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#4 UFC Welterweight Division: Daniel Rodriguez vs. Takashi Sato

Takashi Sato didn't need a long time to earn his second UFC win when he KO'd Jason Witt in under a minute

On paper at least, this looks like a pretty excellent fight in one of the UFC's most loaded divisions. Neither man is especially well known inside the UFC just yet, but both have serious skills and could definitely move up the ladder in the near future. And at 16-3 (Sato) and 12-1 (Rodriguez), they’re evenly matched, too.

Training under the famed Henri Hooft, it should come as no surprise that Sato is a very dangerous striker. ‘Ten’ has two wins in the UFC, over Ben Saunders and Jason Witt, and both victories came via pretty brutal knockout. The Japanese fighter has extremely quick hands, throws with a lot of power, and to back that up his grappling is pretty solid too, coming from a judo background.

In terms of weaknesses, he was submitted by both Belal Muhammad and Glaico Franca – the latter loss coming outside the UFC – but only after a lot of action. The Franca fight in fact saw Sato largely winning until he appeared to blow his gas tank in the third round, becoming a quick victim of a choke in the fourth.

The question then is whether Rodriguez – who’s more of a grappler under Eddie Bravo’s Tenth Planet system – can find a way to outlast Sato and perhaps take him out in the later rounds. Judging by what he’s shown in his UFC career thus far, it’s highly possible.

‘D-Rod- doesn’t appear to have the snapping striking power of Sato, but he appears to be more than willing to trade with most of his opponents. His defense isn’t great, admittedly, but the fact that he seems able to take punches and has never been KO’d or TKO’d is a good look for him.

Rodriguez’s most recent UFC win – a decision over Gabriel Green – also bodes well for his chances. That fight was an all-action gutter war, but ‘D-Rod’ didn’t look tired in the latter stages and was able to push a frantic pace despite failing to get Green out of there.

Will he be able to simply put Sato on his back and tap him out? I don’t think so. The judo background possessed by ‘Ten’ should mean he’s able to defend a lot of Rodriguez’s early takedowns, but as long as ‘D-Rod’ can avoid taking a big shot in those early rounds, there’s no reason he can’t replicate Muhammad’s gameplan and wear the Japanese fighter down.

And if Sato does indeed slow down and become tired, then that’s when Rodriguez’s tight grappling game could take over. A submission is definitely not a guarantee, but if he can survive the early onslaught then I suspect ‘D-Rod’ has enough to edge a decision here.

The Pick: Rodriguez via unanimous decision