UFC Fight Night ‘Bader vs. St. Preux’ Preview

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Heavyweights

Shawn Jordan (15-6, 3-3 UFC) vs. Jack May (7-1, 0-1 UFC)

The Matchup: A member of the 2007 national championship football team at Louisiana State University, Jordan has carved out a nice career for himself as a fighter on the basis of his prodigious athleticism, powerful punching and a wrestling base that was good enough to win two Louisiana state high school championships.

Coming off back-to-back losses to Gabriel Gonzaga and Matt Mitrione, Jordan is attempting to get back on track against May, who dropped his UFC debut by knockout to the dangerous Derrick Lewis.

Jordan is an excellent offensive striker -- he puts together clean, two- to four-punch combinations and throws nice low kicks to minimize his opponents’ inevitable height advantage -- but he is quite hittable, which makes every fight more precarious than it has to be. Exchanges are Jordan’s specialty: He excels at pulling his head off-line when he throws punches, moves well in the pocket and possesses excellent timing to land brutal counter shots from his southpaw stance. His wrestling is basic and a solid complement to his striking, but he has had trouble implementing that game against higher-quality opposition.

May is a smooth athlete who moves much more fluidly than you might expect for a 6-foot-8 monster. A relatively technical kickboxer with some high-level experience, he throws cracking low kicks, solid punching combinations and dangerous knees at close range. He uses his height well, but his footwork comes and goes, and he has a tendency to back up in a straight line to the cage. Grappling and wrestling are not May’s specialties, though he has enough skills to prevent those facets of his game from becoming serious liabilities.

Betting Odds: Jordan (-200), May (+160)

The Pick: May had a rough time of it in his UFC debut against a brutal puncher in Lewis, which was exacerbated by an apparent knee injury he suffered during the fight. I expect Jordan to emulate Lewis’ game plan by doing enough at striking range to force May to the fence, where he can work takedowns and inflict damage from the top. If Jordan is content to strike, May is perfectly capable of picking him apart, but I doubt the Louisianan will adopt a one-dimensional game plan. Jordan takes it by ground-and-pound TKO in round one.

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