Preview: UFC Perth Prelims

Men’s Bantamweights

Colby Thicknesse (7-1) vs. Josias Musasa (8-1)

Odds: Musasa (-160); Thicknesse (+130)

A couple of young 135-pounders coming off their first professional loss will try to rebound at the other’s expense when Thicknesse defends his native soil against Congolese hitter Musasa.

The irony of Thicknesse’s name is obvious, considering he is about as thick a bantamweight as Cory Sandhagen, but it’s unintentional and unavoidable. However, he’s the one who chooses to go by “Slickness” despite not being particularly slick either. What he is, is well-rounded, determined and very tough. He isn’t a standout athlete but has decent technique on the feet, where he tries to fight at a range to suit his reach and relative lack of speed. His wrestling is very good; he has a variety of techniques from the outside as well as from the clinch which he finishes well, setting up his ground game, which features hard ground-and-pound and constant threat of positional advances to set up submissions.

Musasa, in contrast to Thicknesse, has clear strengths and deficiencies at this point in his development. His “K.O. Wizard” nickname is appropriate, as he explodes with huge punches, kicks and flying knees, delivering rare power for the bantamweight division. He could stand to throw more combinations rather than wait for the perfect killshot, especially as he moves up to better and better competition, and his tendency to overthrow his punches exacerbates his biggest flaw: his takedown defense. Musasa has been taken down with relative ease even in victories over otherwise outmatched foes, and in Musasa’s UFC debut, he looked nearly clueless as Carlos Vera ran him over on the ground.

This is a fight in which both competitors have clear routes to victory and clear pitfalls to avoid. My preview co-host Keith and I were divided on this one, with him taking Musasa in the upset, envisioning him catching the Aussie on the feet early and putting him away before he can have his takedown defense checked again. That’s a distinct possibility, but the pick here is that Thicknesse survives a scare or two on the feet, takes Musasa down repeatedly and beats him up in progressively worse fashion en route to a third-round TKO on the ground in a bit of an upset.



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Stirling vs. Bellato
Lookboonmee vs. Thainara
Micallef vs. Elliott
Rowston vs. Petroski
Thicknesse vs. Musasa
Mullarkey vs. Bedoya
Montague vs. Carolina
Pericic vs. Ellison