The fight ended less than two minutes after it began, with Padilla cracking Erosa with a series of clean, heavy shots that sat him down twice, prompting the stoppage. This weekend, he makes his sophomore appearance inside the Octagon opposite another veteran, Canadian Kyle Nelson, hoping to deliver another statement effort.
Nelson comes in off a quality win over Blake Bilder at UFC 289 in Vancouver where he took full advantage of his considerable size and physicality at featherweight. The 32-year-old from Muskoka was able to out-muscle the Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) graduate en route to a unanimous decision win, advancing him to 1-0-1 this year and 14-5-1 overall.
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As burly as Nelson is for the division, Padilla will have two inches in height and five inches in reach on the Canadian veteran, and you can be sure he’ll be looking to use all of it on Saturday. He hurt Erosa with long, straight shots in space before cranking up the intensity when he had him on skates, and will surely look to do the same this weekend in hopes of picking up a second straight UFC victory and pushing his overall winning streak to four.
It’s difficult to make a full assessment of where Padilla stands within the talent-rich division until he’s faced off with some of the more well-rounded competitors at featherweight, but he shined in his debut earlier this year, and if he can build on that effort this weekend, there will be even more buzz surrounding the promising Mexican prospect heading into his third UFC appearance come 2024.
