Preview: UFC on ESPN 19 Main Card

Featherweights

NR | Movsar Evloev (13-0, 3-0 UFC) vs. NR | Nate Landwehr (14-3, 1-1 UFC)

ODDS: Evloev (-550), Landwehr (+425)

Evloev is on the shortlist of most underrated prospects in the UFC, and he gets an interesting test here. Evloev impressed on the Russian scene prior to signing with the UFC. He could get overaggressive with his wrestling-heavy approach but reliably got out of whatever bad situations he created for himself by drowning his opponents under a relentless pace. He has been able to rely on that wrestling during his three-fight UFC career, but he has also rapidly improved his boxing from fight to fight—to the point that he was able to brutalize fellow wrestler Mike Grundy in July. While Evloev has been able to reliably get takedowns inside the Octagon, he has not quite been a lockdown wrestler, which is where this bout against Landwehr gets interesting. Landwehr made his bones on the Russian circuit as somewhat of an anti-wrestler. He got taken down at will, but he would constantly find a way to get back to his feet and force his opponents to keep working. At some point, they would tire themselves out and allow Landwehr to take over and charge towards victory. That probably will not work for a few reasons: Evloev is an elite talent who can make Landwehr pay on the feet, and this bout is only three rounds. Still, there is the outside chance that Landwehr can exhaust Evloev and make this interesting. As it stands, it will probably be Landwehr charging directly into Evloev’s offense, which should still be entertaining in its own right. The pick is Evloev via decision.

Continue Reading » Villante vs. Collier