UFC Fight Night 33 Preview

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Heavyweights

Pat Barry (8-6, 5-6 UFC) vs. Soa Palelei (19-3, 1-1 UFC)

The Matchup: Palelei went nearly six years between Octagon appearances, but his uninspiring victory over Nikita Krylov at UFC 164 in August demonstrated why the promotion took so long to bring him back, despite his string of dominant knockout victories.

Perhaps Palelei deserves the benefit of the doubt for his performance. While the 6-foot-4, 266-pound Australian appeared to be badly fatigued against Krylov, he later revealed that a broken rib suffered in training was the cause of his troubles. Rather than pull out of the fight, Palelei elected to compete in what had to be excruciating pain.

Does that mean the 35-year-old American Top Team product will be a cardio machine if he is healthy this time around? Not necessarily. During Palelei’s eight-fight winning streak prior to rejoining the UFC, only one of his bouts reached a second round, and his victories often came against overmatched opposition. It may sound simplistic, but his greatest assets against Barry will be his size and power.

Being the smaller fighter is nothing new to Barry. Despite his stocky, 5-foot-9 frame, “HD” is more than willing to exchange in the pocket against much larger foes. That approach tends to have mixed results, but rarely do the Louisianan’s fights go the distance.

While Palelei has heavy hands, his striking lacks Barry’s quickness and diversity. Barry not only hits hard, but he can land in combination, and his kicks to the legs and body are enough to slow down anyone. Barry’s weakness, of course, is his ground game and takedown defense.

If Palelei is able to close the distance effectively, he has powerful slams and is capable of ending a fight with his ground-and-pound. Barry has improved in this area somewhat, but he does not want to find himself under the much larger Palelei for any significant period of time.

The Pick: Barry is a much more dangerous striker than Palelei is accustomed to facing. “HD” wins via KO or TKO in round one.

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