UFC Fight Night ‘Brown vs. Silva’ Preview

---

Heavyweights

Soa Palelei (20-3, 2-1 UFC) vs. Ruan Potts (8-1, 0-0 UFC)

The Matchup: While expecting Palelei to break into the heavyweight elite anytime is unrealistic, the amount of criticism and derision he faced following a memorably bad clash with Nikita Krylov at UFC 164 was probably a little unfair. There are very few great heavyweights in MMA, and “The Hulk” did well considering that he was battling through a broken rib suffered in training.

Palelei looked much better in his last outing with the promotion, as he finished Pat Barry with heavy ground-and-pound from mount 2:09 into the opening round of their UFC Fight Night 33 encounter. While Barry might be an undersized heavyweight, his loss illustrates what should be obvious: No big man in the division wants to be trapped beneath someone like Palelei for any significant period of time.

Potts, a two-time titleholder in the Extreme Fighting Championship Africa promotion, at least has the foundation to be comfortable should his bout with Palelei hit the ground. Potts trains under former UFC talent Mark Robinson, who has competed in the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships and has amateur experience in judo, Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling.

A native of Cape Town, South Africa, Potts already owns submission victories via armbar, triangle choke, ankle lock and guillotine choke during his pro career, so it appears he is capable of utilizing an array of methods to finish a fight on the canvas. Potts relies primarily on his judo base to get his opponents down, and once there, he is swift in transitioning to dominant positions. The most notable facet of his striking is his ability to use kicks to the head and body.

Of course, Potts has yet to fight outside of EFC Africa, so his Octagon debut could prove to be a shock. Additionally, Palelei is accustomed to handling his business in short order, as the majority of his victories have ended inside of a round. Any mistake by Potts -- such as a failed trip or throw -- could result in him eating serious leather from his back, and his odds for lasting through such an assault are not good.

The Pick: There is always the element of the unknown when someone makes a debut, but Palelei, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, should be well-equipped to handle himself against the newcomer. Palelei wins by knockout or TKO in round one or two.

Next Fight » Louis Smolka vs. Chris Cariaso