Preview: UFC on ESPN 26 ‘Makhachev vs. Moises’

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Featherweights

Gabriel Benitez (22-8) vs. Billy Quarantillo (15-3)
Odds: Benitez (-185), Quarantillo (+160)

This should be a corker of a bout, which is true of most Quarantillo fights. It took Quarantillo a while to make it to the UFC, as he wasn't picked up after a 2015 stint on “The Ultimate Fighter,” and had to wait until 2019 to earn a contract via the Contender Series. On top of that hard road to the Octagon, Quarantillo also tends to take the hardest path possible towards earning his wins. He may not be the most technically skilled fighter, but Quarantillo applies relentless pressure and walks through damage in order to try and outlast his opponents with a wrestling-heavy approach. That worked well, even shockingly so, in his first three UFC bouts - Jacob Kilburn got absolutely dominated, while Spike Carlyle and Kyle Nelson either tired or broke late. But it's always been a question exactly how far Quarantillo can take his style, and that ceiling eventually came in the form of Gavin Tucker this past December, as Tucker was able to neutralize Quarantillo's wrestling and take over the fight himself. Quarantillo looks to rebound here against Mexico's Benitez, who's back at featherweight after some late-notice lightweight bouts in 2020.

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC, PFL and “The Ultimate Fighter” live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Benitez came into the UFC via the first season of TUF: Latin America and figured to be the most UFC-ready fighter on the cast; while he hasn't reached the heights of some of his peers, "Moggly" has lived up to that building as a solid fighter who can hold his own just about anywhere with anyone. If Benitez has a flaw, it's that his well-roundedness often leads to him allowing his opponent to dictate the terms of his fights. After all, if Benitez can hold his own in any phase, there's really not any sort of pace or style of fight that he tries to avoid. So Quarantillo figures to get the fight he wants, and it's a coin flip as to how effective he'll be. Constant pressure could shut down a lot of Benitez's weapons, but Benitez's signature powerful leg kicks figure to cause the most damage of anything over the course of the fight. So this could be a bit of a mess, albeit a fun one, with Quarantillo's aggression and takedowns allowing him to control swaths of the fight, but Benitez being able to separate himself and cause the most actual damage. The pick is Quarantillo via decision, but it's not by much and has split written all over it.

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