Dustin Jacoby

Picked with a hedge -- the analyst says he'd flip if this opponent ends up favored, treating it as more of a value read than a hard conviction.

A veteran the analyst says people underestimate -- genuinely powerful despite not having the build of a classic power puncher -- not one-shot freak power, but enough that opponents feel it, backed by a long list of knockouts. Good takedown defense that transitions immediately into offense the moment a takedown attempt fails, making it hard for a grappler to simply reset and try again.

The analyst believes Jacoby is comfortably the better technical striker and expects him to counter and pick Walker apart on the feet, even fighting on short notice.

Jacoby is the far more polished striker in this matchup, with sharp counters, real combinations, steady volume, and leg kicks he uses to set the pace. The expectation is that he'll be clean enough to consistently land while Walker overcommits and gets caught coming in, making the standup lopsided in his favor. He's also reliable at stuffing takedowns and immediately firing back, which should keep the fight exactly where he wants it.

He calls Jacoby the 'safer' favorite mainly by default, since Rountree's unpredictable fight-to-fight intensity makes him hard to trust either way.

Jacoby brings a genuinely high-level kickboxing pedigree into this one — good volume, clean technique, comfortable mixing targets to the head and body, and improved takedown defense compared to his earlier UFC run. He's not known for one-shot power but is capable of hurting opponents with volume and accuracy over the course of a fight. The pick favors him mostly because he's viewed as the more consistent version of himself fight to fight, whereas his opponent's output varies wildly.