Light Heavyweights
NR | Dustin Jacoby (15-5-1, 3-2-1 UFC) vs. NR | John Allan (13-6, 0-1 UFC)Jacoby continues to make his second UFC stint count. His first run on the UFC roster was about as forgettable as it gets, as he was in the promotion less than a year after his professional debut, lost two deep prelims at a time when they were not guaranteed to be televised and was cut shortly thereafter. From there, “The Hanyak” fell into a kickboxing career that went decently well before returning to mixed martial arts via Dana White’s Contender Series in 2020, when Jacoby scored both a win and a UFC contract. Since then, Jacoby has done well learning on the job. He is obviously at his most comfortable on the feet, and while wrestling has been a consistent way to turn the fight against him, it has not been enough to hand him a loss just yet. Jacoby rebounded from a draw against Ion Cutelaba with a win over Darren Stewart in August, and he steps in on less than a week’s notice to face Allan. Brazil’s Allan is a solid middle-of-the-road light heavyweight who is able to do a bit of everything while still looking for his first UFC win. Allan is mostly content to just move forward and try to make something happen, whether it is swinging hands or attempting to take the fight to the mat. That is backed up by a level of durability that allows Allan’s consistent approach to wear on his opponents, but again, he still has yet to find victory inside of the Octagon. What was initially a win over Mike Rodriguez was overturned due to a failed drug test, and a December bout against Roman Dolidze resulted in a narrow decision that went the other way. Allan has the basic approach that could cause the American some problems—he can wrestle and he is hard to knock out—but the bet is that Jacoby can cause enough damage to stay ahead on the scorecards as his counterpart tries to close the distance. The pick is Jacoby via decision.
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