155 lbs. Kurt Pellegrino vs. Josh Neer
The evening’s opening bout is an extremely competitive lightweight matchup between two skilled grapplers in Kurt “Batman” Pellegrino and Josh “The Dentist” Neer. Both are firmly entrenched in the middle of the division, but a win here would help both of them distance themselves from the pack.
Kurt Pellegrino is an extremely talented jiu jitu black belt who has put together an impressive UFC record, only losing to top contenders. While his jiu jitsu is excellent, his success has been hampered by the fact that he lacks good wrestling and this his offense is too one-dimensional. His striking is mediocre at best, and so against well-rounded opponents where he can’t impose his ground game, he sometimes looks lost.
Unfortunately for Pellegrino, Neer is exactly the type of opponent who can give him fits. While his ground game may not be quite as good as Pellegrino’s, Neer is more than capable of handling his own and resisting Pellegrino’s submission attempts. More importantly, though, he has superior wrestling and far superior striking, meaning that he will be able to keep Pellegrino from taking it to the ground at all and make him pay for it dearly in the process.
This one should be all Neer. He will keep the fight standing and exploit his striking advantage before TKOing Pellegrino midway through the second round.
