Flyweight: Kleydson Rodrigues Vs. Santo Curatolo
Tale of the Tape
25-years-old
5’6″
Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Team Nogueira
6-1
Hasn’t lost in six years
26-years-old
5’3″
Staten Island, New York, US
Nick Catone MMA
6-1
Five first-round finishes
Pros and Cons
Kleydson Rodrigues
Pros
- Explosive
- Good elbows
- Heavy ground and pound
- Good jiu-jitsu
- Submission threat
- Good Thai clinch
- Good output
- Good ground and pound
- Solid TDD
- Good jiu-jitsu
Cons
- N/A
Santo Curatolo
Pros
- Solid wrestling
- Huge knockout power
- Physically strong
- Fast starter
- Excellent clinch fighter/Dirty boxing
- Good/heavy kicks
- Volume striker
- Solid TDD
- Scrambles really well
- Credible jiu-jitsu
Cons
- Questionable gas tank
Who has the advantage?
Striking: Curatolo
Speed: Rodrigues
Output/Volume: Rodrigues
Knockout Power: Curatolo
Chin: Rodrigues
Kickboxing: Rodrigues
Footwork: Even
Wrestling: Curatolo
Grappling: Even
Submissions: Rodrigues
Cardio: Even
Prediction
I love this fight between two highlight-reel action fighters in the flyweight division. I haven’t got to see enough of Rodrigues. I have watched enough to know he’s extremely skilled with a variety of weapons. Curatolo has all the tools to be a future UFC champ one day. He has the power, speed, ground game, explosiveness, wrestling, and overall ability. If his gas tank isn’t as bad outside the first he’s a title contender possibly. His sole loss came in round two because he was spent on energy. Curatolo did throw a lot of power shots in round one so it wasn’t surprising to see him gas out a bit. His last fight he went into round two again. He was slower, but still found the knockout win.
Rodrigues could possibly stun Curatolo but I haven’t seen enough of him to see him beating Curatolo.
