Preview: UFC Atlanta Prelims

Bantamweights
Ricky Simon (21-6) vs. Cameron Smotherman (12-5)

Odds: N/A

After a much-needed win earlier this year, Ricky Simon looks to keep the momentum going here. Simon has been a fairly-reliable bet to both succeed and entertain since his UFC debut in 2018; his hard-charging approach eventually ran him into a ceiling late in 2019, but he did a strong job of adjusting in a way that allowed him to keep the pace up without running into his opponent's fists. That resulted in a five-fight winning streak that Simon capped off with dominant wins over Raphael Assuncao and Jack Shore, earning Simon his first UFC main event against Song Yadong in 2023. Simon put in a game effort but struggled to get things going against Song, a much better athlete that also consistently hit Simon with some hard shots; that didn't seem to be a major setback in the moment, but it wound up knocking Simon back a few steps, as it led to a rough 2024. Simon just didn't seem to have the extra gears that he showed during his winning streak; Mario Bautista simply outlasted him, while Simon looked tentative and never got things going in a surprising loss to Vinicius Oliveira. But after this past February, the hope is that Simon finally has his groove back; he took a bit to warm up, but knocked out Javid Basharat in under four minutes, which clearly provided a bit of catharsis.

Up next is late replacement Smotherman, who's still attempting to find a clear footing on a deep bantamweight roster. Smotherman clearly has some talent to work with, but has struggled to channel it into a consistently effective approach, preferring by default to fight with a slow-paced approach that often borders on overly patient. It's understandable that he does so, particularly since an attempt to open up got him knocked out by Charalampos Grigoriou on the Contender Series in 2023, but it does leave him dependent on his opponent giving him the time and space to work; Jake Hadley was thrown off enough by Smotherman's reach and power to take himself out of the fight, but Serhiy Sidey stayed active and won a decision over Smotherman with little difficulty. This would be a more interesting fight if Simon was still in the midst of his confidence issues, but this now looks like a particularly rough matchup for Smotherman to slide into; the pick is Simon via first-round knockout.

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