Gilbert Burns

Picked as an explicit big-underdog upset call, with the analyst saying he thinks he can pull it off here.

A fairly strong striker who applies good forward pressure and fights behind a take-it-and-answer style, eating a shot and firing right back instead of resetting his feet. He hits hard, and he'll fake a takedown attempt only to come up throwing a strike instead. His leg kicks are heavy, though he'll happily trade leg kicks himself, answering one he's eaten by stepping forward into his own combination instead of pulling away -- a calculated, somewhat risky bit of counter-timing that could specifically punish this opponent's known tendency to drop his hands right after kicking the leg. He can be drawn into a wild exchange, and it's genuinely unclear whether that works in his favor here. On the ground, he's a strong grappler -- excellent control, solid takedown defense, the ability to flip position if he's taken down, a constant push to improve his own positioning, and a dangerous submission game.