Preview: UFC on ESPN 55 Prelims

Lightweights

Maheshate Hayisaer (9-3, 1-2 UFC) vs. Gabriel Benitez (23-11, 7-7 UFC)

ODDS: Maheshate (-198), Benitez (+164)

Benitez has put in a solid decade of work under the UFC banner, but the Mexican veteran could use a big performance here. “Moggly” was probably the odds-on favorite to win the featherweight bracket on the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter Latin America,” and while he fell short in the semifinals, he rebounded in solid fashion with five wins in his first seven UFC fights. Benitez has typically crushed opposition not ready for the UFC level, but the first half of his UFC career saw him get into dogfights, win or lose. A technically sound veteran, he had the skill and grit to be a tough out at the worst but little of the explosivity necessary to score finishes above a certain level. Benitez has remained a viable fighter since a 2019 loss to Sodiq Yusuff, but there is a sense that the lighter weight classes—he has competed at both featherweight and lightweight—have started to pass him by a bit. Beyond the next wave of younger athletes finding success against Benitez, he has also started to slip a bit in terms of aggression and durability. Surviving and finishing Charlie Ontiveros for his most recent win in 2022 was a nice sign, but a January loss to Jim Miller was just as concerning; it eventually turned into Miller’s strongest performance in recent memory.

This fight against Hayisaer serves as a strong litmus test for both men. Benitez needs to prove he can hang against a younger generation, while Hayisaer looks to prove he can turn his talent into production in the UFC. China’s Hayisaer was more or less an unknown ahead of a Dana White’s Contender Series appearance in 2021, and he impressed as a hard-hitting counterpuncher with a massive frame. Those tools served him well in an impressive UFC debut, as he blasted Steve Garcia in just 74 seconds, but his success came to a halt in his two fights since. Rafa Garcia ate Hayisaer’s offense and exposed his fairly poor defensive wrestling game, while Viacheslav Borshchev was able to stand and knock him out. Benitez has the tools to win this as the much more technically deep fighter, but his record against big punchers in recent memory has not been the strongest, making the Chinese fighter worth the flier. The pick is Hayisaer via first-round knockout.

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Maheshate vs. Benitez