It was nice to see Assuncao turn back the clock in his last outing.
Perhaps he can keep that up. Assuncao is on the shortlist of the
most underrated fighters of all-time, given that he was one of the
best bantamweights of the 2010s while never getting much notice.
For one thing, Assuncao’s style was only exciting to viewers on a
certain wavelength, as the Brazilian built his approach around
defensive mindfulness and powerful counters that mostly served to
neutralize his opponents. It made Assuncao a decision machine that
the UFC was reticent to feature, but by late 2014, he had put
together too many wins to be ignored, at which point he suffered a
rash of injuries that cost him the most prominent fights of his
career, including what figured to be a title shot against
then-champion Renan Barao.
Assuncao looked rusty upon his return against T.J.
Dillashaw—a man who had won and lost the title during
Assuncao’s injury layoff—and while he eventually recaptured most of
his top-level form, that one result effectively closed the door on
his championship hopes. A 2019 loss to Marlon
Moraes started a distressing four-fight slide for Assuncao,
whose low-margin style had clearly turned against him, so his
October win over Victor
Henry was a pleasant surprise. Against an opponent who had
impressed with pace and volume in his last outing, Assuncao took
one more opportunity to shut down and neutralize a rising
contender. Now 40, the hope is that Assuncao can continue to find
some footing before he rides off into the sunset, and he gets a fun
piece of matchmaking here against Grant. There was a point in
Grant’s career where he figured to be little more than a footnote
at the UFC level. The Brit was a runner-up on “The Ultimate
Fighter” in 2013, then spent the better part of five years on the
shelf due to a cascade of injuries. Since finally getting healthy
enough to keep an active schedule from 2018 on, “Dangerous Davey”
has proven himself to be both an entertaining and effective
fighter. His striking might not be technically pretty, but he
carries enough looping power to catch opponents off-guard and can
back it up with some solid skills on the mat. Grant certainly
leaves enough defensive openings for Assuncao to land offense at
will, but the Englishman enters as the rightful favorite. He is
aggressive enough that it is not a guarantee he will be
discouraged, and while Assuncao looked closer to his old self
against Henry, there is still the concern that his durability may
not hold up against heavier hitters at this point. The pick is
Grant via second-round knockout.
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