Preview: UFC on ESPN 53 ‘Ribas vs. Namajunas’

Bantamweights

Payton Talbott (7-0, 1-0 UFC) vs. Cameron Saaiman (9-1, 3-1 UFC)

ODDS: Talbott (-148), Saaiman (+124)

Bantamweight young guns square off in this intriguing matchup. Still just 23 years old, Saaiman should at least continue to be an entertaining entrant at 135 pounds for the foreseeable future despite some recent adversity. A teammate of middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis, Saaiman’s style is much the same story. “MSP” might not be technically pretty in throwing out his offense, but he is continually willing to try and make things happen through power and aggression. Saaiman is not quite the horse of an athlete as his champion teammate, which figures to limit his ceiling in a division much deeper than middleweight, but he has done a solid job thus far of wearing out his opposition in the UFC. He did finally get outworked by prospect-killer Christian Rodriguez in October for his first career loss. Saaiman looks to rebound against Talbott, a recent Dana White’s Contender Series alum coming off a successful UFC debut in November.

Talbott, 25, has a clear idea of what he wants to do, even though his fights can be a bit of an adventure. A tall bantamweight, the Nevadan looks to march forward and swamp his opponent with volume while having little regard for what comes his way. Talbott can eat some hard shots, but he tends to get slowed down against wrestlers, as he did in that UFC debut against Nick Aguirre. Talbott has consistently done well to get back to his feet and keep plugging away, but it would be nice if he stuffed more takedowns to begin with. Saaiman is faster and could prove frustrating, but the read is that he will concede to Talbott’s pace as a fighter who never really dictate things. Given how the South African flagged down the stretch against Rodriguez, Talbott should take this fight over by the end and win rounds in the process, even if he will likely once again have to win some scrambles to do so. The pick is Talbott via decision.

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Ribas vs. Namajunas
Williams vs. Tafa
Shahbazyan vs. Dobson
Talbott vs. Saaiman
Quarantillo vs. Zalal
Padilla vs. Pajuelo
The Prelims