Featherweights
Sodiq Yusuff (8-1) vs. Sheymon Moraes (11-2)Advertisement
The UFC might have uncovered a gem in Yusuff. The Nigerian-born Maryland native has charisma flowing out of his pores and a surprising amount of skill for someone less than three years into his pro career. Yusuff throws absolute heat, and while there is still a bit of overall sense lacking to his game, he does well to get out of the bad positions in which he puts himself. His Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series bout against fellow top prospect Mike Davis was a solid example of this. Yusuff kept backing himself against the cage but did well staying active and winning exchanges to extract himself from the situation. His UFC debut against Suman Mokhtarian was the one-sided showcase it was set up to be, so now it is time for the UFC to make its usual mistake and rush Yusuff into a fight with Moraes, one of the tougher under-the-radar fighters on the roster.
Moraes has slowly been regaining the prospect shine he had a few years ago, as he became somewhat of a forgotten man at featherweight. Coming up as a bantamweight, Moraes signed with the World Series of Fighting and was rushed into a bout with Marlon Moraes for his first career loss. From there, Moraes became a casualty of the dying days of the promotion, as he had trouble getting booked for fights and watched his career start to stagnate. It was a pleasant surprise when he finally found his way to the UFC, and after rebounding from the misfortune of being matched with Zabit Magomedsharipov in his promotional debut, Moraes has put together wins against Matt Sayles and Julio Arce to make himself relevant again. At some point, the UFC will probably learn that Moraes is a tough out for its prized prospects, but until then, he is at least a worthy recipient of their misfortune.
This should be a corker, but overall, Moraes just looks more advanced in many of the ways that Yusuff is going to try to take this fight. Both men’s weakness is an overdedication to power, but with that canceling out, Moraes simply looks like a quicker, more diverse striker who has more of a sense of where he wants to take the fight. Yusuff has more one-shot power, so if this turns into a war, there is a chance the Nigerian can finish this inside the distance, but this is Moraes’ fight to lose. With that said, there is the potential for this to be the kind of fight that brings enough violence to elevate both men, regardless of who wins or loses. The pick is Moraes via decision.
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