Preview: UFC Vegas 118 Prelims

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Behold, the calm before the UFC Freedom 250 storm.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is, of course, focused on its historic card next Sunday on the White House lawn, which it has repeatedly assured us will be the biggest sporting event of all time. Between that major milestone and last week’s UFC Macau, which accounted for the industry leader’s first trip to China this year, falls this weekend’s 12-fight card at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas.

While UFC Vegas 118 would seem to be a throwaway almost by default, it actually isn’t bad at all. The five-fight main card may be the best of any Apex card this year so far, and while the undercard is standard Vegas fare, featuring quite a few veterans on miserable losing streaks and prospects of questionable upside, it’s substantially better than last week’s prelim slate in Macau.

Here is the preview for the seven-fight undercard of UFC Fight Night 278, also known as UFC Vegas 118:

Catchweight (130 lbs.)
Matt Schnell vs. Alessandro Costa​

BETTING ODDS: Costa (-750); Schnell (+500)

The good news for Schnell (17-10, 1 NC; 7-8, 1 NC UFC) is that despite originally scheduled opponent Imanol Rodriguez dropping off the card late, he still has a dance partner and a paycheck coming this weekend. The bad news is that his new opponent, Costa (15-5; 3-3 UFC) is a sneaky-good prospect and Schnell now finds himself the biggest underdog on the card by far.

Schnell established himself as a contender in the resurrected men’s flyweight division seven years ago, a mix of impressive size for the division, good athleticism and excellent offensive weapons. He stood out as a high-volume kickboxer with nice combination punching and natural power, but came up short against the very best of the division thanks to a combination of substandard durability and questionable fight IQ.

Those liabilities have not improved with age, to put it mildly, thanks in part to injuries that have resulted in three separate hiatuses of a year or more. At this point, at 36 and with losses by finish in five of his last seven fights, Schnell has the look of a physically shot fighter. He does not respond well to being hit, and his wrestling and scrambling ability have slowed to the point that he has been finished by some form of front headlock in three of those fights.

This all spells bad news against Costa. “Nono,” a 30-year-old Brazilian by way of Mexico, is appointment watching—five of his six UFC bouts have ended in fantastic finishes—and much better than his .500 record might imply. Costa is a compact, muscular and explosive flyweight who has some of the better one-shot power in the division. Even more importantly, his fighting style gives him a chance to bring that power to bear on just about all of his opponents. He tends to wait for his opportunity, then burst into the pocket with long strings of punches, not sparing the body; his win over Stewart Nicoll in April came from probably the nastiest body punch we’ll see all year in the Octagon.

Costa’s difficulties have come against opponents with greater reach and enough speed and footwork to keep him outside, or who could use takedowns and the threat of takedowns to blunt his punching offense in that way. Schnell, always one of the bigger men in the flyweight division, theoretically has the reach to do so, but he’s a boxer by preference himself, never much of a natural out-fighter, and his wrestling has all but dried up in the past three or four years. That spells bad news against an aggressive, accurate and hard hitter like Costa, and the pick is the Brazilian by first-round KO.

Jump To »
Schnell vs. Costa
McGhee vs. Yannis
Silva vs. Chairez
Cachoeira vs. Chandler
Leavitt vs. Brito
Chaves vs. Duben
Souza vs. Carnelossi

Men’s Bantamweights
Marcus McGhee vs. John Yannis​

BETTING ODDS: McGhee (-500); Yannis (+375)

In yet another UFC Vegas 118 bout affected by a late lineup change, McGhee (10-2; 4-1 UFC) takes on Yannis (10-4; 1-1 UFC), who steps up for the injured Jakub Wiklacz. McGhee, frankly, has been shockingly good since joining the UFC three years ago. “The Maniac” initially presented in the Octagon with the face of a grizzled veteran but the record of a prospect, as he was already already 32 (and looked 42 in the wrong lighting) yet had just seven professional bouts under his belt.

McGhee has exceeded expectations in just about every way, winning his first four fights in dominant fashion before running into former (and future) bantamweight champ Petr Yan last July, where he was competitive in a decision loss. Despite his weathered look, McGhee is a spry, fluid and athletic bantamweight who throws a nice variety of kickboxing combinations with accuracy and power. His list of UFC victims includes Jonathan Martinez, himself one of the better strikers in the division, and he was not out of his depth against Yan, arguably the best striker in the division period.

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