Preview: UFC 256 Prelims

IN ONE ROUND.@JaredVanderaa opened the night with RELENTLESS finishing shots

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— UFC (@ufc) November 5, 2020

Heavyweights

NR | Sergey Spivak (11-2, 2-2 UFC) vs. NR | Jared Vanderaa (11-4, 0-0 UFC)

ODDS: Spivak (-230), Vanderaa (+190)

Vanderaa’s win on Dana White’s Contender Series was not particularly impressive. “The Mountain” looked slow and hittable against Harry Hunsucker before using his size advantage to get the late replacement to the mat and pound him out. Apparently, the UFC disagreed: Not only did Vanderaa earn a contract, but he got the opponent he requested. After getting sparked by Walt Harris in his UFC debut, Spivak has recovered to become a fine middle-of-the-road heavyweight. His lack of any real knockout power gives him a clear ceiling, but “The Polar Bear” has shown some solid effectiveness with an unorthodox array of throws and even flashed a much-improved boxing game against the plodding pressure of Carlos Felipe in July. There is a chance that Vanderaa’s size can help him grind this out in the clinch, but Spivak should be able to hold his own enough there to at least make that part of the fight a stalemate. Beyond that, Spivak should be the better striker, even if the size difference does again raise some concerns. In what should be an ugly grind, Spivak by decision is the pick.

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