Preview: UFC Mexico Prelims

Featherweights

Christian Rodriguez (12-2, 5-2 UFC) vs. Melquizael Costa (22-7, 3-2 UFC)

ODDS: Rodriguez (-148), Costa (+124)

Two recent winners each take a quick turnaround here for a compelling addition to this card. January saw Rodriguez return to prospect-killing duty, as “CeeRod” knocked off Austin Bashi and derailed yet another hype train. Rodriguez first got some real notice when he was seemingly set up to be a walkover loss against the much more highly touted Raul Rosas Jr. However, once Rodriguez was able to survive a strong Rosas first round, he turned things around and laid a beating on the young grappler to earn the upset decision win. The UFC has consistently matched Rodriguez with young and highly touted wrestlers since. At first, his toughest opponent wound up being the scale, as weight issues eventually forced him up to 145 pounds. Even with the step up in weight, Rodriguez is still outlasting and turning back young guns like Bashi and Isaac Dulgarian. Flaws in Rodriguez’s game were most recently exposed by wily veteran Julian Erosa, who was able to outquick and clip him on the feet before tapping him out. It will be interesting to see if Costa can follow that game plan. Costa takes this fight just five weeks after his win over Andre Fili. It was the best victory of his career thus far, even if it was the result of some poor grappling decisions from Fili, who quickly fell into a Costa guillotine choke. The Brazilian is the type of fighter who looks to cycle through a lot of ideas until something works, which results in a lot of momentum swings over the course of his fights, whether it’s his suffering a come-from-behind loss to Steve Garcia or staging his own comeback against Nuerdanbieke Shayilan. Costa might have the right combination of dynamism to get past the Roufusport rep in a similar fashion to Erosa, but Rodriguez’s consistent commitment to the grind seems like the surer bet. The pick is Rodriguez via decision.

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