Preview: UFC Fight Night 226 Prelims

Welterweights

Ange Loosa (9-3, 1-1 UFC) vs. Rhys McKee (13-4-1, 0-2 UFC)

ODDS: Loosa (-180), McKee (+150)

It is nice to see Ireland’s McKee make his UFC return after a three-year stint outside of the promotion, since “Skeletor” got a bit of a raw deal in his first run. A top European prospect in 2020, McKee was signed for a late-notice debut opposite Khamzat Chimaev that went poorly and was released even after his sophomore bout against Alex Morono resulted in an entertaining defeat. McKee has won all three of his fights since, picking up where he left off as a long striker who can be lured into a brawl a bit too much for his own good, even if it has not cost him in any of those outings. He also draws an interesting matchup in his return against Switzerland’s Loosa, a physical powerhouse who is starting to piece things together. It is hard to say there is a glaring weakness in Loosa’s game, but “The Last Ninja” is still at the point where he is learning to pick up the pace, which thankfully started to happen a bit in his 2022 win over A.J. Fletcher. The third round of that fight saw Loosa also start to lean heavily on his wrestling, which could be a path to victory here. However, Loosa might also look much worse in the face of McKee’s clear size advantage as opposed to the much squatter Fletcher. McKee will likely get himself in trouble at some point, but the lean is that the Irishman can bank enough offense from a distance to outweigh those tough times. The pick is McKee via decision.

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