Raoni Barcelos and Montel Jackson meet on the UFC Fight Night 274 main card Saturday at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom.
At 38, Barcelos (21-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) is having quite the late-career surge. He's currently on a four-fight winning streak, which includes impressive wins over Cristian Quinonez, Payton Talbott, Cody Garbrandt and Ricky Simon.
Jackson (15-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) will look to get back on track after a split decision loss to former flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo in October. That result ended a six-fight winning streak, stretching back to 2021.
Serving as a solid matchup at bantamweight is a battle between Montel Jackson and Raoni Barcelos.
Although it's nice to see Jackson showing up to fight more than once every 12 months, I suspect that this bout with Barcelos could be a deceptively tough stylistic fight for "Quik."
Don't get me wrong: Jackson, particularly against aging fighters, is capable of winning with one or two big moments. But if Jackson can't find the perfect shot, we've seen the former prospect freeze up and fail to put together any real process (especially against anyone who can wrestle).
And despite Johnson being touted as 'an Olympic hopeful' when he joined the organization, his wrestling and ground game, in general, have left a lot to be desired, given that grappling appears to be his kryptonite.
Raoni Barcelos, who faces Montel Jackson at #UFCVegas116, is officially 3-0 opposite UFC-level southpaws (Wins: Huachin, Jones, Moret)Like most orthodox fighters in MMA, Barcelos needs some time early to adjust to southpaws; but once he does—he’s really good at fighting them. pic.twitter.com/ctWbhcRkgf
Not only is Barcelos the better wrestler and jiu-jitsu player by a decent metric, but the Brazilian is also undefeated at 3-0 against UFC-level southpaws (scoring knockdowns or knockouts in every sample). It feels like a classic trap spot where undeserved hype gets proven right in a "and we learned nothing" sort of first-round finish, but I can't help but side with the better fighter in Barcelos to survive the initial scares and pull away down the stretch.
A finish is absolutely on the table if Barcelos can run roughshod through Jackson's defenses on the ground, but the official pick is for the criminally underrated Brazilian to hand out a vet lesson via unanimous decision.
The oddsmakers and the public favor the American fighter, listing Jackson -196 and Barcelos +164 via FanDuel.
Barcelos and Jackson are expected to walk to the cage at approximately 8:40 p.m. ET. The fight streams live on Paramount+.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Vegas 116: Raoni Barcelos vs. Montel Jackson prediction, pick, time