UFC 159: Important fights that are flying under the radar
This weekends card is a great one filled with some very exciting match ups that could birth new contenders and potentially interesting match making opportunities.
Yet with all these great matchups all I keep hearing about from fans, friends and media are Jones, Sonnen, Bisping and Belcher. And that my friends is precisely why I’m gonna run you through a few of this weekends exciting matchups, while giving you a little bit of background info and future implications they could potentially have.
I’m not sure why this isn’t being talked about more to be quite honest. You’re talking about a fight featuring a guy who is a 4-time World JiuJitsu Champion in multiple divisions including both Super-heavyweight and Heavyweight, an ADCC Submission wrestling gold medalist in 2011 and the former M-1 Global Light-Heavyweight Champion. That alone should draw some attention, not to mention he’s been training some of the very best in grappling for their upcoming fights, including none other than Chael P. Sonnen.
We’re also talking about his opponent who just a couple fights ago was the biggest up and coming contender in the 205lb division. With 10 wins, 6 finishes, his own submission and his only loss coming from former champion Rashad Evans, Davis is still a very dangerous and worthy eventual contender for the title. As far as the match goes, I see this being a very entertaining and technical ground war, I suspect Magalhaes to use his traditional Jiu-Jitsu to combat Davis’ wrestling/BJJ hybrid style of fighting. Either way it’ll be interesting to see what strategy each fighter employs and you can bet I’ll be watching to find out.
Sara McMann vs Sheila Gaff
If I worked for the UFC‘s marketing department, this is BY FAR the fight I’d be pushing right after the main and co-main events. No one is more worthy and marketable of being pegged as the next big thing and true #1 contender in the womens 135lb division, than Sara McMann. This girl medaled over 33 times in Wrestling tournaments all over the world and is a multiple time champion in more American wrestling tournaments than I’d like to count. Even more impressive? She’s won Silver in womens Freestyle Wrestling in the 2004 Olympics and the 2011 ADCC Submission Wrestling tournament. Did I mention she’s also undefeated at 6-0?
Her opponent Sheila Gaff is appropriately nick-named “The German Tank”, as this girl is well known for her exciting berserker style of fighting that has lead her to 10 victories, all of which are finishes and none of which have gone beyond the first round. YIKES. The winner of this fight could easily be dubbed the next contender for Ronda Rousey‘s title. But regardless, an undefeated Olympic Wrestling Champion vs a German rage monster with 10 first round finishes? Sign me the hell up!!
This should be a very entertaining fight seeing as how both fighters prefer to stay on the feet and trade for the most part. Since his Decision loss to Fabricio Werdum, Roy Nelson has reeled off back to back KO’s against Dave Herman and Matt Mitrione, making the illustrious 3 fight win streak a very real possibility. Should Nelson win this fight he’ll be positioned to work his way back into the divisions elite and possibly a title shot.
Kongo on the other hand has had a rather an impressive record as of late going only 4-3-1 in his last 8 fights. If he can’t find a way to win this one, he may just end up forever labeled the Heavyweight gatekeeper, tasked with separating the divisions elite from the rest. But regardless, two big Heavyweight’s known for throwing big leather? You’ve got my attention.
Rustam Khabilov vs Yancy Medeiros
Khabilov is a Russian monster, whose fighting style is reminiscent of fighters with a very strong tenacity and ferocity like that of legend Fedor Emelianenko. In his UFC debut last December he knocked out Vinc Pichel via multiple crazy suplexes that would make Zangief blush. With a record of 15-1 this kid is slowly becoming a rising contender to keep an eye out for in the 155lb division.
Yancy Medeiros however is also a interesting prospect, he’s currently undefeated at 9-0 with 6 of those victories by way of KO and 1 via submission. With all of that said, I believe it’s safe to say that the fighter who walks out of the cage that night with a victory, will mean serious business for anyone else in the Lightweight division.
Couple other great fights as well happening on this card that I’d like to mention like Gian Villante vs Ovince St. Preux, Bryan Caraway vs Johnny Bedford, Jim Miller, vs Pat Healy, Leonard Garcie vs Cody McKenzie and many more!
Don’t miss it, and make sure you let me know what you think of the fights listed above in the comments below.
