Robert Bryczek
Standing at six-foot
Fighting at 185 lbs (middleweight)
33-years-old
Fighting out of  Bielsko-Biała, Poland
Training out of Veto Team Bielsko-Biała
A pro record of 17-5
11 KO/TKOs, 1 Submission

How will Bryczek fare in the UFC:

Bryczek was an odd signing since he isn’t this young fighter with a good-looking record. It’s the opposite; Bryczek is 33 and already has five losses. Five losses before you get to the UFC is never a good sign. Over the last two years, Bryczek has been able to get on a run winning his last five fights. He’s finished all those five fights in round one which is a good way to draw in the UFC.

If anything, Bryczek is dangerous early on. His power is the focal point but he will throw a long jab and straight punches. His one-two is blistering when he connects. Bryczek is at his best when he has his opponent hurt and he swarms with punches. There isn’t much to his overall game since he’s only a striker. Hardly throws any kicks and he doesn’t wrestle at all. In fact, his takedown defense stinks and he’s lost off his back.

There is no way the UFC matchmakers looked into Bryczek and signed him. They just had to see the five straight knockouts and sign him. If they had looked into him they would’ve seen gaps in his game. He has no ground game at all, his cardio is about gone after five minutes, his striking defense lacks and he’s chinny. Bryczek does some notable things wrong like dipping his head when he throws and he doesn’t check leg kicks.

It’s puzzling fighters like this can get straight to the UFC but some of the better prospects have to go through the Contender Series. There is no upside to this signing. He’s not going to go far and he’s going to struggle to even get a win or two in the UFC.

How he matches up with Potieira:

As flawed as Bryczek is, this is a fight he can win. Potieira is also dangerous early on and just falls apart after a few minutes. He’s lost his last two and got knocked out. His only win in the UFC is to a senior citizen, Shogun Rua. The best thing about this fight is we will see a knockout. Potieira could very well finish Bryczek early and vice-versa. I’m only siding with Bryczek because he has the momentum and Potieira is the opposite.

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Promotion officials confirmed the bout Wednesday. Negumereanu (11-1) vs. Potieria (19-2) is expected to take place on the evening’s preliminary card.

Negumereanu will ride a two-fight win streak into the bout on March 5. The Romanian light heavyweight joined the UFC in 2019, losing his debut against Saparbek Safarov. After missing all of 2020, Negumereanu returned last year, winning two fights: a split decision against Aleksa Camur in June, then against Ike Villanueva in October, who he finished via TKO.

A TKO finish on the Contender Series last September earned Ihor Potieria a spot in the UFC. The win also extended his win streak to an impressive 17 straight victories. The Ukrainian fighter has not lost since 2017, and has stayed extremely active since.

Previously competing as a middleweight as well, Potieria won the World Warriors Fighting Championships 185lb title last year.

UFC 272 is set to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 5, 2022. The event is expected to be headlined by a grudge match between friends and teammates turned bitter rivals, as former interim welterweight champ Colby Covington takes on “BMF” champion Jorge Masvidal.

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That was Canadian middleweight Aaron Jeffery, who had come up short against Brendan Allen on the show back in 2019. With a bit of distance from that loss, it didn’t look so bad: Allen had gone on to have a solid career with the promotion thus far.

And so, with four more wins under his belt, and a Cage Fury FC title, Jeffery was getting another look, against Caio Borralho.

The biggest news ahead of Tuesday’s five-fight card wasn’t Jeffery’s return, or the interesting light heavyweight showdown atop the bill. Rather, it was Manuel Gaxhja missing weight by a whopping 4.5lbs for his fight with Chris Duncan. While fighters missing weight have never been explicitly ruled out of winning a UFC contract on the show, Gaxhja was likely going to have to do something magical to get his foot in the door.

Dana White’s Contender Series Season 5, Week 5 kicks off at 8PM ET, airing live on ESPN+ in the United States, and on UFC Fight Pass elsewhere. Full results from the card, at the UFC Apex, can be found below.

And then there were four: after Manuel Gaxhja missed weight, his fight with Chris Duncan wound up removed from the card earlier today. Gaxhja was reportedly experiencing to medical issues.

I did everything I possibly could and I will do anything I physically can to get my shot @danawhite @seanshelby

— Chris duncan (@theproblem155) September 28, 2021

Kuniev vs. Santos kicked off Week 5 at heavyweight, and early on, Santos clipped his opponent twice. Kuniev didn’t seem overly rocked and tied up with Santos, eventually pushing him into the fence, until the Russian landed a low blow. Moments later, Santos would commit his own foul, an eye poke. Kuniev ate a nasty uppercut in the clinch near the end of the round, but things would settle down until the third. At his corner’s urging, Kuniev took the fight down and unleashed ground n’ pound for the TKO a minute in.

Lucas Almeida rocked Daniel Zellhuber early and often in the evening’s lightweight fight. The first half of round one was all Almeida, all the time. But Zellhuber weathered the storm and both men were connecting by the end of the frame. Early in the second Zellhuber landed a key takedown with a hip toss. Almeida escaped up to his feet shortly after, which led to more back-and-forth exchanges. Zellhuber took over as the fight wore on, and after three rounds, he took the unanimous decision win.

In Aaron Jeffery’s return to the Contender Series, both he and Caio Borralho had their moments in the opening round. Borralho’s karate style proved elusive, and he appeared to have the strength advantage, plus strong takedown defense. In the second, Borralho landed a takedown early, showing just how well-rounded he was. By the third, Jeffery was clearly in need of a finish. At the end of the round, he went after it, throwing multiple elbows from the clinch, but it wasn’t enough.

In the featured fight, Igor Poterya got his hands going early, rocking his opponent at least once. That foreshadowed the finish later in the round, with Poterya putting Lukasz Sudolski down with some heavy shots, then clubbing him with ground n’ pound.

Dana White’s Contender Series Season 5, Week 5 Results

Light Heavyweight: Igor Poterya def. Łukasz Sudolski by TKO, Round 1, 3:41
Catchweight (160.5 lbs): Chris Duncan vs. Manuel Gaxhja
Middleweight: Caio Borralho def. Aaron Jeffery by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Lightweight: Daniel Zellhuber def. Lucas Almeida by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Heavyweight: Rizvan Kuniev def. Edivan Santos by TKO, Round 3, 1:00

Contract Winners: Daniel Zellhuber, Igor Poterya

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Let’s get on with our breakdown and picks, shall we?

Light heavyweight: Lukasz Sudolski Vs. Igor Poterya

Tale of the Tape

Pros and Cons

Who has the advantage?

Striking: Sudolski
Speed: Sudolski
Output/Volume: Poterya
Knockout Power: Sudolski
Chin: Even
Kickboxing: Poterya
Footwork: Poterya
Wrestling: Sudolski
Grappling: Sudolski
Submissions: Poterya
Cardio: Even

Prediction

I didn’t get a lot of footage on Sudolski but from what I’ve watched he’s looked scary. He’s more of someone that likes to take opposing fighters down and either sub or beat on them with ground and pound.

Poterya has an awkward but effective style. Not the most technical guy but he makes up for it with output and blitzes. Both guys like to grapple and Sudolski likes to wrestle a bit more. Poterya is good off his back and I expect that’s where he will be in this fight.

Sudolski has a good physical advantage so if he wrestles I expect him to have a lot of success. It’s going to be interesting on the feet. Poterya has a volume advantage and Sudolski has more power and seems more technical. I like Sudolski in this fight but I’m not confident the longer this fight goes. There is a lot of uncertainty on the part of Sudolski but he is my pick here.

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