Preview: UFC Fight Night ‘Jedrzejczyk vs. Penne’

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LIGHTWEIGHTS

Nick Hein (11-2, 1-1 UFC) vs. Lukasz Sajewski (13-0, 0-0 UFC)

THE MATCHUP: German police sergeant Hein gets his second fight in Berlin against Poland’s Sajewski. Hein took a decision from Drew Dober in his debut and dropped a competitive fight to James Vick in November. The undefeated Sajewski has beaten reasonably talented competition on the Polish scene. He originally signed to face Leonardo Santos in September but pulled out with an injury.

Sajewski’s game is fairly typical of the Polish MMA scene, with solid skills in multiple areas but little emphasis on transitions or the integration of those different facets into a coherent whole. He is a solid boxer with a crisp left hook, decent head movement and good instincts in the pocket, but he lacks real power and does not throw much volume. Wrestling technique is not his strong suit, but he is tenacious and chains together his attempts against the fence. On the mat, he passes well, has some force in his ground strikes and hunts aggressively for submissions.

Hein was formerly a high-level judo practitioner but mostly prefers to strike these days. The southpaw is a powerful and surprisingly crafty puncher, with excellent instincts on his counter combinations and dynamite in his fists, but he lacks effective tools from long range and could stand to throw more volume. When he bothers to utilize it, he has an outstanding arsenal of trips and throws from the clinch, and it is almost impossible to get him to the mat. He is not a bomber on the ground, nor is he a submission artist, but he can control from top position and eat up chunks of time.

BETTING ODDS: Hein (-170), Sajewski (+140)

THE PICK: This is a potentially interesting fight, but it favors the German by a wide margin. He is the more powerful and likely the more active striker, should win the clinch and takedown battles easily and is unlikely to run into a submission on the bottom. The pick is Hein by comfortable decision.

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