Welterweights
Bryan Barberena (14-7) vs. Anthony Ivy (8-3)ODDS: Barberena (-275), Ivy (+235)
While 2019 was shaping up to be a breakout year for Barberena, the hope now is that it did not break him. Barberena has long been one of the most underrated welterweights on the UFC roster, even after a 2016 campaign that saw him upset top prospects Sage Northcutt and Warlley Alves, but his relentlessness and durability have made him a perennially tough out. “Bam Bam” kicked off 2019 with an instant classic against Vicente Luque that saw both men go to war for one of the best fights of the year, with the Brazilian scoring a finish with just six seconds to spare. Barberena’s profile was raised even in defeat, and he was rewarded with a co-main event slot against Randy Brown a few months later. While that fight wound up being a breakout performance and victory for Brown, the result was another late knockout loss for Barberena, which raises some concern. While Barberena has done well to make technical improvements, any cracks in his chin suddenly make his margin for error much thinner. After taking over a year off to undergo back surgery, Barberena gets a step back in competition against Ivy, who is looking to rebound from a quick knockout against Christian Aguilera in his UFC debut. Ivy is a plus athlete, but his game involves all wild power strikes and a willingness to dive into the clinch at the first sign of trouble. That could cause some problems if Barberena’s durability is in fact fading, but the veteran should be able to stay out of trouble standing and get the better of those clinch exchanges. There is a sneaky angle here in that Barberena’s wins typically do not come over athletes, and Ivy does not have Northcutt’s experience deficit or Alves’ cardio issues of Alves. With that said, this would by far be the worst loss of Barberena’s UFC career. The pick is Barberena via decision.
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