Name: Tom Duquesnoy
Age: 24
Nationality: French
MMA Record: 15-2, 1 NC
UFC Record: 1-1
Notable Wins: Patrick Williams
Notable Losses: Cody Stamann
Last Fight: Split decision loss to Cody Stamann
Fighter Profile: Duquesnoy came into the UFC with a major hype train but so far he hasn’t completely lived up to the hype. In his UFC debut he was given a surprisingly difficult matchup against Patrick Williams, and while he did win the fight via TKO in the second round, he struggled in the first round of that fight. In his last outing he fought another prospect in Cody Stamann and lost a close decision. I’m not ready to write Duquesnoy off as a prospect just yet, but clearly he has some improvements to make. Hopefully, we can starting seeing the same guy who was knocking everyone out in BAMMA, because that fighter could be a future bantamweight champion. But so far based on his UFC performances, I’m not sure he gets to that level, though at just 24 years of age he has a lot of time to make the necessary improvements.
Name: Terrion Ware
Age: 29
Nationality: American
MMA Record: 17-7
UFC Record: 0-2
Notable Wins: Jared Papazian
Notable Losses: Sean O’Malley, Cody Stamann, Joe Soto, Luke Sanders
Last Fight: Decision loss to Sean O’Mallley
Fighter Profile: Ware is a very solid bantamweight who unfortuantely has run into tough matchmaking throughout his entire career, and particualrly during his UFC run. At his best he’s an athletic bantamweight with good cardio and some knockout power, and that should be enough for him to beat quite a few of the bantamweights on the UFC roster. But for whatever reason he keeps getting matched with top prospects and he’s losing close decisions. He appears to just be a step behind some of the fighters he’s faced, like Sean O’Malley, who he was competitive with but just not good enough to beat. Ware has settled into the gatekeeper role as a tough veteran who can put on a good fight, but I’m not convinced he’s ever going to take that next step and turn his career around in the UFC, especially if the matchmakers don’t start giving him easier fights.
Fight Breakdown: This is another tough matchup for Ware. I’m not sure exactly why the UFC keeps matching him with the best prospects at 135lbs but they do and I don’t see this fight going well for him. Duquesnoy remains an elite prosepect at bantamweight despite the loss to Stamann, and I think he’s going to show improvements in this fight. Ware is a very durable fighter, I’ll give him that, and I could see him being able to survive the full 15 minutes here. But I think Duquesnoy is a much better striker and I see him outlanding Ware here for a decision win in what should be an exciting standup fight. I wouldn’t completely rule out a finish, either.
Prediction: Duquesnoy via decision
