UFC 267: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Benoit St. Denis: Prediction and Analysis

A welterweight bout between Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Benoit St. Denis will be part of the prelims at UFC 267.

Zaleski dos Santos will enter the UFC octagon for the 11th time on October 30. His debut in the promotion ended in a defeat via a split decision. He made a quick turnaround from the loss and went on a seven-fight win streak, in which he also knocked out Sean Strickland. However, he is 1-2 in his last three fights with his last defeat coming against Muslim Salikhov in a controversial decision. ‘Capoeira’ would look to turn his fortunes around in this fight.

St. Denis will make his UFC debut at UFC 267. He is currently undefeated in his career and has an 8-0-1 record. This will be his third fight this year. In comparison, Zaleski hasn’t fought since July of last year.

Hence, ‘God of War’ will definitely look to capitalize on this and put up an impressive performance in his debut to announce his arrival.

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UFC’s welterweight division is stacked, and if St. Denis wants to make his way forward, he would need to make the promotion believe in his skills and abilities.

UFC 267: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Benoit St. Denis

This is the fight of contrasting styles. One fighter likes to dish it out on his feet, and the other loves to take the fight to the ground.

Fourteen of Zaleski’s 22 wins have come by the way of T/KO. He is a fighter who loves to fight on his feet and will look to make the fight a striking contest. However, his takedown defense can be an issue against an excellent grappler like St. Denis. He has a 53 percent takedown defense, which might be good news for him. However, he has shown in the past that it’s not easy to keep him down.

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‘God of War’ won’t be able to stay with his opponent on his feet for long, so his strategy needs to be simple. Take him to the ground and keep him there. As seven of his eight wins have come via submission, St. Denis has proven himself to be a beast on the ground.

Hence, the 25-year-old would look to use his strengths to keep his run going on his UFC debut. However, his opponent will have enough chances to put pressure on him when the fight starts with both men standing up.

Zaleski’s overall game is better than his opponent’s, which gives him an advantage going into the fight. He definitely has the power to knock him out and is not that easy to take out on the ground.

Prediction: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos wins by knockout in the second round

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