Preview: UFC 313 ‘Pereira vs. Ankalaev’

Lightweights

Ignacio Bahamondes (16-5, 5-2 UFC) vs. Jalin Turner (14-8, 7-5 UFC)

ODDS: Bahamondes (-118), Turner (-102)

Two of the UFC's tallest lightweights square off here. Still a raw talent when the UFC picked him up in 2018, Turner has done well to learn on the job. “The Tarantula” stands out as a 6-foot-3 lightweight, and after a rocky start to his UFC career, it looked like Turner would make a charge towards title contention. He racked up five straight wins and showed a surprisingly slick submission game to go along with the knockout power that his frame provides. Some recent struggles—three losses in his last four fights—as Turner has cracked into the rankings have shown some of his weaknesses at an elite level. Provided opponents can survive Turner’s opening salvo, he doesn’t have much to offer in terms of adjustments or a second gear. Turner is still a tough fighter who can keep fighting for three rounds more often than not, but once opponents have adjusted to his size and learned to properly fight back, they can usually pick up the pace enough to get a win over the finish line, as evidenced by the fact that he has lost every decision of his career. After a disappointing comeback loss to Renato “Money” Moicano—Turner had the Brazilian dead to rights before he wrongly chose to walk off a knockout that wasn’t yet done—he looks to rebound against Bahamondes, another 6-foot-3 lightweight.

Chile’s Bahamondes doesn’t leverage his frame much. He can show an impressive kicking game at times, but he’s at his most comfortable as a pressure-focused fighter who looks to swamp his opponent at close range. That has worked swimmingly more often than not, which has made Bahamondes’ losses all the more disappointing. John Makdessi and Ludovit Klein, two of the stockier fighters that Bahamondes has faced, found a lot of success simply standing their ground and countering him as he closed distance, with Klein offering a takedown threat that further neutralized “La Jaula.” Turner seems likely to find a hot start against a less defensively focused opponent, and things could go in a lot of directions from there given the rare size parity that each man faces. Bahamondes could get scared off his game a bit against someone who can match him from range, but given that the Chilean looks tough enough to survive, it could just continue the trend of opponents slowly taking Turner out of his fights. Bahamondes has yet to really fold in the face of adversity, so with Turner also not seemingly having the takedown threat to take him fully out of his approach, the lean is that the Chilean can get things done in a blood-and-guts war. The pick is Bahamondes via decision.

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Pereira vs. Ankalaev
Fiziev vs. Gaethje
Bahamondes vs. Turner
Lucindo vs. Lemos
Ruffy vs. Green
The Prelims