The Octagon is set to touch down at the T-Mobile Center on April 26 for a card that boasts some sneakily good matchups.
Of course, the majority of the spotlight is on the two men that will collide in the main event of the evening in Kansas City on Saturday night.
Some critical comments from Ian Machado Garry towards Carlos Prates have only increased the anticipation for this clash of welterweight strikers.
Elsewhere on the main card, Nicolas Dalby is back for his 14th outing inside the Octagon where he will face Randy Brown having returned to the promotion in 2019.
‘Danish Dynamite’ first debuted in the UFC all the way back in 2015 where in his first run, he went toe-to-toe with Darren Till in a draw.
Nicolas Dalby calls Randy Brown the Jon Jones of welterweight ahead of Kansas City clash
Both Nicolas Dalby and Randy Brown have proven themselves to be dynamic strikers in the welterweight division which will be on show this weekend.
They each have seven wins by knockout and on April 26, they will look to bounce back from a split decision loss in their latest outings.
Whilst Dalby may be the older and more experienced competitor, if there’s one major factor that separates them in this fight, at least in terms of the eye test, it’s their size.
Standing at 6’3” with a 78” reach, Brown is no stranger to being the bigger man inside the Octagon and this is certainly true for his clash with the 5’11” Dalby.
During his media day interviews, the Dane was asked about the challenges that Brown brings to the table and how he has prepared for this in his training camp.
Dalby compared the unique size and style of ‘Rudeboy’ to the consensus greatest of all time who has rarely encountered opponents that could match his physical advantages.
“He’s very unorthodox in the way that he’s got a frame. His size, his length, he’s kind of like the Jon Jones of welterweight in that regard.”
Dalby later joked that when bringing in specific training partners to help him with this size difference, he wasn’t able to successfully replicate the eye pokes that often come with Jones using his reach advantage to keep opponents at bay.
“We found a bunch of guys in Copenhagen that were able to emulate his style. We couldn’t emulate the eye pokes, that’s the Jon Jones part I’m talking about. Of course, it’s difficult to. Maybe I should have gotten some safety goggles or something.”
Nicolas Dalby might have to go to war to make it ugly against Randy Brown
Whilst Nicolas Dalby has always been an agile striker with good footwork, closing the gap on an opponent like Randy Brown is always going to be a difficult problem to solve.
One attribute that the veteran does always have in his pocket is the ability to turn the fight into a brawl rather than getting picked off from the outside in a technical striking bout.
Against the likes of Darren Till, Gabriel Bonfim and his bloody war with Ross Houston in Cage Warriors, Dalby has proven that he has the heart to carry him through difficult moments.
He might need to make things ugly if Brown is finding success with his sharp boxing and range advantage even if he has prepared extensively for this aspect of the fight.