During the first two episodes of TUF Brazil season two, I decided to expand outside the realm of making predictions, and put my self in the shoes of the coaches as I watched the elimination fights. I made notes for each bout winner, and did my best to rank them in the order I would pick them for my team. I was pleased to learn that both Minotauro Nogueria and Fabricio Werdum shared much of my thought process.
My top four picks were in the top five picks almost in perfect order, but here’s where both coaches leave me scratching my head. My fifth pick, Thiago “Marreta”, was the very last pick. Seriously? The fighter who showcased Edson Barboza like striking and proficient ground defense was the very last pick of this TUF season. I can understand if the coaches had their eyes on superior grapplers such as Yan Cabral and Thiago Alves (not the UFC’s pitbull), but Marcio “Pedra” Santos, a striking novice? Tell me he wouldn’t get picked apart by Marreta. What about Viscardi Andrade? He was the eighth overall pick, but he’s a heavy handed puncher, and necessarily a great striker. In fact, had it not been for a lucky placed punch, he might not even be part of this competition. Bottom line, Andrade striking is inferior to Marreta‘s, and he possesses weak grappling skills.
I could make many of the same argument as to why picking William “Patolino” Macario and Leonard Santos before Marreta was a questionable decision, but the most confusing pick was Cleiton Durarte. Like Marreta, Duarte’s striking is similar to Edson Barboza’s, however, they differ in their grappling skills. Anytime Marreta was taken down, he showed proficient defense for his opponent’s Jiu-Jitsu and ground & pound attempts. In the third round, he even swept his opponent from off his back to take the top position, and rain down punches. Cleiton Duarte on the other hand, less than a decent grappler. Again, he does possess good striking, but his ground game is probably worse than Viscardi Andrade’s. He gave up the takedown often, and for this reason, he almost lost his fight. I don’t want to discredit him too much, after all, Duarte was my tenth overall pick. However, the ground game is clearly his Achilles heel. For this reason, I can’t fathom why Werdum and Nogueria didn’t pick Cleiton Duarte last if it was the grappling factor that deterred them from picking so many more Jiu-Jitsu savvy fighters before Marreta.
Obviously I can understand the coaches having different opinions on the fighters who are strictly grapplers, seeing that not too many people on earth know grappling better than these two coaches. But just for kicks, here’s a comparison between my picking order, and the order that the fighters were actually picked.
MY ORDER ACTUAL ORDER
1.) Pedro Irie 1.) Luiz Besouro
2.) Luiz Besouro 2.) Pedro Irie
3.) Santiago Ponzinibbi 3.) Santiago Ponzinibbi
4.) Neilson Gomes 4.) Yan Cabral
5.) Thiago Marreta 5.) Neilson Gomes
6.) Juliano Wandalen 6.) Thiago Alves
7.) David Vieira 7.) Leonard Santos
8.) Yan Cabral 8.) Viscardi Andrade
9.) Thiago Alves 9.) David Vieira
10.) Cleiton Duarte 10.) Marcio Santos
11.) William Patoli 11.) William Patolino
12.) Leonard Santos 12.) Juliano Wandalen
13.) Viscardi Andrade 13.) Cleiton Duarte
14.) Marcio Santos 14.) Thiago Marreta
– Ryan “Fight Freek” Poli
@FightFreek