Preview: UFC on ESPN 61 ‘Tybura vs. Spivak 2’

Featherweights

Jose Mariscal (16-6, 3-0 UFC) vs. Damon Jackson (23-6-1, 6-4-1 UFC)

ODDS: Mariscal (-218), Jackson (+180)

When the UFC picked up Mariscal in 2023, “Chepe” figured to be a fun undercard fighter who would struggle to break through. He’d been at this for nearly a decade and put together a bunch of solid wins, but most of his major steps up in competition didn’t go Mariscal’s way. About 14 months later, Mariscal is suddenly and surprisingly a going concern in the featherweight division after racking up three straight wins and becoming a bit of a prospect killer. Mariscal stood up to the punching power of Trevor Peek and won an entertaining debut, then spoiled the party for top Australian prospect Jack Jenkins, dragging him into a tough fight before injuring his arm with a takedown reversal. While Mariscal’s last win—a decision victory over rising Frenchman Morgan Charriere in April—was a bit controversial, it was yet another case where Mariscal has proven much tougher than expected and found success as a result. Now it’s time for Mariscal to get a bit of a changeup against Jackson, who’s also part of the featherweight class that gets by on aggression and durability.

Jackson had an unmemorable UFC run a decade ago that saw him quickly wash out of the promotion, but he returned in 2020 as a talent with a lot more seasoning and immediately made himself known, scoring a come-from-behind upset of Mirsad Bektic for his first UFC win. From there, Jackson has carved out a niche and established himself just outside of the featherweight rankings, getting out to hot starts and essentially forcing his opponents to keep up. The hardest hitters in the division can make Jackson’s pace a non-factor—Ilia Topuria and Dan Ige each blasted him with little difficulty—but thus far, only Billy Quarantillo has been able to keep pace with him for all three rounds; and it’s an impressive sign for Jackson that he was able to get a decision win over standout athlete Alexander Hernandez over the finish line in April. This should be a nip-tuck scrap, but Jackson gets the nod thanks to his willingness to take the initiative from the jump, along with the bet that Mariscal won’t be able to find a breaking point to turn the fight around against someone who can match him as a gamer. The pick is Jackson via decision.

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Tybura vs. Spivak
Gutierrez vs. Le
Barlow vs. Veretennikov
Mariscal vs. Jackson
Santos vs. Chandler
Grigoriou vs. Kazama
The Prelims