UFC Vegas 18 is the first card in a very busy period of the UFC. Over the next two months, multiple important fights will take place a number of champions will put their belts on the line. At UFC Vegas 18, a longtime veteran in Alistair Overeem makes his final charge towards a UFC title. The man standing across from him is a tough adversary in Alexander Volkov. 

On the same card, the featured prelims bout is a matchup between Mike Rodriguez and Danilo Marques in the light heavyweight division. Both men are currently unranked in the 205-pound division, and the fight will be an excellent opportunity to take a step forward in the division. 

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Mike Rodriguez vs Danilo Marques is set to be a delight at UFC Vegas 18

Mike Rodriguez made his UFC debut on Dana White’s Contender Series in August 2017 with a win against Jamelle Jones. ‘Slow’ is currently 1-2 in his last three fights. Most recently, he succumbed to a loss against Ed Herman in September 2020. 

Danilo Marques is riding a three-fight win streak at the moment. He made his promotional debut with a unanimous decision win over Khadis Ibragimov at UFC 253 and will be aiming to continue his good run of form in the promotion. 

‘Slow’ has secured a mind-boggling 82% of his wins via T/KO and has also landed 1.67 knockdowns on average per 15 minutes. Going into the fight he will have a 5.5-inch reach advantage, which is sure to serve him well.

‘Slow’ has landed a devastating 4.17 significant strikes per minute thus far in his UFC career with an accuracy of 69%. He will be aiming to keep the fight standing as it is his best route to victory. 

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Marques has secured an equal number of his win via T/KO and submission (40%). Danilo averages four takedowns per 15 minutes with an accuracy of 25%. He has had just one UFC fight, but given his statistics, he will look to take the fight to the ground. However, it won’t be easy given ‘Slow’ has a takedown defense rate of 41%. 

Prediction: Mike Rodriguez via T/KO.