Preview: UFC 259 Prelims

Lightweights

NR | Uros Medic (6-0, 0-0 UFC) vs. NR | Aalon Cruz (8-3, 0-1 UFC)

ODDS: Medic (-165), Cruz (+145)

No one knows what to make of Medic, at least at the moment. Born in Serbia, “The Doctor” made his name on the weak Alaskan fight scene. While he finished each of his opponents, the fights themselves were typically messy affairs that did not fare particularly well going forward. That made it a shock when Medic looked as impressive as he did on Dana White’s Contender Series in August. Medic looked much more imposing after a cut to lightweight and was surprisingly sharp in a quick and brutal win over Mikey Gonzalez. It is still a bit hard to gauge what this all means, given that Gonzalez himself also got to DWCS via a weak slate of competition, but this fight against Cruz should provide some clarity. Cruz’s victory over Steven Nguyen was one of the highlights of the Contender Series in 2019. In the closing minute of a back-and-forth fight, Cruz uncorked a beautiful flying knee to earn himself a UFC contract. The fight itself saw Cruz impress as a rangy striker, but he had an unsuccessful UFC debut in early 2020, getting overwhelmed in the clinch and pounded out by Spike Carlyle. This fight banks on two questions that are basically unknowns at this point: Can Medic quickly knock out a reliably durable opponent like Cruz, and if not, what exactly does Medic look like outside the first round? Medic ending this early would not be a shock, but the conservative pick is that Cruz can outlast him and hand him a prospect loss. The pick is Cruz via second-round stoppage.

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