Preview: UFC Vegas 104 ‘Vettori vs. Dolidze 2’

Welterweights

Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (25-8-1, 11-4-1 UFC) vs. Chidi Njokuani (24-10, 4-3 UFC)

ODDS: Zaleski dos Santos (-185), Njokuani (+154)

Njokuani is riding a two-fight winning streak, but it would be nice to see “Chidi Bang Bang” put on a strong performance given that his move to welterweight hasn’t exactly been electric. The UFC made Njokuani go through Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021, but he was already clearly a UFC-level fighter, owing to nearly a decade and a half of pro experience that included a successful run in Bellator MMA. Njokuani’s UFC career got off to a hot start with two quick knockout wins, but a subsequent three-fight losing streak showed some of the gaps in his game, even if the bouts were exciting enough that his stock remained constant. Njokuani remained potent, but his opponents were aggressive and durable enough to keep pressing their games until he just couldn’t keep up. That caused Njokuani to cut down to welterweight, where he competed earlier in his career, and while he has turned things around results-wise, his performances have been quite flat. Whether it’s Njokuani conserving his energy or just the effects of a long career, he has adopted a slow-paced and clinch-heavy style that has made for some forgettable bouts. It’s also an approach that probably won’t work against Zaleski dos Santos, who never quite reached contender status but has been a perennially tough out.

Zaleski dos Santos lost his UFC debut to Nicolas Dalby in 2015, then had to take the long road to any sort of notoriety, putting on exciting performances and racking up wins for about four years until he got any sort of promotional shine. That made it rough timing for the worst performance of Zaleski dos Santos’ career—a loss to Jingliang Li that clearly set him back. Since then, “Capoeira” has slowed down a bit in his late 30s but remained a tough fighter who can press the pace against just about anyone for three rounds. He staged huge comebacks against Rinat Fakhretdinov and Randy Brown even if neither of them resulted in a win, and his destruction of late-notice newcomer Zach Scroggin in November served as a reminder that he’s far from done. Njokuani might make this ugly for a bit, but it’s hard not to see Zaleski dos Santos blowing this fight open at some point. The pick is Zaleski dos Santos via second-round knockout.

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Vettori vs. Dolidze
Zaleski dos Santos vs. Njokuani
Vallejos vs. Choi
Hernandez vs. Holobaugh
Blackshear vs. Gibson
You vs. Cunningham
The Prelims