UFC Fight Night 168: Felder vs. Hooker - Predictions and Picks

#3 Ben Sosoli vs. Marcos Rogerio De Lima

Marcos Rogerio De Lima has far more experience than Ben Sosoli

This battle of undersized Heavyweights – Sosoli is 6’0” and somehow weighs 264lbs, while De Lima stands at 6’2” and comes in at over 250lbs – has the potential to be a fun, explosive bout with a violent finish, but unfortunately it also has the potential to be a slow-paced slopfest that won’t really entertain anyone. Which way will it go? It’s honestly a coin flip.

Sosoli is simply unproven at this level. Signed by the UFC in 2019 after going to a No Contest during his lone fight on Dana White’s Contender Series, the Aussie debuted in the promotion with a terrible fight against the much-maligned Greg Hardy, basically acting like a heavy bag for two rounds before finally winging some punches in the third.

Sure, the fight was declared a No Contest in the end, but only because Hardy illegally used an inhaler between rounds; if that hadn’t been the case, Sosoli would’ve lost a lopsided decision. ‘The Combat Wombat’ has plenty of KO’s on his record, but they were all against questionable opposition – and worryingly, he has a couple of losses by decision too.

De Lima on the other hand has plenty of experience at the UFC level. He fought on the third season of TUF Brazil and has since put together a record of 5-4 in the promotion, with his strengths and weaknesses being pretty clear. Essentially, he’s a heavy handed, classic Muay Thai striker with a penchant for takedowns and some thudding ground-and-pound with some rudimentary submissions, but he’s also a poor defensive grappler, hence four losses by submission.

Thankfully for him here, it appears unlikely that Sosoli will shoot for any takedowns, so to me the question becomes whether or not the Brazilian can avoid being hurt by his Australian opponent early on. If he can, then he can probably use his low kicks and punches – similarly to how Hardy did – to pick him apart for a decision. Can De Lima KO Sosoli? It’s not impossible, but given ‘The Combat Wombat’ looks to come from the Mark Hunt school of hard heads, I doubt it.

For me this should be De Lima’s fight to lose, assuming he doesn’t gas out, as I think he’s got advantages in all areas and unless he gets caught cleanly, he’ll have enough to ease through for a decision.

The Pick: De Lima via unanimous decision