Preview: UFC Fight Night 142 ‘Dos Santos vs. Tuivasa’

Welterweights

Jake Matthews (14-3) vs. Anthony Rocco Martin (14-4)

ODDS: Matthews (-140), Martin (+120)

Robert Whittaker may have beaten him to the title of first Australian UFC champion, but Matthews still has the potential to be an important part of MMA in the country. Matthews entered the UFC a few months shy of his 20th birthday and showed some impressive grappling skills early on, but as he moved up the ladder, it always felt like one step forward and two steps back. Matthews finally seemed to turn a corner with a 2016 win over Johnny Case, but the rest of his year undid all of that progress. Suffering a one-sided loss to Kevin Lee has looked better over time, but Matthews’ next bout saw him lose what figured to be a showcase bout against Andrew Holbrook. Matthews then took some time off to deal with injuries and move up to welterweight, which seemed like a surprising move for someone who got by on his strength at 155 pounds. During his time off, Matthews apparently went through another growth spurt and has looked like an absolute tank. Dealing with another large welterweight in Bojan Velickovic served up some initial difficulties, but Matthews has looked excellent in his last two fights, including a breakthrough win over Jingliang Li. Matthews’ career has been filled with false starts, so there is still cause for concern, particularly with his facing a tough opponent in Martin.

Martin is another converted lightweight who has found success at 170 pounds, though in his case, it was always an obvious move. He was a giant lightweight and suffered the same fate every time out: He had some impressive skills as a power grappler but would inevitably gas out and give up the latter stretches of the fight. Martin did wind up improving during his time at lightweight, mostly thanks to the sudden development of an effective striking game, but since moving to welterweight, everything has finally clicked into place. His 170-pound debut against Keita Nakamura was a solid, well-rounded performance, but his October win over Ryan LaFlare looked like it might be the breakthrough, as Martin showed some newfound knockout power in scoring a third-round finish. He has not been nearly as hyped, but Martin is every bit the welterweight prospect Matthews is, which makes this an excellent fight to watch.

This is a strong matchup, serving as another test for Matthews’ wrestling skills now that he is up a weight class. Taking things to the ground looks to be Matthews’ path to victory. He is improving on the feet, but Martin is the better boxer and increasingly comfortable keeping a fight standing. It remains an open question if Matthews can get the fight where he wants it. Martin is a talented grappler in his own right, and even if Matthews looks to be more of a powerhouse, Martin has enough strength and savvy in to at the very least cancel out Matthews’ wrestling, if not take over that part of the fight himself. In general, this feels like it will be a stalemate when it comes to the grappling department, and if that is taken out of the equation, Martin is the much more capable fighter in other aspects of the fight, at least based off each man’s last performance. Matthews is rapidly putting things together, so a big win here would not be shocking, but the pick is Martin via decision.

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