UFC 284 marks the return of the UFC to Australia after three years away, and is going down in the RAC Arena in Perth this Saturday (Sunday local time). The card has a lot of homegrown talent including six-fight UFC veteran Jamie Mullarkey. Mullarkey was supposed to fight Nasrat Haqparast but Nasrat pulled out due to injury. Stepping in on short notice is Argentina’s own Francisco Prado.
Francisco Prado
Standing at Five-foot-ten
Fighting at 155 lbs (lightweight)
20-years-old
Fighting out of San Lorenzo, Santa Fe, Argentina
Training out of Azerrad Team
A pro record of 11-0
5 KO/TKOs, 6 Submissions
How will Prado perform in the UFC:
Prado used to live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and trained out of the well-known gym PVRT. Now he’s residing in Argentina training with a smaller camp in Alfa Team. Prado is only 20 years old and started fighting professionally when he was just seventeen. He jumped right into being a pro without any amateur experience which is pretty awesome in retrospect.
Prado is a raw talent with a lot of upsides. Being just 20 he’s an unfinished product so over time he’s only going to get better. He’s a hard-nosed fighter that’s been a force inside the cage once the doors are closed. His hands do the talking and his jiu-jitsu gets the job done. His takedown defense isn’t great but has an overall good ground game. Prado will attack off his back but it’s somewhere he doesn’t need to be. On the flip side when he’s on top he’s very dangerous. Prado has damaging ground and pound and holds a rare Von Flue choke submission. He usually finds it pretty easy to move into dominant positions as well.
Prado brings some power in his hands throwing his whole body into his punches. He does throw with a lot of wasted motion but his cardio has held up quite nicely. Prado is content sitting in the pocket and chucking hooks, and even in a brawl is a bit better defensively. He has that controlled chaos style inside the cage.
Prado is a dangerous striker, has good hands once he settles in, can wrestle, has solid jiu-jitsu, and has a pretty good gas tank. All that isn’t at a high level but he still has all those qualities at such a young age. Prado is a guy you want to watch every time he fights because he’s going to bring it. He may have been brought to the UFC too soon but over time he’s going be a good UFC fighter.
How Prado and Mullarkey match up:
Mullarkey is a major step up in competition for Prado. Prado has fought better competition in Argentina than most local fighters there. Mullarkey is still only 28 but has a lot of fight mileage and damage he’s absorbed in his career. Fighting a power puncher like Prado could be detrimental to his possibly weakened chin. On the other side, Prado hasn’t had a guy that’s been able to take his best and survive.
Mullarkey as he’s shown over and over he’s got that dog in him. As a debut Mullarkey is a tough ask for a 20-year-old kid. Prado is very live for a knockout but I have to favor the veteran. There is so much unknown about Prado. Can he dig deep, can he adapt his game plan, can he take a shot, and could he beat anyone at a UFC level? I’m picking Mullarkey because he’s proven.
