UFC Vegas 36 Prelims: Jonathan Martinez vs Marcelo Rojo- Prediction and Analysis

Published 09/03/2021, 2:00 PM EDT

UFC Vegas 36 will take place this weekend with an all-important middleweight clash between Darren Till vs Derek Brunson serving as the headlining event. Apart from the headlining event, there are few other fights as well that could grab eyeballs. One of them is between bantamweights Jonathan Martinez and Marcelo Rojo.

‘Dragon’ Martinez will look to pick up a win after suffering a KO defeat at the hands of Davey Grant at UFC Fight Night 187. Prior to that, he picked up 2 consecutive wins.

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So far, he has picked up 13 wins and incurred 3 losses. Out of those 13 wins, 7 have come via KO/TKO, 2 via submissions, and 4 via decisions.

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Meanwhile, Rojo will look to bounce back after suffering a defeat against Charles Jourdain at UFC Fight Night 187: Edwards vs Muhammad. He has so far picked up 16 wins and incurred 7 losses. 8 of those have come via KO/TKO, 6 via submissions, and 1 each via decision and other methods. He has stepped in for Nathaniel Wood on short notice.

Jonathan Martinez vs Marcelo Rojo- Analysis

If we look at their physical stats, Martinez stands at 5’8″ with a reach of 70″. Meanwhile, ‘Pitbull’ has a height of 5’8″ with a reach of 71″. ‘Dragon’ lands 4.27 significant strikes with an accuracy of 46%. He absorbs 3.81 significant strikes with a defense rate of 58%. He averages 0.48 takedowns per 15 mins with an accuracy of 37% and has a takedown defense of 63%.

Meanwhile, Rojo lands 5.10 significant strikes per minute with an accuracy of 36%. He absorbs 7.31 significant strikes with a defense rate of 51%. He has a takedown average of 1.03 per 15 minutes with an accuracy of 50%. The fighter has a takedown defense of 100%.

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Rojo would have been happy to face a fighter like Kevin Croom at UFC Vegas 35, but he couldn’t. This matchup with Martinez won’t be counted in the same breath. The ‘Dragon’ is a gritty customer and boasts a healthy striking capability with a knockout punch just around the corner.

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But ‘Dragon’ would want to forget his last match, where he got knocked out early. However, it won’t be so easy for ‘Pitbull’ to pull out a similar shocker. Rojo would hope to drag this to the canvas and avoid the brutal striking of Martinez to hope for a win. But, it seems unlikely at the moment.

Final Prediction: Martinez via first-round technical knockout

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Akshyay Mahapatra is a UFC author for EssentiallySports. He wished to combine his passion for the UFC (that he has been following since 2008) as well as his love for writing. This motivated him to enter the world of combat sports journalism.

UFC Vegas 36 Prelims: Jonathan Martinez vs Marcelo Rojo- Prediction and Analysis

Jonathan Martinez vs Marcelo Rojo- Analysis

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