Author: admin

Get the scoop on the early fights from UFC Fortaleza, featuring a bevy of prospects and a potential welterweight slugfest between Max Griffin and Thiago Alves.

My apologies for the length of this preview article. I had grown accustomed to the three tiers of contests provided by the FOX era: Fight Pass prelims, televised prelims, and the main card. Then the first card of the ESPN era featured three tiers as well: ESPN+ prelims, televised prelims, and the main card. Well, it appears that was most likely an unusual format due to the UFC’s debut on their new network. Now there are only two stages: prelims and main card. Perhaps I should have broken up the prelims given there are seven contests on them. Whoops.

What to watch for on these prelims? There doesn’t appear to be anything that immediately catches my eye. There are several prospects who are early in their UFC development, though none of them appear to have the can’t-miss label attached to them. At this juncture, I’d say Ricardo Ramos has shown the most potential, though he has yet to be seriously tested.

The prelims begin on ESPN+ at 5:00 PM ET/2:00 PM PT on Saturday.

Markus Perez (10-2) vs. Anthony Hernandez (6-0, 1 NC), Middleweight

Physically, there isn’t anything that stands out about Perez. He isn’t a great athlete, nor does his physical strength standout. However, he has also shown a lot of resilience in his UFC run, including his losses to Eryk Anders and Andrew Sanchez, refusing to go quietly into the night. The switch fighter relies a lot on kicks in his standup, but Perez’s strongest aspect of the game remains his grappling. It’s just a matter of whether he can get the fight to the ground as his wrestling remains questionable.

Hernandez has shown a lot of potential in his short career, including a 40-second KO on the Contender Series. However, the 25-year old had that victory overturned when marijuana metabolites were found in his system following a drug-test. Regardless, Hernandez’s power was very much apparent, a significant fact given he’s better known for his own submission prowess as over half of his victories have come via guillotine choke. Though that may raise some eyebrows as the one-dimensional Cody McKenzie had a notable penchant for the guillotine, Hernandez is far more well-rounded than the eccentric TUF alum.

There are several reasons to be excited about Hernandez. He’s young. He has plenty of power. He’s a solid athlete too. Plus, he hasn’t been gobbling up cans on his way to the big show either. However, I see the potential for a solid wrestler to chew him up and spit him out. Fortunately for him, Perez isn’t that fighter. Despite that, Perez’s toughness and resilience doesn’t lead me to think this will be a walk in the park for Hernandez. He picks up the victory, but will have to work his ass off for it. Hernandez via decision

Mara Romero Borella (11-5) vs. Taila Santos (15-0), Women’s Flyweight

Don’t let Santos’ impressive record fool you. She spent the majority of her career beating up on cans on the Brazilian circuit. The combined records of her opponents heading into their contests with her prior to her appearance on the Contender Series: 7-11-1. That’s over the course of 14 fights. Like I said, a lot of cans. That doesn’t mean the 25-year old is doomed to fail. Santos has a deep kicking arsenal with solid power and a good gas tank. The question is whether she’ll be ready for the step up in competition she’ll assuredly get on the big stage.

Much like Santos, Borella’s most consistent weapon of attack is her low kicks. Unlike Santos, Borella doesn’t offer the same threat to finish the fight with her striking prowess. Nonetheless, Borella showed in her UFC debut against Kalindra Faria just how dangerous she can be, dragging the experienced Brazilian to the ground and subbing her out to an RNC in less than three minutes. Most encouraging for the Italian is the consistent improvement she has displayed since moving to ATT. Borella may be older and have more fights under her belt than Santos, but she also made her debut more recently and has only been able to ramp up her training since making the aforementioned move to ATT.

Santos looks like she’ll be a keeper. She can fight off her back foot, has great distance management, and a calm demeanor. Regardless, I’m still going with Borella. Her loss to Katlyn Chookagian came with some controversy as she appeared to do more damage despite coming out on the short end of the stick. Borella is easily the toughest opponent Santos has seen to date while Borella has been further tested. It should be a good one though. Borella via decision

Thiago Alves (22-13) vs. Max Griffin (14-5), Welterweight

I hate predicting Alves’ fights. Right when I conclude he’s washed up, he turns in his best fight in years when he sent Patrick Cote into retirement. At that point, I give him the benefit of the doubt and he turns in back-to-back flat performances that he currently rides into this contest. Now that I’m convinced he’s at the end of the line – again – he’s probably going to come out sharp.

If Alves is sharp, he is still the proud owner of some of the most dangerous low kicks in the business. He may not be able to hit the high-risk maneuvers — such as flying knees — in the same manner he used to, but Alves has become a more technically proficient boxer in the pocket than he was in his youthful days. However, as he has gotten older, he’s also lost a step or two and can’t take punishment the way that he used to.

Fortunately for Griffin, he’s the younger fighter with far less mileage on his body. Thought to be more of a brawler when he threw down with noted Brazilian striker Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos, Griffin showed he’s more than capable of pulling off a disciplined approach, picking apart Mike Perry on the counter. While no one will ever mistake Griffin for being a high-level wrestler, he has improved his takedown defense enough that he is able to stay standing against those who only look to use their wrestling as a fallback. In other words, against guys like Alves.

In his prime, Alves was one of the most exciting fighters on the roster. That feels like a lifetime ago at this point. Griffin isn’t quite as long or as stout as Curtis Millender – who has beaten both of these men in the recent past – but he is comparable and may even be more technically sound. I can’t get the image of Alves being unable to navigate the length of Millender out of my head. Griffin studies film and is no doubt is aware of Alves’ struggles. He should expertly outwork his Brazilian counterpart. Griffin via decision

Junior Albini (14-4) vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik (6-0), Heavyweight

Albini’s nickname may be Baby, but Rozenstruik’s alias of Bigi Boy seems to describe him more aptly as he tips the scales at the heavyweight limit. An initial look at their records would also seem to indicate Albini is the more experienced combatant. However, that would be overlooking Rozenstruik’s 82 professional kickboxing contests since 2007. Rozenstruik has been fighting for a long time and there isn’t anything he hasn’t seen… at least on the feet. The native of Suriname has shown some solid takedown defense thus far, but there is no doubt he’ll be playing with fire if Albini is able to get him to the mat for an extended length of time.

That’s good news for Albini, who entered the UFC with a reputation as a sound grappler. Sure, he was subbed by Alexey Oleynik the one time he took a fight to the ground, but that was more overconfidence than a lack of ability. Albini has shown potential to be a major difference maker in his UFC run on the feet, but he has also shown inflexibility to making adjustments and a questionable gas tank. Nonetheless, the Brazilian has plenty of power in his fists and good timing on the counter.

This is a simple contest to figure out. Albini could knock out Rozenstruik, but why compete on the feet with a guy who has 64 KO’s in his kickboxing career when you can take him to the ground? The question is whether he can get the fight to the mat. Or is it whether he’ll be willing to…? Albini has shown incredible durability, so it’ll be a hell of a challenge for the newcomer to put him to sleep. Rozenstruik via decision

Geraldo de Freitas (11-4) vs. Felipe Colares (8-0), Featherweight

A contest made roughly a week before the event, it doesn’t take much film study to figure out which fighter the UFC is pushing in this bout. Both combatants are on the younger side of things, but the 24-year old Colares is the one the UFC believes can turn into a keeper. A volume striker who tends to throw a lot of low kicks, there isn’t a lot of power behind the youngster. Nonetheless, there appears to be plenty of untapped potential for Colares to unlock. His wrestling is lacking in terms of the traditional sense, but he is improving in that aspect in addition to showing some judo training based on his throws and trips.

De Freitas has an excellent frame for his weight class, clocking in at 5’9”. Unfortunately for him – and no surprise given the late notice – he’s fighting above his natural bantamweight class. Nonetheless, de Freitas shouldn’t be counted out. On the whole, he’s faced superior competition and has displayed more pop in his punches than Colares. Though I can’t say for sure – information and video on him has been sparse – BJJ appears to be his base with the armbar being his submission of choice.

I’ve already tipped my hand on this contest. Colares appears to be the bigger fighter with a more diverse standup and takedown arsenal. While I may not go so far as to give Colares the advantage on the ground, I don’t want to say de Freitas is superior there either. Even though this contest feels more appropriate headlining a Shooto Brazil card than appearing on a UFC prelim, it shouldn’t be a bad scrap. Colares’ superior ability to take the fight where he wants proves to be the difference. Colares via decision

Ricardo Ramos (12-1) vs. Said Nurmagomedov (12-1), Bantamweight

Three wins in the UFC in three attempts apparently isn’t enough for Ramos to get a step up in competition. Perhaps the close nature of his most recent win over Kyung Ho Kang kept UFC matchmakers from giving him a bigger name. Regardless, Ramos has flashed a dynamic offensive attack both standing and on the ground. He put Aiemann Zahabi to sleep with a spinning elbow, though his lanky frame is best put to use entangling his opponents in various submissions with RNC’s and triangle chokes being his specialties. Perhaps the biggest concern is how quickly Ramos tends to fade late in contests, partially due to his weight cut, but also attributable to his tendency to go all out early.

Nurmagomedov may have picked up a victory in his UFC debut, but it was about as lackluster of a successful debut as you’ll see. Perhaps moving back up to bantamweight will provide for a more energetic performance than the one he put on against Justin Scoggins, though his methodical approach has never required high energy usage. In fact, Nurmagomedov isn’t much of a finishing threat, trying to outpoint his opposition with his variety of kicks from the outside.

I struggle to see how Nurmagomedov pulls this one out. Ramos will come out gangbusters, either finishing off Khabib’s “cousin” or taking the early lead. Nurmagomedov’s lack of finishing ability and Ramos’ length likely negating just enough of Nurmagomedov’s outside attack spells a fourth consecutive UFC win for Ramos. Ramos via submission of RD1

Rogerio Bontorin (14-1) vs. Magomed Bibulatov (14-1, 1 NC), Flyweight

Y’all remember when Bibulatov was supposed to be the next big thing in the flyweight division? That seems like a lifetime ago as Bibulatov debuted with an unimpressive win – by his standards — over Jenel Lausa before falling to John Moraga in his sophomore effort. That was about 16 months ago and we haven’t seen him since. Nonetheless, Bibulatov has shown enough to keep hope alive that he can develop into a title contender… provided there is a flyweight title to be defended by the time he hits his stride.

The questions surrounding Bontorin have to do with making the flyweight limit as the last time he attempted to fight at 125, he missed the mark. Nonetheless, the Contender Series alum showed tons of resilience when he survived several near-finishes from Gustavo Gabriel only to come back and secure a submission victory. While it shows loads of heart, it also is indicative of the concerns about his defense. Nonetheless, he has a solid all-around game with a knack for getting the back.

I remember getting excited by Bibulatov’s highlight reel back in the day. There are spinning techniques he pulls off with aplomb, technical single leg takedowns, and other times where he just ragdolls his opponent. I have to believe the fighter I saw several years ago still exists somewhere in Bibulatov’s small frame. He is just 30 after all. Bontorin looks like he could be a fun action fighting flyweight, but he doesn’t strike me as a potential contender. That alone has me picking Bibulatov. Bibulatov via decision

According to longtime trainer, Freddie Roach, Georges St-Pierre has just one more fight left in his storied mixed martial arts (MMA) career, and wants to use it against lightweight cash cow, Conor McGregor, before retiring as three-division world champion.

I guess someone should tell Roach that “Notorious” is no longer on top.

The belt is instead being held by Khabib Nurmagomedov, who has also been linked to a St-Pierre fight. Working against them is promotion president, Dana White, who is fed up with the French-Canadian’s “one-and-done” policy on title fights.

“I think one more. Just one,” Roach told Below the Belt podcast. “The Irish boy. He’s got a big mouth. We’ll make the weight. Georges is on a new diet; it’s doing really great. We wanted to prove that we could go up in the higher weight division, and we did that. Then Dana got mad that we dropped that title. We want to go the lower weight now and be a three-time world champion, three weight divisions.”

After several years on the sidelines, due to a self-imposed hiatus, St-Pierre returned to combat sports in late 2017, where he strangled Michael Bisping into submission and left Madison Square Garden as UFC middleweight champion.

Then surrendered it to battle health issues.

Both McGregor and Nurmagomedov are unavailable after receiving suspensions from Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) on Tuesday (more on that here). “Notorious” is out of action through April 6 while “The Eagle” won’t fly until November.

Maybe St-Pierre can fight McGregor for Chael Sonnen’s phonyweight belt in July?

UFC Flyweight Roxanne Modafferi talks weight-cutting and possible solutions for the problem of fighters missing weight

Weight cuts — the bane of a fighter’s existence! For many fighters, making weight is the toughest battle, and fighting is the easy part.

So, let’s clarify a some terminology around what it means to ‘make weight.’ There’s dieting: essentially eating less, or eating only certain foods so the body slowly gets rid of fat. And the water cut: sweating so the body temporarily becomes lighter for a short period of time — followed by re-hydration. Both these terms together are what cutting weight consists of.

In ideal circumstances a fighter will diet slowly and healthily through caloric reduction over a number of months and weeks, and then – the night before and the morning of weigh-ins – finish lowering their weight by sweating out a smaller number of pounds. Immediately after weigh-ins, the fighter drinks and eats to refuel him or herself, so they feel good on fight day.

Every fighter diets differently. Every fighter cuts water weight differently. Every fighter has a different body, so different things work. Many options are within a fighter’s control, even if other’s are not.

In the end, however, if a fighter signs the contract to fight ‘XYZ’ opponent on a set date at a set weight, they are not showing up to work properly if they miss weight. And everybody agrees: missing weight is not good.

In the old days (about 15 years ago when yours truly first started fighting!), if a fighter missed weight, they didn’t fight. Now, it’s like, ‘Oh okay, the opponent gets 20% of your purse. Go ahead and rehydrate and get ready for tomorrow!’

Wait a minute!? Now the person who missed weight is probably going to be heavier and stronger, giving them an advantage over the person who made the weight cut. Money is nice, but winning a fight is nicer. That ‘win bonus’ is nicer, too — usually double our ‘show money.’

I’ve never missed weight, but I’ve lost to the two people I’ve fought who did. A 20% fine isn’t enough.

People cut weight to get into lower classes for a variety of reasons. But, the most common two are as follows: in order to smash people, and in order to not be smashed. I dropped for the latter. Twenty one out of my forty two fights were at bantamweight — 135lbs. After I got picked up and power-bombed in Strikeforce by Sarah Kaufman (now my friend nine years later), my manager suggested dropping down to 125.

I didn’t know how to weight cut, and ended up doing it all wrong. I didn’t eat after training, so I lost a lot of muscle. I felt crappy and weak in the gym. My fight performance suffered, as a result. I went on a five-fight losing streak because my opponents were top, world class fighters, and I was only getting weaker! Finally, on season 18 of the Ultimate Fighter, Coach Bryan Caraway taught me how to water-load and salt cut, and how to walk around heavier. My performances have improved dramatically since.

Getting educated is super important. My friend — and fellow Syndicate MMA pro fighter — Serena ‘The Southpaw Outlaw’ DeJesus recalls, “Before my debut ammy fight, my first coach told me to go look up how to cut weight on the internet.” Much like Bryan taught me, I have since taught her how to do it a better way, and she’s gotten good results.

Even if a fighter has a good plan, things don’t always go accordingly. I’ve never missed weight, but I know people who have. Bodies often don’t cooperate. Pounds can be hard to burn off, even for someone who cleans up their diet. Maybe their carb-protein-fat balance is off. Maybe dairy affects them. Maybe a woman gets her menstrual cycle just before the fight and bloats five to ten pounds. Maybe the fighter was lazy and didn’t run enough. Maybe they couldn’t resist that extra donut. Maybe they woke up starving in the middle of the night and had a low-fat turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with cheese. But, despite being healthy, it put him or her over her caloric intake limit for the day. So many things are factors.

My weight stagnated for a month once. I was so frustrated because I was depriving myself of goodies and not cheating. Then I realized I had been eating swordfish or tofu frequently for dinner, which are higher in fat and calories than my usual tuna or tilapia. At the same time, I was eating too much nuts and cheese for breakfast, so I was unable to burn off the calories to make a caloric deficit. Once I fixed those two problems, the weight came off.

Solutions for the struggle? There are so many solutions. Which are the most realistic?

---

WHAT FIGHTERS CAN DO:

Choose a different weight class

Usually, fighters don’t mentally give up on a weight cut — their bodies do. They want to keep fighting through the pain, but their bodies won’t sweat anymore, or their kidneys shut down. Fighters should want to feel strong and healthy in their weight class, which might mean fighting up. For female fighters who retain multiple pounds of water during their menstrual cycle, if they are so close to their body’s limit that a period will push them to miss weight, they should go up.

Worst case scenario, if I had an opponent who guessed they might miss weight because of her Flow, I’d rather they call the promotion, renegotiate the weight and ask me if I’m okay with a few extra pounds. That way I don’t have to suffer cutting so hard and get so light when they already KNOW they’re going to be heavier.

Joanne Calderwood used to compete at strawweight but has since gone up a weight class and is currently on a winning streak. She described the emotions of missing weight in a recent interview, “It’s very stressful, disheartening and upsetting. There are so emotions that are going through your mind, feeling that you’ve already cut as much as you can and then your body doesn’t want to do any more, or that you physically or mentally can’t and that you’ve let everyone down.”

Adjust weight cutting methods

Fighters can try a different style than what they are already doing. That could mean that they diet more fat away ahead of time, and walk around leaner. It could mean start cutting out the salt from their food earlier, and drink more water. Try the hot tub instead of the sauna to sweat.

Maintain non-fight camp weight

Fighters could decide on a certain out-of-fight-camp limit for themselves, and be harsh with themselves if they approach their maximum weight. As, JoJo said, “Now I can concentrate on fight camp, whereas before I had to do cardio before and after a session to drop weight. It’s helped me so much (to stay at a lower weight).”

---

WHAT PROMOTIONS & COMMISSIONS CAN DO:

No contest rule

There are penalties for missing weight. The most common of them being fined 20% of a fighter’s show money. I strongly believe this is not enough of a penalty. In Japan, some promotions will force the athlete that missed to fight but not allow them the chance to win. If the athlete that missed weight finishes the fight, the bout is ruled a no-contest.

Point deductions

However, I think that’s a little too extreme. One Japanese promotion had the missed fighter start the first round with a red card, or a point deduction. I fully support this idea. I strongly believe there should be some penalty that affects the results of the fight. Money does not affect the fight. A point will make a difference in a decision.

Multiple weigh-ins

I’ve fought for a promotion that had a rebound rule. I weighed in again on fight day and I was not allowed to have rebounded above a certain number of pounds — the amount being based on my weight-class. I think this is reasonable. I’ll cut ten pounds of water, so I’ll step into the cage as a 125 lb flyweight at 135 or 136. If I’m going to face someone stepping into the cage who rebounded to 145, they definitely have a size and strength advantage.

Still, I wouldn’t support the main weigh-in being the same day as the fight. Fighters would likely try to cut a lot, and possibly end up at higher risk of brain damage from fighting dehydrated. Kidney functions can shut down and put the fighter’s life in danger. To that end, early morning weigh-ins are way better than night-time ones, because the fighters have more time to hydrate, and can eat more between weighing in and fighting.

Eventually, there are so many factors with weight-cutting and weigh-ins that there is no single easy solution. With more information readily available nowadays, hopefully athletes will make better decisions. And ultimately, it’s the fighter’s responsibility to diet and choose their weight class carefully, based on what’s right for their body. As Ronda Rousey once said, “Our body is our business.”

The cast of combat sports characters was on the scene today in Fortaleza, Brazil, talking to the mixed martial arts (MMA) media and hyping up this weekend’s (Sat., Feb. 2, 2019) UFC Fight Night 144 event on ESPN+.

Front and center were bantamweight headliners Raphael Assuncao and Marlon Moraes, who collide in the five-round main event for the right to challenge for the 135-pound strap later this year (per Dana White).

Right behind them were featherweight co-headliners Jose Aldo and Renato Carneiro. “Junior” is punching the clock until his inevitable retirement while “Moicano” wants to get himself back into the 145-pound title hunt.

Watch them all bump bridges in the embedded video player above.

Elsewhere on the card, Demian Maia keeps plugging along at welterweight opposite longtime veteran Lyman Good, while Charles Oliveira looks to keep his win streak alive against the rough-and-tumble David Teymur.

See the entire UFC Fight Night 144 fight card and line up right here.