Preview: UFC 310 Prelims

Welterweights

Max Griffin (20-10, 8-8 UFC) vs. Michael Chiesa (17-7, 12-7 UFC)

ODDS: Griffin (-125), Chiesa (+105)

It has now been over a dozen years since Chiesa made his name on the lone live season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” overcoming the death of his father to put together a string of upsets and come out on top of a talented cast of lightweights. It was unclear how well Chiesa would fare going forward, but he put together a strong campaign despite a limited and grappling-focused skill set, winning five of six before falling short against Kevin Lee and Anthony Pettis. Those losses—along with some rough weight cuts—prompted a move up to welterweight for Chiesa, and early turns were solid. He filled out and looked particularly strong up at 170 pounds, and he had developed a functional enough striking game to at least serve as a distraction while he set up his wrestling and grappling. Chiesa eventually hit another clear plateau, and it does seem like “Maverick” is settling into a semi-retirement of sorts, doing some analyst work while fighting a much less active schedule, though he did get back into the win column against Tony Ferguson in August. He will take on Griffin, who’s somehow the older man here, though he keeps chugging along as he has for much of his eight years and change on the UFC roster.

Griffin enjoyed a decent regional career ahead of his UFC debut in 2016, but it still took him a bit to find his footing at the UFC level. It wasn’t until around 2020 that Griffin settled in as a well-rounded fighter who could take anyone to a tough decision. Griffin’s approach is a hodgepodge of everything with a solid level of athleticism and durability to back it all up, so it usually takes some sort of standout ability—whether that’s in the form of technical skill or just sheer athleticism—to get past the Californian. That might apply to Chiesa’s grappling game, but the read is that the 2024 version of the Sikjitsu rep can put in three strong rounds but still probably not do enough to overwhelm Griffin, who should be the stronger fighter and capable enough on the mat. The pick is Griffin via decision.

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