Grant seems to slowly be figuring some things out, but at 37 years
old, it needs to click soon. When things are working for “The Body
Snatcher,” he is a terrifying knockout artist, but those moments
are sadly few and far between. By default, Grant is a patient
fighter who waits for the perfect shot, which is great when it
comes but often results in a lot of low-output affairs where it
feels like he is leaving a lot of things on the table. To his
credit, Grant seems to be aware of the issue and occasionally shows
some bursts of aggression, but it is usually not too long before
that default state takes over and things are back to where they
started. Now on a bit of a skid, Grant moves up to middleweight
against Stoltzfus, who is in search of his first UFC victory. An
American who settled in Germany and started his career there,
Stoltzfus has proven to be a decent enough fighter. However, like
many regional fighters before him, Stoltzfus has struggled to find
success in the UFC now that he is unable to set himself apart as a
wrestler—a skill that served him well on the German scene. UFC
matchmakers have not done Stoltzfus many favors, as Kyle
Daukaus, Rodolfo
Vieira and Gerald
Meerschaert are all opponents notable for being able to hold
their own on the mat. To his credit, Stoltzfus has been game, even
doing quite well against Meerschaert before suffering a late
submission loss. This is Stoltzfus’ most winnable fight in the UFC
yet, and there is a chance he can take this to the ground and turn
this into a clear victory. With that said, the bet is that this is
more of an even affair that does not move much above a simmer,
allowing Grant to hit some powerful offense enough to separate
himself on the scorecards. The pick is Grant via decision.
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