has not cost him greatly since he received the late-notice UFC call in 2021. Rodrigues has eaten his fair share of offense, particularly in a name-making war against Jun Yong Park in October, but he has yet to be finished. However, he did give up just enough defensively to lose a split decision to Armen Petrosyan in February. After the Petrosyan loss, it was nice to see Rodrigues charge back in the most impressive performance of his career. The Brazilian stormed out and completely dominated Julian Marquez, fighting behind his wrestling before knocking out one of the most reliably durable middleweights on the UFC roster. There is a chance Rodrigues can just get the jump on the former Tachi Palace Fights champion and score another quick finish, but the bet is for Njokuani to survive and turn this into a fun war where the Brazilian’s inability to mix offense and defense eventually costs him. There is clear “Fight of the Night” potential here. The pick is Njokuani via second-round knockout.



Jump To »
Sandhagen vs. Song
Fili vs. Algeo
Pyfer vs. Amedovski
Boser vs. Nascimento
Hernandez vs. Barriault
The Prelims

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