Preview: UFC 301 Prelims

The nine-fight preliminary slate for UFC 301 follows the same mold as the main draw this Saturday at Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro: It offers little in the way of star power but does see some well-matched bouts between Ultimate Fighting Championship talents on the upswing. It starts with the featured undercard pairing, as all-action featherweight Joanderson Brito looks to extend his winning streak against the technically proficient Jack Shore. From there, young women’s strawweight prospect Iasmin Lucindo getting a shot at a former title contender in Karolina Kowalkiewicz stands out as the other clear highlight.

Now to the preview for the UFC 301 prelims:

Featherweights

Joanderson Brito (16-3-1, 4-1 UFC) vs. Jack Shore (17-1, 6-1 UFC)

ODDS: Brito (-148), Shore (+124)

Brito’s been bubbling under as a potential breakthrough featherweight for a few years now, and the Brazilian looks to keep bringing the excitement until the point that he gets his big break. Brito’s contract-earning win over Diego Lopes on the Contender Series in 2021 has continued to age well, but that led to a disappointing UFC debut for “Tubarao” a few months later, as he got outworked and outlasted by Bill Algeo en route to a decision loss. But Brito has brought nothing but electricity in the years since. An explosive athlete set on violence, Brito rebounded with three straight first-round finishes—including a particularly brutal 41-second knockout of Andre Fili—heading into his bout against Jonathan Pearce last November. That one had a bit more drama, as Pearce found some success with his grinding wrestling game, but Brito eventually found a second-round finish in memorable fashion. Pearce dared Brito to do something about the fact that he was getting out-wrestled, only for Brito to immediately get the fight back to the feet and score a submission. Brito probably deserves a shot to break into the UFC’s featherweight rankings at this point, but he instead gets another tough opponent in Shore, who looks to keep carving out a path at featherweight. Shore made his name as a top bantamweight prospect ahead of his 2019 UFC debut, and the Welshman impressed in short order upon hitting the Octagon, fighting behind a sound and consistent pressure game while looking to eventually drag his opponents to the mat and find a finish. But the main worry was that “Tank” wouldn’t be the type of elite-level athlete that could compete at the top ranks of 135 pounds. That issue took a bit longer to manifest itself than expected, but when Shore hit a wall against Ricky Simon, he hit it hard in a one-sided loss. Shore moved up to 145 pounds for a bout against Makwan Amirkhani a shade over a year ago, and while it did eventually end in a one-sided win, there are still some worrying signs against Shore’s long-term featherweight future. Prior to Amirkhani’s ever-present cardio issues showing up, Shore did seem to struggle physically with a featherweight-sized wrestler. Shore definitely has more of a process than Brito, but that might not matter here in the face of a clear athleticism gap; and when Brito gets things done, he typically does so quickly and violently. The pick is Brito via first-round submission.

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Brito vs. Shore
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