Will Brooks will be looking to break a two-fight losing streak, as he takes on Nik Lentz at UFC 216 on Saturday, October 7 in Las Vegas. Brooks is 19-3 in his career but he has not proven he can handle UFC competition, as he is coming off losses to Alex Oliveira and Charles Oliveira. Lentz is 27-8-2 in his career and he is coming off a loss to Islam Makhachev. This fight is one of four on the FXX portion of the preliminary card, leading up to a five-fight main card which features Tony Ferguson vs. Kevin Lee and Demetrious Johnson vs. Ray Borg.
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Will Brooks (19-3, 1-2 UFC)
Brooks is a former Bellator champion but he has been unimpressive since coming to the UFC. Brooks won eight straight fights in Bellator including the interim lightweight title and he did defeat Ross Pearson in his UFC debut in July of last year, winning by unanimous decision. The last two fights for Brooks have been losses, as he was knocked out by Alex Oliveira in October of last year and then he was submitted in the first round by Charles Oliveira at UFC 210 in April.
You can make a case that Brooks has to win this fight simply to stay in the UFC. He wasn’t that impressive in his win over Pearson and his last two losses were inexcusable. Brooks was pounded by an overweight Alex Oliveira and then taken out quickly by Charles Oliveira.
Nik Lentz (27-8-2, 1-0 UFC)
Lentz is just 6-5 in his last 11 fights. He is 11-5-1 in the UFC with one no-contest. He has won two of his last three fights at lightweight. He defeated Danny Castillo in December of 2015 by split decision and he knocked out Michael McBride at UFC 2013 in September of last year. The two-fight winning streak ended in February of this year, as Lentz was beaten by Islam Makhachev by unanimous decision.
Lentz has trained in the past at American Top Team with Brooks and the two are somewhat friendly to one another. “We’re friendly; we don’t dislike each other — at least I don’t dislike him. I wish him all the best in life,” Lentz said to Bloody Elbow, “But this is my job. I have to take care of my family, I have to get on the right winning track. I’ve been recovering a lot, I’ve had a lot of surgery. I’m kind of rebuilding my career. As far as fights go coming off a loss, fighting Will Brooks is a great opportunity to put me back in the spotlight. Rarely do you come off a loss and get a fight offer that can produce so much for your career. I’m very happy with the fight offer; I like it. I wish Will all the best, but when it comes Oct. 7, I’m gonna kick his ass.”
UFC Picks
There is very little to like about Brooks right now, as he is coming off consecutive losses and has yet to prove he is worth of even being in the UFC. Lentz is an accomplished fighter and I expect him to get this win.
UFC 216 takes place on Saturday, October 7, 2017 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are five fights on the main card on pay-per-view, headlined by Tony Ferguson vs. Kevin Lee and Demetrious Johnson vs. Ray Borg. There are also eight preliminary bouts, with four on FXX and four on UFC Fight Pass.
Main Card (Pay-Per-View)
Tony Ferguson -220 vs. Kevin Lee
Demetrious Johnson -1200 vs. Ray Borg
Fabricio Werdum -250 vs. Derrick Lewis
Beniel Dariush -250 vs. Evan Dunham
Andrea Lee vs. Kalindra Faria
Preliminary Card (FXX)
Tom Duquesnoy vs. Cody Stamann
Will Brooks vs. Nik Lentz
Bobby Green vs. Lando Vannata
Pearl Gonazlez vs. Poliana Botelho
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Walt Harris vs. Mark Godbeer
John Moraga vs. Magomed Bibulatov
Thales Leites vs. Brad Tavares
Matt Schnell vs. Marco Beltran
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