Preview: UFC on ESPN 37 ‘Kattar vs. Emmett’

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Welterweights

Court McGee (21-10, 10-9 UFC) vs. Jeremiah Wells (10-2-1, 2-0 UFC)

ODDS: McGee (-120), Wells (+100)

Rumors of McGee’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. “The Crusher” has been a fan favorite ever since he won “The Ultimate Fighter” back in 2010, as he has been open about his history of addiction and using his platform to help others. Inside of the cage, he has been the definition of solid but unspectacular. Between his fundamentally sound style, impressive durability and lack of dynamic athleticism, it is oddly unsurprising that all but one of McGee’s fights in the last decade—a 2016 loss to Santiago Ponzinibbio—have gone all the way to the scorecards. With McGee now firmly in his late 30s, a run of five losses in six fights raised the worry that the sport was starting to pass him by, but he has rebounded in impressive fashion, outlasting Claudio Silva before shutting down the wrestling of Ramiz Brahimaj to string together two straight wins. This time around, he gets an interesting challenge in Wells. An older prospect, Philadelphia’s Wells looks like a certain archetype of fighter at first blush, as he is a tank of an athlete who would prefer to quickly run over his opponent and worry about the rest later. However, there is more depth to Wells’ game than you would expect, as he is also a surprisingly solid wrestler and grappler, a phase in which he is all the more dangerous thanks to his considerable power. That makes Wells a terror for a bit over a round, but he still does have the base issue of tiring later in his fights, which makes this a two true outcome-type of fight. McGee figures to outlast Wells for a decision win if this makes it past the first round, but it has also been a good while since he faced someone who can bring the level of power and dynamism in multiple phases that Wells can. Ponzinibbio has been the only man to stop McGee, and he is a much more precise striker than Wells, so the bet is that McGee can survive whatever comes his way and then turn things around from there. With that said, this should be a fascinating watch for a round. The pick is McGee via decision.

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