Headling the preliminary card of UFC 276 is a lightweight banger between Jalin Turner and Brad Riddell. Turner is enjoying an impressive four-fight winning run, of which all have come via finish. His opponent at UFC 276, Riddell is coming off the first loss of his UFC career, having lost to former teammate, Rafael Fiziev back in December. Currently ranked at #14 a win would cement Riddell in the rankings, whereas for Turner, a win would finally put him in the rankings for the first time in his UFC career.
https://twitter.com/JalinTurner/status/1504304559883100164
The UFC 276 card is headlined by Riddell’s teammate, Israel Adesanya who looks to hold onto his belt when he faces Jared Cannonier. Another teammate of Riddell’s features in the co-main event when Alexander Volkanovski looks to defeat rival, Max Holloway for the third time and put an end to their rivalry.
Turner sets sight on Top 15
Jalin Turner stepped into the UFC at late notice to face Vicente Luque, quickly becoming known as a game fighter. Although he would start his UFC career 1-2, since then, he’s looked phenomenal. He’s yet to see a third round in four straight fights, of which two have come via knockout and two via submission, showing just how well-rounded a game he has.
His most impressive victory came last time out against the always game, Jamie Mullarky. Mullarky is always entertaining and went three full, hard rounds with Brad Riddell in his UFC debut, gaining fight of the night honours. With that being said, Turner dominated the Australian. His volume was far superior to that of his opponent, leading to a second-round finish for the American.
Talking about his UFC 276 match-up, Turner described it as ‘just another fight to me’, but did comment saying that ‘it’s a big one’. It comes across in the interview that Turner knows just how important a fight this could be in his career if he is able to beat Riddell and crack the top 15 for the first time.
The Fight Itself – By the Numbers
The fight itself is guaranteed to deliver. Turner holds a huge height advantage over Riddell, towering over his opponent at 6’3 to Riddell’s 5’7. The reach advantage sits at six inches, again on the side of Turner. The two men also stand in opposite stances, with Turner fighting out of the southpaw stance and Riddell orthodox.
Turner is also the more active fighter, landing an average of 6.51 strikes per minute as opposed to Riddell’s 4.76. Riddell is the more accurate striker, but only marginally, coming in with a 53% strike accuracy, six per cent better than his American opponent. Turner is yet to go to win a decision during his career, with all of his wins coming via finish. With a combined 14 knockouts, expect this one to be an all-out banger.
We broke down the entire card on this week’s MMASucka podcast which can be found below:
