Brian Kelleher will be back in action this weekend as he takes on Mario Bautista. Kelleher is coming off a loss to Umar Nurmagomedov in his last bout. He was submitted by Umar in the first round of their fight at UFC 273. Bautista on the other hand defeated Jay Perrin on his last trip to the Octagon.
Nicknamed Boom, Brian Kelleher is a 14-fight veteran in the UFC. He currently holds a record of 8-6 in the company. Although he fights at a regular interval, Kelleher never really got going. Whenever he won two fights in a row, Brian failed to extend it to three. Prior to losing to Umar, he was on a 2 fight win streak as well.
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Mario Bautista had an unbeaten record of 6-0 before joining the UFC. But he suffered his first career loss against Cory Sandhagen on his promotional debut. However, he recovered from that and beat Jin Soo Son and Miles Johns back to back. He then suffered the second loss of his career against Trevin Jones at UFC 259. But he bounced back by defeating Jay Perrin.
UFC on ESPN 38 Prelims, Brian Kelleher vs Mario Bautista: Stats
Stats | Rodolfo Vieira | Dustin Stoltzfus |
---|---|---|
Wins | 24 | 9 |
Losses | 13 | 2 |
Height | 5’5 ft | 5’8 ft |
Division | Bantamweight | Bantamweight |
Reach | 66 in | 69 in |
Age | 35 | 28 |
Can Mario Bautista take the next step in his career by beating Brian Kelleher?
Brian Kelleher is a well-rounded fighter who has both striking and grappling skills. He has decent power behind his shots and also has the ability to submit his opponents on the ground. Brian has 8 KO victories and 10 submission wins. He averages 1.82 takedowns per fight with an accuracy of 42%.
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However, Kelleher does tend to get hit more when the fight is on the feet. The 35-year-old lands 3.41 strikes per minute whereas his opponents land 4.66 strikes on him per minute. Mario Bautista also has a high percentage of strikes landed per minute. He lands 5.42 strikes per minute while absorbing 4.13 strikes at the same time.
In terms of grappling, Bautista averages 1.63 takedowns per fight with an accuracy rate of 55%. He also holds a takedown defence rate of 66%. The 28-year-old is the favourite to win this weekend over Brian Kelleher. He is significantly younger and has a decent enough chin with very good grappling.
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Although the possibility of seeing an early finish in the fight is not particularly high, there is a prospect of the fight being an entertaining 3-round back and forth.