Preview: UFC Fight Night 243 Preliminaries

Bantamweights

Taylor Lapilus (20-4, 5-2 UFC) vs. Vince Morales (16-7, 3-5 UFC)

CHANCES: Lapilus (-355), Morales (+280)

Morales’ return to the UFC was well-deserved and a nice surprise. Signed in 2018, Morales was generally a tough player but struggled to find much consistent success in the UFC, even though his record looks much better in retrospect. Yadong Song, Chris Gutierrez, Jonathan Martinez and Miles Johns have all risen significantly since their respective victories over ‘Vandetta’. Even adjusting for that, Morales still had some obvious issues with his game. He’s a sharp puncher who prefers to counter and has to overcome some slow starts, which would often result in Morales being unable to dig himself out of a hole once he finally finds his timing. Those shortcomings still persist, even as Morales racked up five straight wins in the two years since his last trip to the Octagon. He’s made things count a lot more once he gets into the groove. In addition to having a bit more power, Morales has done well to mix in some grappling and grappling, finding three smart submission wins in the last five fights. That said, while Morales’ second UFC stint should go better than the first, he’ll have a tough assignment ahead of his UFC return against Lapilus. It’s still unclear why Lapilus left the UFC after a 2016 victory or why it took the UFC half a decade to bring him back, but the Frenchman has been a consistently solid fighter throughout. Blessed with long range, Lapilus is content to pick off his opponents out of range for three rounds. It may not be the most exciting approach at times, but Lapilus continues to rack up wins and become sharper, both with his striking and the takedown defense required to make his style work. Wrestlers can still slow down Lapilus at times, but that seems like a moot point here as both men have to try to strike. Lapilus should be athletic enough to outwork the UFC returnee through three rounds. The choice is Lapilus by decision.

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