Preview: UFC Fight Night 176 ‘Overeem vs. Sakai’ Prelims

Bantamweights

Hunter Azure (8-1) vs. Cole Smith (7-1)

ODDS: Azure (-210), Smith (+175)

An interesting fight between bantamweight prospects kicks off the event. Not much was expected of British Columbia’s Smith when he made his UFC debut, but he has done well to overachieve thus far. Smith’s pre-UFC career was both unimpressive and hard to dissect due to lack of film, but he has been able to succeed based on two factors: his massive size for the bantamweight division and his willingness to stick to the grind. Smith immediately looks to lock up with his opponents, and from there, he is willing to make things a mess, searching for his opponent’s back to try and hunt a submission when he is not simply settling for control. That got him past Mitch Gagnon in his UFC debut, and he followed that with a controversial split decision loss to Miles Johns. “The Cole Train” looks to rebound here against a Dana White’s Contender Series graduate. Azure comes from a wrestling background, and while that remains his bread and butter, he has shown some upside as a rapidly developing striker with some physical power. The worry? Azure’s supplemental skills remain more rooted in potential than production at this point. Brian Kelleher showed the defensive holes in Azure’s approach with a second-round knockout, and the Montanan has shown a clear tendency to tire late in his fights. As a result, there is a clear opening for Smith—even if he is losing early in the fight—to keep setting a pace in the hopes that he can eventually take over in the later rounds and potentially find a finish. However, the going could be rough for Smith in those early rounds. Azure figures to be the better and more powerful grappler, and the American also figures to bank rounds as the much harder hitter whenever the two are not engaged in the clinch. The pick is Azure via decision.