Preview: UFC 267 Prelims

Middleweights

NR | Andre Petroski (6-1, 1-0 UFC) vs. NR | Yaozong Hu (3-2, 0-2 UFC)

ODDS: Petroski (-230), Hu (+190)

It is a bit of a surprise that Hu is still in the UFC, but the promotion has stuck by him as he looks for his first Octagon win in three tries. “Totoro” initially got the UFC call as a late-notice replacement for a heavyweight bout in his native China back in 2017, when he showed little in a loss to Cyril Asker. Hu then cut down to light heavyweight a year later for his bout against Rashad Coulter, and things went a bit better, though he still flagged past the first round and clearly lost the fight via decision. Then came a failed drug test, and after nearly three years on the shelf, Hu continues his trend of moving down in weight, cutting to 185 pounds for this assignment. Petroski is an interesting prospect who is still raw and flawed at this point in his career. Petroski’s success generally centers on his wrestling and submission game, and for being a powerful athlete with a wrestling background, the margins have been surprisingly thin. Petroski’s last fight prior to his recent stint on “The Ultimate Fighter” saw him get outlasted and finished by Aaron Jeffery, and his official UFC debut against Micheal Gillmore was a lot more difficult in practice than it looked on paper. Petroski still needs to round out a lot of things, but none of that may matter here, particularly since it is unclear how effective Hu will be at middleweight. He looks to be towing the line where this weight cut could either unlock some additional strength or just simply drain him to the point of ineffectiveness. Hu has a wrestling background, so he figures to be enough of an obstacle to make Petroski work for this win, but he also tires badly as fights go on—that figures to be even more of a factor down another weight class—so the American should have no trouble taking over this fight in the long run. The pick is Petroski via ugly decision.

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