Preview: UFC 309 Prelims

Welterweights

Mickey Gall (7-6, 6-6 UFC) vs. Ramiz Brahimaj (10-5, 2-3 UFC)

ODDS: Gall (-135), Brahimaj (+114)

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Gall’s UFC career has certainly been a wild ride. He made his name off a breakout 2016 campaign, such as it was. Signed after one regional fight with the hopes that he would be the first challenge for Phil “CM Punk” Brooks, Gall ran through Mike Jackson, Brooks and fellow raw promotional favorite Sage Northcutt to earn a fairly high profile for someone so early in his career. However, there wasn’t much of a clear path for Gall to capitalize on his momentum given his inexperience, so things eventually petered out. Gall developed a solid enough striking game to go along with his grappling base, but a lack of horsepower to go along with that lack of experience meant that he eventually settled in as someone who could only beat the lower reaches of the UFC roster. It’s still a role that has value in the UFC ecosystem, so it was a bit of a surprise when the promotion let Gall go in 2022 after two straight losses given his residual name value. Given that, it was once again a surprise when the UFC decided to re-sign him earlier this year despite his not having fought in the interim. Gall put in a game effort in his return against Bassil Hafez and lost thanks to being outgunned, but the hope is that he can get a win over the finish line against Brahimaj.

Brahimaj was a 2020 signing and looked decent enough as a prospect, getting by on a dogged wrestling and grappling game and little else. However, things haven’t ever gotten rolling for him during his time on the UFC roster. Part of that has been thanks to some injury layoffs, including a two-year break ahead of Brahimaj’s loss to Themba Gorimbo in May. It has been more worrying that Brahimaj hasn’t been able to implement his strengths to any great effect. He has run over some lower-level strikers when given the opportunity, but anyone with some combination of physical strength and know-how on the mat has been able to stall Brahimaj out with a fairly high level of consistency. Gall might not be the level of athlete who can make this a blowout, but he should be able to at least neutralize Brahimaj’s best skills, and in general, the New Jersey native does a much better job of keeping his confidence up and getting after it even when things aren’t going his way, which is enough to get the nod here. The pick is Gall via decision.

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