Preview: UFC Fight Night 134 ‘Shogun vs. Smith’

This Sunday at #UFCHamburg, the unbeaten @_MannyBermudez looks to keep his record perfect when he meets the dangerous @DaveyGrantMMA in the Featured Bout of the #UFCFIGHTPASS Prelims! pic.twitter.com/s3WYsqTGdv

— UFC Fight Pass (@UFCFightPass) July 16, 2018

UFC Fight Pass Prelims
Bantamweights
Davey Grant (10-3) vs. Manny Bermudez (11-0)
Odds: Bermudez (-235), Grant (+195)

Since finishing as the runner-up on season eighteen of TUF all the way back in 2013, England's Grant has yet to find a real niche on the UFC roster, as injuries have limited him to only two fights in the last four and a half years. Grant has been a solid grappler throughout his career, but on the rare occasions he's found his way into the Octagon, results have been mixed. He put on a clinic against a raw version of Marlon Vera, but Damian Stasiak was able to catch him with a late armbar at UFC 204. That bout was nearly two years ago, and Grant has been on the shelf since, including a staph infection that knocked him out of a May bout against Massachusetts' Manny Bermudez, which gets rebooked here. It's a bit amusing that Bermudez has managed to fit his entire pro career in during Grant's three-fight UFC tenure, but Bermudez's submission skills have allowed him to get to the UFC roster in a shade under three years. Bermudez's submission wizardry allows him to get the finish seemingly out of nowhere, though one figures that he'll eventually hit a ceiling somewhere during his UFC tenure. Even in his UFC debut against Alberto Morales, Bermudez’s striking looked poor, but Bermudez initiated enough submission opportunities that it didn't really matter and he still got the finish. I don't think Grant is that guy, either; grappling's the best part of Grant's own game, and I assume at one point, one of the two fighters is going to put Grant in a position to be submitted, and from there it'll all be over. My pick is Bermudez via first-round submission.

Light Heavyweights
Jeremy Kimball (15-7) vs. Darko Stosic (12-1)
Odds: Stosic (-275), Kimball (+235)

Serbia's Darko Stosic is the latest light heavyweight prospect to enter the Octagon, and he's an interesting talent. Looking at a picture of him, Stosic's game is about what you'd expect, as he's a bricked-up power puncher; that makes his decision to debut in the UFC as a light heavyweight somewhat fascinating, as the speed of his opponents may be a concern once he moves down a division. Colorado's Jeremy Kimball serves as somewhat of a baseline test to see how Stosic handles moving down from heavyweight, as he's a movement-heavy, unorthodox brawler. Kimball's 2017 win over Josh Stansbury showed how his game could work, as he put away Stansbury with a strange standing hammerfist, but otherwise, his UFC tenure has seen him get overpowered in firefights against Marcos Rogerio de Lima and Dominick Reyes. That's probably the likeliest outcome here, though with Stosic being a musclebound heavyweight making his first cut in four years to 205, I do have concerns that Stosic's speed or cardio could fail him and give Kimball the chance at an upset win. Still, my pick is Stosic by first-round knockout.

Bantamweights
Damian Stasiak (10-5) vs. Pingyuan Liu (11-5)
Odds: Stasiak (-110), Liu (-110)

Damian Stasiak's UFC debut was a tremendous disappointment, as the promotion thought enough of Stasiak as a prospect to add him to their debut card in Poland after winning a fight just two weeks prior, but he looked flat in losing what should've been a showcase hometown fight against Yaotzin Meza. Thankfully, Stasiak was able to rebound with wins over Filip Pejic and Davey Grant, even though his style remains an odd, disjointed mix of range karate striking and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Stasiak did well to fight from the outside and neutralize a lot of the pressure game of Pedro Munhoz, even in losing the decision, but the UFC's return to Poland also saw another disappointing Stasiak loss, this time in a fun fight against Brian Kelleher. It feels like Stasiak is a bit underrated, but he might need a win here against China's Liu to stay on the roster. Liu was initially slated to debut on UFC's card in Shanghai this past November, but was forced out of his fight against Bharat Kandare with an injury, a slot that eventually went to top prospect Yadong Song. Chinese MMA has evolved a ton from the UFC's first attempts to break into the market in 2014. Back then, taking on a Chinese fighter was mostly a rubber stamp "W" for a large swath of the UFC roster, but this latest batch of Chinese talent does have some actual tools. From what I could find, Liu's a solid athlete with some knockout power and a decent offensive grappling game, but dealing with a much lower level of competition than Liu figures to face in the UFC. There are probably wins for Liu somewhere on the roster, but Stasiak doesn't appear to be one of them; my pick is Stasiak by first-round submission.