Ben Johnston

Picked against, with the analyst raising real technical doubts about whether his grappling has actually been tested by high-level competition.

A capable striker whose kickboxing pedigree hasn't fully carried over -- his hands looked sharper in pure kickboxing bouts than they have inside MMA, a gap between the two rule sets that's plain on tape. Passable kicking, long straight punches, solid knees. Inside the cage he leans grappler more than striker, which cuts against the kickboxing resume, and he's legitimately skilled there -- scrambles well and gets real mileage out of his 6'4" frame at this weight. His rear-naked choke has produced finishes, but there's a technical red flag worth naming: several of those regional finishes came without ever locking in the hooks, something that shouldn't hold up against an opponent who actually knows jiu-jitsu. His takedown defense is shaky too, tied to a specific mechanical issue -- for someone his height he keeps his stance too narrow and ends up swept off his feet with his legs squeezed together.