UFC 273 is set to open with a bang as Julio Arce is taking on Daniel Santos in the very first fight of the night. The Bantamweight contest will be the curtain-raiser as two of the most exciting fighters on the card will go head to head.
Today’s fight will be Arce’s third fight in the 135lbs. Initially, he made his UFC debut in 2018 as a featherweight fighter. Although Julio managed to win 3 of his first 5 fights at 145lbs, he jumped down to Bantamweight in the hopes of pursuing UFC gold.
???? @JArceTSMMA welcomes newcomer Daniel Santos to get #UFC273 underway!
[ #UFC273 | Tomorrow | Early Prelims on @UFCFightPass & E+ ] pic.twitter.com/21XYfMyakd
— UFC (@ufc) April 8, 2022
In the other half of the fight, Daniel Santos will be making his debut for the UFC. He was supposed to fight Marcelo Rojo in October last year. However, that fight got cancelled and he will finally open his tally in the most popular MMA promotion in the world against Arce.
UFC 273 Early Prelims: Julio Arce vs Daniel Santos, Stats
Stats | Julio Arce | Daniel Santos |
Wins | 17 | 10 |
Losses | 5 | 1 |
Height | 1.7 m | 1.7 m |
Division | Bantamweight | Bantamweight |
Reach | 177.8 cm | 170.2 cm |
Age | 32 | 27 |
UFC 273 Early Prelims: Julio Arce vs Daniel Santos, Fight Breakdown
Daniel Santos has had a long layoff since his last fight. His last fight came against Zhunus Nizambek in 2019. Santos managed to win the fight via armbar in December of that year. However, due to the worldwide pandemic, he has not been as active as he would have liked to be.
However, the lack of activity is not going to be a problem for Julio. He fought twice last year and both of those came against very good fighters. On his Bantamweight debut, Arce beat Andrew Ewell. However, he fell short against Song Yadong in his second fight in the division.
Both Julio Arce and Daniel Santos are explosive on their feet and like to keep the fight standing. Hence neither will have an advantage when it comes out outpacing the other. However, Daniel Santos has a bunch of knockouts on his record via spinning kicks and elbows.
But Arce has a lot more experience of fighting people with a similar style. On top of that, Santos has not had any meaningful competition in 3 years. Making his debut on the biggest stage and fighting someone of Arce’s stature might just be too much for the rookie to handle.