Preview: UFC 290 Prelims

Light Heavyweights

Vitor Petrino (8-0) vs. Marcin Prachnio (16-6)
Odds: Petrino (-285), Prachnio (+240)

The light heavyweight division is wide open for any surging prospect talented enough to make a run, and the hope is that Vitor Petrino is one of the fighters that can step up to the plate. Like a lot of Contender Series signees in recent memory, the Brazilian has a game built around hunting for a quick knockout and then figuring out the rest later, though there's been some promising signs outside of that for the 25-year old; while his UFC debut against Anton Turkalj was mostly a mess, he kept up his cardio for three rounds and at least showed a willingness to mix in some wrestling, even if what followed still showed some holes for Petrino on the mat. But there are things there to work with, and Marcin Prachnio's the right type of next test to see what Petrino can get done. A karate stylist out of Poland, Prachnio had about the worst possible start to his UFC career, marching into a Sam Alvey knockout and subsequently trying a bunch of other ideas in his next few fights, all of which still ended in Prachnio getting knocked out. But things finally clicked with a 2021 win over Khalil Rountree that saved Prachnio's spot on the roster; he's still somewhat flammable, but there's now enough patience to his game that he can lean on his advantages without charging into danger - so while his February win over William Knight was one of the worst fights of the year, it was still a testament to Prachnio's progress that he stuck to a winning gameplan without shooting himself in the foot. But with all that said, Petrino looks too persistent to get thrown off by Prachnio's range stylings, so while he may have trouble tracking the Pole down early, he should be able to land a fight-changing blow at some point within fifteen minutes and then take things over from there; the pick is Petrino via second-round knockout.

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