Preview: UFC on ESPN 35 ‘Font vs. Vera’

Featherweights

NR | Darren Elkins (26-10, 16-9 UFC) vs. NR | Tristan Connelly (14-7, 1-1 UFC)

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BETUS ODDS: Elkins (-190), Connelly (+155)

Somehow, Elkins is still a factor. Upon dropping to featherweight in 2011, Elkins immediately became the spoiler of the division, scoring upset wins over more talented prospects by turning fights into ugly grinds. Elkins often had to lean on his inhuman level of durability to do so—“The Damage” nickname refers more to how much he can absorb rather than what he can inflict on his opponents—so the theory was that his approach would catch up to him sooner rather than later. Instead, a six-fight winning streak from 2015 to 2018, which included an all-time classic comeback against Mirsad Bektic, legitimately got him to the fringes of title contention. He then ran into Alexander Volkanovski during the Aussie’s ascent towards championship glory, and Elkins later looked diminished in a subsequent four-fight losing streak that threatened his spot on the UFC roster. Despite coming off of a quick loss to Cub Swanson in December, Elkins has proven that he is still able to gut out a win against an unready opponent, stopping Eduardo Garagorri and Darrick Minner, even if he is obviously diminished from his peak. He will look to rebound from the Swanson loss against Connelly, who will always have his UFC debut to point to if nothing else. A lightweight prior to his 2019 debut, Connelly stepped in on short notice for a welterweight bout opposite Michel Pereira in his hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia. He was clearly physically overmatched but survived Pereira’s wild and flashy offense until the Brazilian tired himself out, at which point Connelly managed to grind out a decision win and eventually take home $100,000 in post-fight bonuses. It was a career-altering moment for “Boondock,” but he has struggled to capitalize on it due to repeated neck issues that kept him out until April 2021. That fight saw Connelly drop all the way down to featherweight, but he did not appear to have any sort of newfound physical advantages, particularly against a talented grappler in Pat Sabatini. Connelly is persistent to a fault so he could survive this outing, but he is also going to give Elkins the exact type of grinding fight in which the longtime veteran thrives. Unless this is the fight where Elkins finally falls off, this looks like an easy win on paper. The pick is Elkins via decision.

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