Myktybek Orolbai

Named as the pick, but by his own description only just, and he flags that his lean may be an artefact of rating the opponent too highly.

A pressure fighter who wins by being harder to discourage than the man across from him. The striking is built on long straight punches with enough power behind them, but the defining trait is that he keeps walking forward and absorbs what comes back. His grappling is a different species from his opponent's: rather than hunting a finish, he chains takedowns, fastens onto a body lock, and returns the man to the mat every time he stands, taking whatever ground strikes or submissions open up along the way. The bet he makes every fight is that he will still be working when the other man is not.

Expects Curtis to get outworked over the course of the fight and picks Orolbai to win by out-pointing him on the cards.

Orolbai is a good striker with long, straight punches and enough power to be respected, and he's durable on top of that. His bigger strength is the grappling, chaining takedowns together off a strong body lock and returning the fight to the mat repeatedly whenever an opponent scrambles up. He grinds wherever the fight is, whether that's on the floor or against the cage, and smoothly blends ground-and-pound with submission attempts rather than committing fully to one or the other.