Listen, on paper Rodrigo is the perfect guy to smoke Romanov. He has decent striking and good takedown defense. In theory, if he defends a few takedowns early, Romanov will gas, be sloppy and quit. But I still believe in Romanov. He has been competing in grappling and wrestling competitions outside of the UFC and I trust that he can come forward and get a takedown. He will only need one per round. These big boys don't scramble well enough to get back to their feet. So the pick is Romanov, the hope is that he has ditched Burger King for an Acai bowl and I even bet on him as a +115 underdog.
Alexandr Romanov
2022 Alexandr Romanov and 2024 Alexandr Romanov are not the same person. A few years ago he was a massive human being with incredible speed and power that he used to take you down and pound on you. Currently, he is a bit soft, has some quit in him and has lost his aura. But he is still a high level wrestler who can dominate with takedowns and control. He is coming off the loss to Jailton Almeida where it was a reminder that defensive wrestling and offensive wrestling are very different.
Rodrigo Nascimento
Rodrigo Nascimento is a grappler at heart with solid submissions who occasionally gets sucked into striking matches. His path to victory is usually grappling that he initiates by marching forward, throwing punches and working a clinch. He averages more than 1 takedown per fight and has a solid 76% takedown defense. He is coming off the KO loss to Derrick Lewis
