It is time for another Rodrigues appearance, which means it is time
for another entertaining war. Rodrigues comes from a jiu-jitsu
background, but you would never know it from watching the
Brazilian’s UFC career thus far, as “Robocop” mostly focuses his
efforts on pressuring his opponent and finding a knockout. It is an
approach that cost Rodrigues during his 2020 appearance on Dana
White’s Contender Series, where he suffered a quick knockout
against Jordan
Williams, but he still found his way to the UFC shortly
thereafter and immediately went about becoming a must-watch
fighter. Rodrigues can show defensive skill at times, but he has
very little defense built into his game while throwing his offense,
instead shifting between modes of survival and all-out war. That
has nearly cost him a few times under the UFC banner, but he has
survived every bit of trouble thus far, only losing a controversial
split decision to Armen
Petrosyan early in 2022. Rodrigues responded to that loss by
seemingly becoming a more effective striker than ever—he has strung
together two knockouts, including an impressive finish of Julian
Marquez—and looks set to bank on that here against a late
replacement and UFC newcomer in Ferreira. A fellow Brazilian,
Ferreira has only been a pro since 2019, and “The Hulk” kept up his
regional success on DWCS in 2022, knocking out Leon Aliu in
just 95 seconds. Coming from a judo background and showing off some
wrestling in his prior fights, there is a sense that Ferreira might
have a deeper game than it appears since his approach is built
almost entirely around brute force. Living up to his nickname,
Ferreira mostly just marches forward and looks to smash his
opponents despite being a bit of an undersized fireplug. It would
not be a shock if Ferreira scores the upset in quick and brutal
fashion given Rodrigues’ disregard for defense, but the underdog
also appears to be a tightly coiled spring of muscle that may not
be able to keep up the pace once this devolves into a firefight.
The pick is Rodrigues via second-round knockout.
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