Combat Sports: An Encyclopedia

Why It Matters: UFC on FX 8 Edition

thesportssoundoff:

Joey NOX

May 17th, 2013

After what feels like an eternity, MMA returns to TV with a UFC card coming straight from Brazil. While injuries turned a great card into an okay card, there’s significant fights up and down this bad boy. Not to mention MMA’s walking wackadoo Vitor Belfort is involved! How can you not be interested?! We’ll discuss it all in this edition of Why It Matters.

Why The Event Matters

While there isn’t a title fight on this card nor a traditional #1 contender bout, it does feature a collection of Top 10 fighters competing to move up in the ranks. The main event features two top 5 middleweights in #2 Vitor Belfort and #5 Luke Rockhold. #8 middleweight Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza is making his UFC debut (and expect THAT rating to go way up soon) against Chris Camozzi. #10 lightweight Rafael Dos Anjos takes on Evan Dunham in a fight that could be awesome. Three top 10 flyweights, Jussier Formiga, John Lineker and Chris Cariaso, are all competing on the show as they try to crawl up the ranking. The card also takes place in Brazil where the crowd should be raucous throughout the night. 

Now about the fights:

Jeremy Larsen (8-3) vs Lucas Martins (12-1)

Why It Matters: A torrential pace continues for Lucas Martins.

In the UFC’s shark tank of a lightweight division, guys are added and dropped without the bat of an eye. With a division so deep, it really does only take one loss to drop to irrelevancy or even worse, a release. That’s why this fight between top prospect Lucas Martins and TUF 15 cast mate Jeremy Larsen is so intriguing. Martins used a 12 fight winning streak within a span of two years (started as a pro in late 2011) to get a shot in the UFC as a short notice replacement. He drew a tough opponent in Edson Barboza and was soundly defeated within a round. Rather than take a break to evaluate things, he returns four months later to face TUF 15’s Jeremy Larsen. Larsen hasn’t been seen since the TUF 15 finale where he was finished in the first round by Joe Proctor. In fact, I was a little surprised to see Larsen was still with the UFC. None the less, he’s still got a gig and not he’s got a fight against Martins in Brazil. On paper, everything points towards Martins. He’s got the skills to win it, he’s at home (sorta) and there’s nothing extraordinary about the game of Larsen. The risk here is how Martins will respond to his first pro loss and the “pressure” of fighting at home. 

Jussier Formiga (14-2)  vs Chris Cariaso (14-4)

Why It Matters: Ability vs Actuality

Jussier Formiga is by all accounts a top 5 flyweight. While some of you may snicker and cackle about the idea of there being a top 5 at flyweight, he definitely has the skills to be a force in the division and contend for a title. Formiga’s ground game is pretty world renown and even the most snarky of MMA fans have to respect what he’s accomplished throughout his career. Unfortunately for Formiga, there’s no way to excuse an awful performance against John “The Magician” Dodson n his last fight. He looked overwhelmed, out of his element and flat out outclassed against Dodson en route to getting sparked by a body shot. Compare that to Chris Cariaso, a spoiler of the highest order who makes life hell for all opponents. He’s a gnat who picks away for fifteen minutes en route to a decision, doing just enough defensively to frustrate opponents and just enough offensively to steal rounds. He isn’t my favorite fighter by any stretch of the imagination but his ability to steal wins speaks for itself. This is a battle between a guy with all of the skills to get it done on the big stage (Jussier Formiga) and a guy whose actually getting it done on the big stage (Chris Cariaso). While Formiga is the more skilled guy, there’s a big chance he could be an ex-UFC fighter on Sunday if he can’t beat the aforementioned Cariaso. 

Azamat Gashimov (7-2) vs John Lineker (20-6)

Why It Matters: If you believe flyweights have bad fights, John Lineker would like to talk to you. Also if you can represent MMA fighters competently, he’d like to talk to you.

The flyweights in the UFC remain a very mixed bunch for fans. I believe this is the first card since May of 2012 to have two flyweight fights on the same night. On one hand, fans have stopped complaining about their mere existence. On the other? It feels like MMA fans have stopped caring about them as well. Hell not just MMA fans but MMA in general seems to have fallen out of flyweight favor. Maybe John Lineker can be one of those guys who helps you fall back in love with the division. In just two fights, Lineker has put on some great back and forth action performances—-namely in his submission loss to Louis Gaudinot. Lineker followed that up by beating Yasuhiro Urushitani in another great close action fight. Lineker’s run has also been documented by going to the U.S. alone to try and make weight because his agent didn’t have a working VISA and being sent to Macau without clothes because of something or another. In other words, there’s a lot of reasons to cheer for Lineker beyond just his fight style. His opponent is Azamat Gashimov, a wrestler out of Russia whose best claim to fame at this point is being arm barred by Ivan Menjivar.

Fabio Maldonado (18-6) vs Roger Hollett (13-4)

Why It Matters: When beng likable isn’t good enough. 

We all like Fabio Maldonado, don’t we? He seems like a nice guy, he’s had some good fights and some bad luck in the Octagon which is always a catalyst for fan support. He’s been in some real wars with the likes of Igor Pokrajac and Glover Teixeira and his heart can never be called into question. Unfortunately for Fabio, he’s also riding a three fight losing streak at a time where cuts seem to be happening left and right. If Maldonado wants to avoid joining TheAntiCool’s Count to 100 List, he’s gonna need to pick up some wins. He gets that chance at home against Roger Hollett, the Canadian slugger who was last seen getting taken apart on the ground by Matt Hammil in one of the worst fights of the year. Hollett is another guy who is on the fence in terms of job security given how many people were calling for his head after such a dismal performance. Neither guy is going to look to take this to the ground (on paper) and that means we could be in for a wild, exciting slugfest. Getting into a knockdown drag out brawl may be the only way one of these guys is able to keep their jobs—-which bodes well for us fans of violence. 

Iuri Alcantara (27-4) vs Iliarde Santos (27-6-1)

Why It Matters: Will Iuri catch a break?

Iuri Alcantara is proof that the MMA Gods aren’t always fair and just. He KO’d Ricardo Lamas in the WEC for cripes sake. He entered the UFC with a ton of hype but has struggled with injuries, injured opponents and just bad luck. Take his last two fights: a one sided decision loss to Hacran Dias in which he looked completely overmatched at FW followed up by a controversial no contest against Pedro Nobre at bantamweight. A very talented fighter with some very poor luck, Alcantara faces yet another short notice opponent in Iliarde Santos, a Brazilian born bantamweight who has never fought anyone with name recognition.Santos has power and after watching some film of his, he’s obviously got some skill. None the less, Alcantara needs this one and badly. He’s quickly falling into irrelevancy at bantamweight and needs an impressive win to put him back in the minds of fans. It’s up to Santos to pull off the upset and tip over the proverbial apple cart. 

Paulo Thiago (14-5) vs Michel Ricard (16-0)

Why It Matters: Fighting for a part time job.

 

Paulo Thiago by all accounts seems like a nice guy. He was a breath of fresh air in 2009 and 2010, the guy who was willing to not only fight the guys from AKA but also take a 2-1 split from them. Then somewhere around UFC 115, Paulo Thiago’s performances hit a snag. Losing to Kampmann and Sanchez in tough fights is rough but not unforgivable. The one punch KO at the hands of Siyar and the humiliating grapple loss to Dong Hyun Kim were different for a few reasons. Not only did it showcase a potentially broken chin for Thiago, it showed that he may have had a broken resolve as well. At home against a debuting opponent, Thiago really has his back up against the wall. His opponent, Michel Richard, is no cupcake though and has similar strengths to Paulo. Richard has power and is tough on the ground, giving him a chance against Thiago. An upset by Richard could spell the end of days for Paulo Thiago in the UFC.

 

 

Gleison Tibau (26-9) vs John Cholish (8-3)

Why It Matters: Meet Gleison Tibau, JTTS

 

I used to try and figure out what Gleison Tibau’s place in the UFC is. I don’t think we have to question that anymore; Tibau is the 155 lb gatekeeper. Outside of Mark Boceck, there’s no other fighter whose wins and losses have best represented a fighter’s ability to stick in the UFC with wins and losses. Consider this: Of Tibau’s 10 UFC wins, only 4 of those remain in the company. Of his 6 losses, 4 of those were against  fighters still in the UFC. Tibau isn’t quite the high level elite gatekeeper like say Jim Miller (the guy who determines whether yet title shot worthy) but he’s the guy who determines whether you’re going to be around for a while. His opponent is Cornell grad John Cholish who worked an MBA into a fighting career with the UFC. Cholish finished Mitch Clarke and then lost to Danny Castillo in somewhat controversial fashion. Cholish may be reasonably fighting for his job against Tibau which historically is just the kind of situation this JTTS feeds for.

 

 

Francisco Trinaldo (12-2) vs Mike Rio (9-1)

Why It Matters: Two underrated lightweight prospects collide 

 

Sometimes on these free prelims, you get a unique match up between two fighters who are bound to go somewhere in their careers. Consider this fight one of those showcases. Mike Rio was one of the more heralded guys on TUF 15 before an upset loss to current UFC fighter Andy Ogle. He rebounded from that loss with a slick submission of John Cofer in his “official” UFC debut. Francisco Trinaldo was a MDDLEWEIGHT on TUF Brazil an gained massive popularity for his personality despite not winning much on the show. Trinaldo has since made the drop to 155 lbs and has gone 1-1 with his lone loss to the aforementioned Gleison Tibau in a very close fight. Trinaldo is very strong, has power in his hands and tends to be involved in exciting fights. Mike Rio has great grappling and keeps a brisk pace in all of his fights. There’s plenty of reason to get exited for this one. 

 

 

Hacran Dias (21-1-1) vs Nik Lentz (23-5-2)

Why It Matters: The Carny goes for his biggest score yet.

 

Regardless of how you feel about Nik Lentz’ performances, you have to respect the guy. Fans complained he was too boring…so he opted to become more exciting. His dedication to excitement earned him a 0-2-1 record in his next three fights and he found himself fighting for his job next time out. He dropped to 145, went back to being a smotherer with nasty ground and pound and picked up two wins—-and a legion of haters along the way. Lentz draws Hacran Dias, a fighter who has fallen off the radar after upsetting Yuri Alcantara. The Nova Unaio star burst onto the scene by grappling Alcantara to death in June before injuries took him out of fights for the rest of the year. Dias has the grappling to challenge Nik Lentz while Lentz has the wrestling to challenge Dias. The winner will move up in the stacked featherweight division while the loser will likely fall back into the featherweight purgatory currently revolving around the likes of Nam Phan, Cole Miller, Rani Yahya and Mike Brown.

 

 

Click inside for the super awesome write up for the main card.

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John Morgan ‏@MMAjunkieJohn 1h Just received this from Dana White on Nate Diaz tweet: “He will be either fined and suspended or cut for that tweet.”

thesportssoundoff:

Well tits. 

Hopefully it’s a fine and a suspension…with that fine going to Bryan Caraway. Since he seems to collect these things. 

If he gets cut, he can just fight for his big bro’s promotion.