Darren Elkins and Daniel Pineda meet Saturday on the primary card of UFC Battle Evening 245 at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Take a look at this fast breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom.
Final occasion: 3-3
UFC essential playing cards, 2024: 87-77-3
Darren Elkins vs. Daniel Pineda UFC Battle Evening 245 preview
Elkins (28-11 MMA, 18-10 UFC) has traded wins and losses over his final 4 fights, and enters his first battle in a yr after a third-round submission win over TJ Brown. The 40-year-old grizzled veteran final put collectively back-to-back wins when he completed Eduardo Garagorri in November 2020 and Darrick Minner in July 2021. … Pineda (28-16 MMA, 5-7 UFC) has dropped back-to-back fights in opposition to Nathaniel Wooden and Alex Caceres. The 39-year-old’s final victory was a second-round submission of Tucker Lutz final March.
Darren Elkins vs. Daniel Pineda UFC Battle Evening 245 professional decide, prediction
Kicking off the primary card is a correct featherweight motion between Elkins and Pineda that might make Joe Silva proud.
Elkins, who jogs my memory of the Matt Damon doll in “Workforce America,” is a fan favourite to all for the blood and guts wars he’s graced us with.
And although he’s not as common as a reputation, Pineda deserves comparable distinctions on account of his fan-friendly model of prioritizing finishes over profitable rounds.
Each males are towards the tail finish of their careers given their age, but every fights with the fervor of a 20-year-old attempting to show their manhood.
However that apart, the dynamic of this battle is pretty clear: both Pineda will end his foe early, or Elkins will come on robust to pull issues out late.
Regardless of tending to aspect with the latter a part of that equation, I discover myself liking the Pineda aspect on this spot.
Not solely is Pineda’s placing too potent to miss reverse an getting older Elkins, however “The Pit” is quietly one of the vital harmful submission grapplers in that division – so don’t be shocked to see a submission win this Saturday.
The decide is Pineda to attain a club-and-sub win by way of guillotine in Spherical 2.
Darren Elkins vs. Daniel Pineda UFC Battle Evening 245 odds
Though the oddsmakers opened the marginally youthful fighter as a slight favourite, public cash pushed this contest to select’em odds, itemizing Pineda -106 and Elkins -114 by way of FanDuel.
Darren Elkins vs. Daniel Pineda UFC Battle Evening 245 begin time, the way to watch
As the primary card opener, Elkins and Pineda are anticipated to stroll to the cage at roughly 7:05 p.m. ET (4:05 p.m. PT). The battle will stream on ESPN+.
For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC Battle Evening 245.
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