There are massive holes in Oliveira’s game, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy or safe to capitalize on them. The Brazilian swings almost comically wide at times, and Bautista has a lovely straight right hand. If he weaves that punch inside the swing of “Lokdog,” we could be looking at a very quick knockout win. The problem, of course, is that if Bautista’s timing is a little off, then Oliveira crashes into him with five absurdly hard swings. Between the size, stance and power, there are comparisons to be made to Deiveson Figueiredo. The primary differences include Figueiredo being a much tighter boxer, whereas Oliveira has the more committed kicking attack. For “Lokdog,” this fight hinges on his ability to make Bautista uncomfortable. In a technical point-scoring match, Oliveira is in for a rough time, and Bautista has the composure to follow a gameplan in the face of serious firepower. If Oliveira can unsettle him a bit, however, then his whole game begins to flow. A big land upstairs or even a few powerful kick connections early will help get Oliveira into the driver’s seat, and turn Bautista toward bad ideas like trying to wrestle from his back foot.

There is a real case here that Bautista makes Oliveira look like an amateur. If he keeps his feet moving and is able to deter Bautista from kicking via checks and hard blocks, he’ll box the ears off him. When Bautista is landing well, he sets up his takedowns smoothly, and suddenly the situation is very bad for Oliveira. I do believe “Lokdog” will find his kicks, however. The great benefit of Oliveira’s absurd swinging is not just power, it’s that his opponent must notice and respect that threat. If Bautista tries to check a kick and is instead caught by a huge whipping right, that’s an absolute disaster. Because Bautista will be moving away from the power shots of “Lokdog,” those kicks open up and do real damage. Getting kicked hard and repeatedly by Oliveira puts Bautista in a bad position. He’ll either have to bite down and trade more often or commit to the wrestling. The former is dangerous, and the latter hasn’t worked for anybody else … yet.