Preview: UFC 276 Prelims

International Fight Week has arrived for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and UFC 276 on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas offers the expected deep bench of excellent prelims. Lightweights Brad Riddell and Jalin Turner take the featured slot in what should be an intriguing bout, but the most name value comes a rung below, where Jim Miller and Donald Cerrone look to build on their record-setting resumes. Beyond those veterans, it is also time to look to “The Future,” with top prospects Ian Garry and Maycee Barber in action. Add in some crucial middleweight battles lower on the card, and this is about as strong a seven-fight slate as fans can ask for.

Now to the preview for the UFC 276 “Adesanya vs. Cannonier” prelims:

Lightweights

Jalin Turner (12-5, 5-2 UFC) vs. #14 LW | Brad Riddell (10-2, 4-1 UFC)

ODDS: Turner (-135), Riddell (+115)

This should be an excellent scrap, as well as a crucial fight for each of these lightweight talents. Riddell came to the UFC in 2019 as the latest convert that City Kickboxing brought to mixed martial arts, and he proved right off the bat to be a fun fighter. His debut against Jamie Mullarkey was a non-stop war and ranked among the better under-the-radar fights of the year. From there, “Quake” proved himself to be a potential contender. He held his own with opponents in the wrestling realm and eventually showed off a building and brutal style that often sees him bombing on opponents by the end of the fight. Those colder starts could be a problem for Riddell as he moves into fights against elite competition, as was the case against Rafael Fiziev in December. Fiziev got out to an early lead and never really gave it up, closing the show with a third-round knockout just as Riddell seemed to be building momentum and handing the Kiwi his first UFC loss. That is also a concern against Turner, who is quickly surging up the lightweight ranks. At 6-foot-3, Turner is absolutely massive for the lightweight division, though there was the worry that “The Tarantula” would be able to harness his physical advantages into becoming anything more than a dangerous one-round wonder. The start of Turner’s UFC career was inconsistent—though Vicente Luque was a particularly rough debut opponent—but he has looked outstanding during his current four-fight winning streak, showing off some impressive submission skills to supplement his dangerous striking. There is a chance he can blitz Riddell early, take this to the mat and finish it there, but it becomes a much more interesting fight if that is not the case. Beyond Riddell finding his reads over time and becoming a sharp counterstriker, Turner’s ability to keep up his pace and offense down the stretch is still unproven, particularly against opposition at Riddell’s level. Despite his coming off a knockout loss, Riddell’s ability to adapt and survive is worth giving him the benefit of the doubt, at which point he has to be the lean. The pick is Riddell via third-round stoppage.

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Turner vs. Riddell
Miller vs. Cerrone
Garry vs. Green
Du Plessis vs. Tavares
Hall vs. Muniz
Barber vs. Eye
Clark vs. Stoliarenko