Preview: UFC Fight Night 245 Prelims

Heavyweights
Austen Lane (12-5, 1 N/C) vs. Robelis Despaigne (5-1)
Odds: Despaigne (-440), Lane (+340)

Well, consider the Robelis Despaigne hype train derailed. The Cuban was a worthy flier for the UFC to take and remains fascinating; a former Olympic bronze medalist in taekwondo, Despaigne is an absolutely massive human that ran through the regional scene by quickly hitting opponents hard from strange angles. That was also the case in his UFC debut, which saw him fall over while throwing a kick and then knock out Josh Parisian while moving backwards, but things went extremely south in his sophomore effort against Waldo Cortes-Acosta, who quickly embraced the grind and proved that Despaigne has little answer for a dedicated wrestler. To that end, the gameplan for Austen Lane should be obvious, though it remains to be seen if he can pull it off. A former NFL defensive end, Lane's clearly a standout athlete even at 36 years old. But as you'd expect from a late comer, Lane doesn't have a ton of technical depth; to his credit, he can do a lot of different things, but unfortunately he also tends to cycle through a lot of those ideas, often leaving himself open to eating a knockout in the process. Lane can capably wrestle by the standards of heavyweight, so he has a decent shot at a win here, but the lean is that Despaigne comes out fast and wild enough to catch Lane before things get that far. The pick is Despaigne via first-round knockout.

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Nicolau vs. Almabaev
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Martinez vs. Ardelean
Lane vs. Despaigne