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

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Bantamweights

Cody Stamann (19-5-1, 5-4-1 UFC) vs. Eddie Wineland (24-15-1, 6-9 UFC)

ODDS: Stamann (-550), Wineland (+400)

Two struggling veterans look to rebound in this well-matched fight. Stamann was a pleasant surprise upon his UFC debut in 2017. After beating Terrion Ware to kick off his UFC career, “The Spartan” marked himself as a potential spoiler with a win over Tom Duquesnoy and then a potential contender with a victory over Bryan Caraway. A fireplug of a fighter, Stamann is about as well-rounded of a fighter as you will find, able to mix in some solid striking with a powerful wrestling game, but he has had trouble getting over the hump towards any sort of title contention. Stamann’s squat frame makes it difficult for him to dictate his fights against opponents who can deal with his wrestling, and his complete lack of finishing ability at the UFC level gives him a thin margin for error against top-flight competition. Stamann does not have a bad loss on his UFC record, but given that he is riding a three-fight losing streak, he badly needs to get back in the win column here. Wineland is nearly a two-decade vet at this point, and while he does not appear to be shot, he looks to be hitting the point of diminishing returns at 37 years old. A former World Extreme Cagefighting champion—again, over 15 years ago—Wineland was a pioneering fighter in terms of fighting with his hands down and favoring head and body movement as a form of defense, allowing him to stay quick and fire back at his opponents with some fast and powerful counters. Wineland has come back to the bantamweight pack after a 2013 title challenge against Renan Barao but still looks spry and puts together enough wins to stay relevant. However, his last two losses have been concerning. Wineland still looks as sharp as ever on offense, but things have quickly gone south as soon as his opponents have been able to catch him. That was understandable against Sean O’Malley, but Wineland’s loss to John Castaneda in early 2021 was a surprise, if only because Castaneda did not appear to be much of a power puncher going in. Stamann does not figure to be much of a knockout threat, either, but the nature of the Castaneda loss does raise the worry that he could find his first UFC finish. Even without that, Stamann’s wrestling figures to be enough to turn this into a grinding decision win if everything else goes south. There are aspects of this matchup that are forgiving for Wineland at this stage, but the pick is Stamann via decision.

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