Court McGee and Constantinos Philippou will launch the main card of tonight’s UFC on FX 2. The bout is a battle between two up-and-coming middleweights. Each of these fighters are looking to prove themselves worthy of a step up in competition in their next fight. A victory for McGee or Philippou will put them on the cusp of being a contender. However, despite his close proximity, Court McGee will never become a middleweight contender in the UFC.
Court McGee is 3-0 in his UFC career. This includes his win against Kris McCray to capture The Ultimate Fighter 11 crown. McGee won his first two fights in the octagon by submission. In preparation for his next assignment Court tore his ACL. This forced him to sit out for almost a whole year. He returned last September defeating Dongi Yang, who faded late in the fight due to inferior cardio, by decision. McGee now looks to capture his most significant victory. Philippou is on a two-fight win streak. He stands to gain as much as McGee with a win.
Much has been said about McGee’s past. The summary of which would impart that resilience is wired into his make-up. It is a characteristic which is shared in his fighting style. McGee likes to pressure his opponents, making them work. He has excellent cardio and has no trouble outlasting his opponents, exhibit A: his fight with Dongi Yang. McGee has some wrestling skills, although he has not faced the best wrestlers in the division yet. Despite only being a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, McGee has a strong submission game. Seven of his 14 wins have come by way of submission, although two of those wins were submissions to punches. McGee only has one loss in his career and that loss was by decision. Court’s weaknesses are his lack of true knock out power, he has three TKO wins. He has never knocked someone out. Due to his blue belt in jiu-jitsu, it is questionable how well he could defend if he were tested by a submission artist. Another question mark in McGee’s game is his ability off his back; all of his submission wins have come while in a dominating position. He also has a shaky chin, as he has been knocked down his last couple fights.
McGee is well suited to defeat Philippou. Philippou is a one dimensional power striker. He also tends to fatigue in later rounds after he has presumably punched himself out. This style plays perfectly into McGee’s. McGee will just have to weather a storm of Philippou’s punches in the first round and a half. He will keep Phillipou working with constant pressure and would be served well by taking his opponent to the ground and wearing him out even faster. This will allow McGee’s superior cardio to take over, opening the door for a submission in the third round.
A win tonight will put McGee firmly amongst the top fifteen middleweights. He will be on the same tier as Rousimar Palheres, Alan Belcher, Chris Leben, Demian Maia and Tim Boetsch a week ago. McGee and all the fighters listed above, sans Boetsch, would still need a win or in some cases two, to become a contender. A contender can only be classified as such if he is a fight or two away from a title shot. Currently these fighters meet the criteria of a contender in the middleweight division: Chael Sonnen, Mark Munoz, Vitor Belfort, Michael Bisping and Tim Boetsch, due to his victory over top five middleweight, Yushin Okami. Chris Weidman and Brian Stann are the next closest to being contenders (or contenders again in the case of Stann and Okami). That is a number of fighters for McGee to surpass in order to threaten for a shot at the middleweight strap.
If McGee were to win tonight, he would next face a fighter such as: Okami, Weidman or Maia. It is arguable even a win against one of these three would not place him at the top of the middleweight division, he certainly would not surpass any of the “contenders” listed above. He would still need another victory.
McGee does not have the talent to win three more fights in a row and enter the category of contender. McGee is well-rounded, he provides pressure standing and peppers his opponents with strikes. He also has an underrated wrestling and submission game. However, he is only average at both aspects. Compared to any of the fighters above him he is weak in all areas of fighting. Okami is better standing and much better on the ground. Weidman is a better wrestler and may be better standing as well. Belcher is better on the ground and standing; the same goes for Palheres, etc. All of the middleweight contenders are even more superior in regards to their fighting skill. McGee’s greatest attribute is his resiliency and cardio, but even those will not be able withstand the talents of those above him. (McGee would match up well against Maia. His ability to pressure the Brazilian would lead him to a decision win. Although Maia could also be the first to submit McGee in a potential match up.)
Court McGee is a very solid fighter. He does well in all aspects of fighting. He will settle in as the perfect gatekeeper for the division. Since he is good in every aspect he will provide the perfect test for upcoming prospects. His diversity and resilience would show who was ready to start inching closer to contender-ship and who still needed to cultivate experience against weaker competition. There is no shame in becoming the UFC’s ideal middleweight division. Court McGee does not have the upside to become a contender himself. However, throughout his career, he could help to determine who amongst his peers is capable of attaining that level.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com