Featherweight wildmen collide in this intriguing matchup. Burgos
quickly made a name for himself as an entertaining action fighter,
as “Hurricane” consistently came to the cage with an approach built
entirely around offense. Burgos is content to keep marching his
opponent down, pour on volume and bank on his head movement and
durability to see him through whatever comes back. Unfortunately,
it is that last bit that has caused Burgos to reach something of a
plateau. As Burgos has found himself on the cusp of title
contention, fights against the likes of Josh Emmett
and Edson
Barboza—along with an earlier bout against Calvin
Kattar—have seen him lose that war of attrition, including
suffering late knockouts against Kattar and Barboza. If Burgos only
tops out as one of the most exciting fighters in the sport, there
are worse fates, and he got back to his winning ways in November
with another violent bout against Billy
Quarantillo, even if the two had the tough task of following
Justin
Gaethje’s all-time war against Michael
Chandler. Up next for Burgos is a fellow maniac in Jourdain,
who is ready for his latest chance at a breakthrough win. Jourdain
came to the UFC in 2019 as a top prospect out of his native Canada
and very much had the type of structureless approach built entirely
around finding a flashy finish. While Jourdain has retained some of
that mentality—this is still a man who has a flying knee built in
as part of his entrance routine—he has become a much more
functional bringer of violence in the last year, staying active and
showing a tendency to keep building throughout his fights.
Jourdain’s submission win over Lando
Vannata in April was a nice reminder that the Quebecois can
also be dangerous on the mat, though that is unlikely to come into
play in what figures to be a standup war. Burgos should be able to
take an early lead and pour on his usual volume, given that
Jourdain seems to be the more likely to cede ground, but it is an
open question as to how much the Canadian can turn things around,
whether that is in terms of taking the overall direction of the
fight or scoring a knockout outright. Given Jourdain’s ability to
cycle through options and Burgos’ willingness to eat whatever comes
his way, the bet is that the former can snatch a victory once he
hits on something that works. With that said, this is basically a
coinflip that should bring about enough violence to earn each man
some more fans. The pick is Jourdain via third-round knockout.
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