Preview: UFC Vegas 115 ‘Moicano vs. Duncan’

UFC Vegas 115 is prove-it time for some of the Octagon’s most intriguing up-and-comers. While this weekend’s eight-bout undercard is a grab bag of veterans on losing streaks and former prospects who have failed to pan out at the UFC level, the main card has a definite theme to it. From the Renato Carneiro - Chris Duncan main event on down, all five matchups feature a rising youngster against a more established prospect or contender.

In every case, the newer fighter is the betting favorite, including a couple of the widest lines you’re likely to see all year in the UFC. Fair or not, those expectations will weigh on these rising talents as they make the walk on Saturday at the Meta Apex. Here is the preview for the main card of UFC Fight Night 272, also known as UFC Vegas 115: Lightweights Renato Carneiro vs.

Chris Duncan BETTING ODDS: Duncan (-190); Carneiro (+160) Carneiro (20-7-1; 12-7 UFC) looks to snap his first losing streak this decade, and preserve any last vestiges of contender status, against the red-hot Duncan in the UFC Vegas 115 main event. The surprising thing is that he made it into the title picture in the first place; “Moicano” seemed to have settled into a groove as a reliably entertaining and dangerous fringe contender up until a year or two ago, when he rattled off four straight wins to earn a short-notice shot at the lightweight belt. That matchup, against Islam Makhachev at UFC 311 last January, did not go Moicano’s way, to say the least, and when he followed it up with another setback against Beneil Dariush , that contender run began to look more and more like a flash in the pan.

While some of Moicano’s title shot was down to being the right guy at the right time when the UFC needed a title challenger, the win streak that got him there did represent the best run of his career. He beat four solid lightweights in a row, three of them by authoritative finish, including his first two TKOs from strikes. In many ways, Carneiro has always been, and continues to be, a poor man’s Charles Oliveira .