UFC Sacramento Breakdown: De Randamie vs. Ladd, Faber vs. Simon
Tomorrow night (Sat. July 13, 2019) we have a great night of fights, as the UFC returns to Sacramento, California for UFC Fight Night 155. “The California Kid” Urijah Faber returns to face No. 15-ranked Ricky Simon, and Germaine de Randamie faces up-and-coming contender Aspen Ladd in the five-round main event.
Continue reading for an in-depth breakdown of these stellar match-ups.
Co-Main Event: Urijah Faber vs. Ricky Simon
Many people are writing Urijah Faber off in his return to the octagon, thinking it won’t play out too well for him. He’s 40-years-old, as opposed to the 26-year-old Ricky Simon. What Faber has accomplished in his career is nothing short of incredible. He won the KOTC bantamweight championship and defended it five times, before winning the WEC featherweight championship, and also defended that belt five times.
During his reign, he emerged as one of the best fighters in the world. Since losing his WEC belt, however, he was never able to regain it. Though he wasn’t champion anymore, Faber continued to improve until about mid-2014, and then his performance started to fall off a little. However, he still has an elite skill-set.
“The California Kid” holds a BJJ brown belt – and has been submitting black belts since he was a purple belt – along with an NCAA Division I wrestling background. His stand up is pretty good too, using his own style of Muay Thai.
Ricky Simon has gone 3-0 thus far inside the UFC cage after winning and defending his LFA bantamweight championship before joining the UFC. Simon won his first seven fights with four finishes before being handed his first, and to this day, his only defeat; a fight in which he challenged for the Titan FC bantamweight championship.
He has since gone on an eight-fight win streak with another four finishes. Simon’s only loss came via rear-naked choke, which just so happens to be Faber’s favorite submission. The former WEC champion has only ever used two submissions in his entire MMA career, the guillotine, and the rear naked choke.
The Team Alpha Male founder does have one win via bulldog choke, but that’s essentially a rear-naked choke without having to take the back. Simon’s a well-rounded fighter too, as he’s been very impressive inside the UFC thus far. It’ll be interesting to see how this fight plays out.
Main Event: Germaine de Randamie vs. Aspen Ladd
In the main event, we have two top women’s bantamweights, and former professional kickboxers, going at it. Former UFC women’s featherweight champion, and former WIKBA, IMTF, and WPKL women’s kickboxing champion, Germaine de Randamie. “GDR” holds the record in women’s kickboxing for the most consecutive wins at 37.
She’ll be going against the 8-0 professional kickboxer and mixed martial artist, Aspen Ladd, who’s a three-time amateur MMA champion. These two match up quite well together. De Randamie has a 71′ reach, as opposed to Ladd’s 66′, and is also three inches taller than the California native. However, though Ladd is smaller, and has much less experience in the striking department, she’s more well rounded than de Randamie.
“The Iron Lady” is merely an elite kickboxer with good takedown defense. Ladd, however, can do it all. The No. 4-ranked ranked bantamweight has a BJJ purple belt, she can wrestle very well (as we saw in her last fight) and is a very good striker herself. Remember, Frankie Edgar was smaller than everyone he fought, and was able to beat most of his opponents because of how well-rounded he was.
Ladd may be able to do the same. If the size isn’t a factor, however, the fact that de Randamie has gone five rounds before and Ladd hasn’t might be. De Randamie is also eleven years older than Ladd at 35-years-old. Will that play into her favor of having more experience, or will the younger Ladd be able to use her youth to her advantage? We’ll find out this Saturday!
