Preview: UFC on ESPN 54 Prelims

Light Heavyweights

Ibo Aslan (12-1, 0-0 UFC) vs. Anton Turkalj (8-3, 0-3 UFC)

ODDS: Aslan (-125), Turkalj (+100)

Turkalj’s UFC career has not gone swimmingly. “The Pleasure Man” has been an entertaining personality, and the Swede was at least a fascinating prospect heading into his UFC debut in 2022. Mostly known for some wild fights on the regional scene, Turkalj suddenly pivoted to a control-heavy wrestling game to earn a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series. It was not pretty, but Turkalj’s combination of durability and a willingness to keep trying things to win figured to find him at least some success on the UFC roster. Thus far, no luck. Turkalj got crushed by heavyweight prospect Jailton Almeida, as expected, but a hard-fought loss against rising light heavyweight Vitor Petrino has aged well in retrospect. Turkalj’s last fight saw him get knocked out by Tyson Pedro in shockingly quick fashion, and if he is suddenly stoppable, it is unclear how any of this is supposed to work. Turkalj looks to stop his skid against a UFC newcomer in Aslan, which serves as a rematch from their fight in 2020, the lone loss of the Turk’s professional career. Aslan’s regional resume tells a clear story, as he found almost all of his success by quickly finishing underwhelming opposition. Turkalj was clearly the stiffest test of Aslan’s career when they fought. Turkalj suffered an early beating but was able to storm back and finish a tired Aslan in the second round. Aslan’s contract-earning win on the Contender Series in August was yet another first-round knockout, though he did at least look much more patient this time around in picking his opportunities to hunt for a finish. This would be a clear Turkalj pick if it was not for his knockout loss to Pedro, but with that result and Aslan seeming just a bit more poised than he did three and a half years ago, the bet is that the newcomer can finish the job this time around. The pick is Aslan via first-round knockout.

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