This should be a fun affair for as long as it lasts. One of the
standouts of the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter Latin
America,” Mexico’s Benitez eventually settled into a solid
gatekeeper role. Seemingly the most UFC-ready member of the cast at
the time, “Moggly” never quite reached the heights of some others,
but he has managed to play spoiler against a solid level of
competition. Benitez can be steady to a fault at times. Outside of
his strong leg kicking game, there is not much of a sense of what
he does to impose his type of fight onto his opponents, instead
reacting to whatever comes his way and doing well most of the time.
However, Benitez is coming off of two rough losses. Billy
Quarantillo’s constant pressure turned things into a shockingly
one-sided affair, and while the Mexican had his moments early
against David
Onama, the Glory MMA prospect continued Benitez’s struggles
against elite-level athletes by scoring a first-round knockout.
Benitez has split time between featherweight and lightweight in
recent years, but after a weight miss against Onama in the former
division, he seems set for a full-time lightweight run starting
here against Ontiveros. A flashy striker whose regional success
came against a poor level of competition, Ontiveros was a
late-notice signing in 2021. Typically a career welterweight up to
that point, “The American Bad Boy” took on Kevin
Holland at middleweight and was quickly dispatched after a slam
caused Ontiveros to injure his neck. Ontiveros returned a year
later, shockingly making the move down to lightweight; he somehow
made the weight with his long frame and had some moments of wild
offense against Steve
Garcia but eventually suffered a stoppage loss in the second
round. Between Ontiveros’s size and recklessly flashy offense,
there is certainly some danger for Benitez. With that said,
Ontiveros has been historically fragile enough that as long as
Benitez can survive the early going, he should be able to find an
opening to get the ball rolling towards a finish. The pick is
Benitez via second-round stoppage.
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