Preview: UFC London Prelims

Lightweights

Guram Kutateladze (13-4) vs. Kaue Fernandes (9-2)
Odds: Kutateladze (-425), Fernandes (+330)

Kutateladze remains an interesting talent, even if he's yet to quite recapture the expectations immediately following his UFC debut. Kutateladze stepped in as a late replacement to face fellow newcomer -- and the much more hyped -- Mateusz Gamrot in 2020, with "The Georgian Viking" eventually scoring a massive upset; it was a nip-tuck decision, but Kutateladze was constantly able to keep pace with Gamrot's wrestling-heavy approach and land some solid offense when things were on the feet. But while Gamrot wound up rebounding and rising to fringe contender status, Kutateladze's momentum has mostly stalled out. Inactivity has been an issue, with this marking only Kutateladze's fourth fight in the ensuing four and a half years, but Gamrot's pace-heavy but low-damage style might have been just the right matchup for the Georgian in retrospect; Kutateladze can plug away at a solid pace in his own right, but doesn't always have a second gear and eventually got drowned in a loss to Elves Brener, who's much more intentional to land for damage when it comes to applying his pressure. But that loss to Brener remains the only real disappointment on Kutateladze's record -- his other loss to Damir Ismagulov was a split decision and much more understandable -- so it's just a matter of him staying active enough to get some momentum going.

In the other corner is Fernandes, who should continue to find wins in the UFC but might have issues rising above a certain level. Fernandes had the type of record that the UFC likes, stringing together a few first-round knockouts, but he's extremely dependent on his opponent's willingness to give him time and space to work; Marc Diakiese constantly out-wrestled Fernandes in his UFC debut, at which point the Brazilian got little done. Mohammad Yahya was a much more forgiving matchup, and Kutateladze splits the difference to an extent; he might give Fernandes some time to feel things out, but he's a much better and more durable athlete that should take this fight over with time, particularly as Fernandes runs out of ideas; the pick is Kutateladze via second-round stoppage.

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Kutateladze vs. Fernandes