I come before you today not to sell snake oil. UFC Fight Night 117 is not a good card.
The card, which happens from the venerated Saitama Super Arena in Japan and airs Friday night in the United States, lost what meager shine it had when headliner Mauricio “Shogun” Rua withdrew because of—and you better sit down—a knee injury.
Now aging grinder Yushin Okami, who wasn’t on the UFC roster one day before this call-up, will move up to light heavyweight to face Ovince Saint Preux.
Is this card truly a must-watch? It would be disingenuous or just downright strange to say yes. Nevertheless, there are always fights worth watching on any big MMA card. Let’s take a look now at three fights to check out when the action begins on FXX, which you may know as the channel that usually plays The Simpsons on a loop.
Featherweight
Teruto Ishihara (9-4-2) vs Rolando Dy (8-5-1)
Odds (courtesy of OddsShark): Ishihara -169
Airs on: FXX
Ishihara is known as much for girl-chasing (warning: NSFW) as he is for his style in the cage, but both are pretty flamboyant. He’s a headhunter with the power to put the theory into practice, a southpaw who rode a devastating left hook to eight knockout wins in his nine-win pro career.
Dy is a total unknown to the vast majority of fight fans; you may recall his violent TKO loss to Alex Caceres in his recent UFC debut. He’ll probably be looking to stand with Ishihara, taking an icy tactical approach to counter the fire of the Japanese showman. Things could get violent.
Light Heavyweight
Gokhan Saki (0-1-0) vs Henrique da Silva (12-3)
Odds: Saki -154
Airs on: FXX
As evidenced by the aforementioned main event, the 205-pound division needs itself some assistance. Is Saki the guy to get it done?
Saki is an elite pro kickboxer making the transition to MMA. That’s a dangerous gambit, but some have succeeded. In Saki’s UFC debut, Silva represents a fine bit of matchmaking. He is a beatable opponent, but he has enough wrestling and striking power to force Saki to concentrate and fight a complete MMA fight. It is entirely possible that Silva wins this fight.
But for the sake of the UFC’s most moribund division—not to mention your own entertainment quotient—Saki is the obvious rooting interest.
Strawweight
Claudia Gadelha (15-2) vs Jessica Andrade (16-6)
Odds: Gadelha -286
Airs on: FXX
The co-main event is the unadulterated best fight on this card.
Gadelha is one of the best female fighters in the world and would be even more famous if she could have managed to get over the to-date insurmountable wall that is the great Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
As it is, though, she’s plenty formidable on her own, with strength to burn and a ground game without a lot of equals.
Andrade’s game has a similar balance, with a power grappling game that could at least hold Gadelha’s at bay. On top of that, though, she’s extremely aggressive and very active on the feet, bursting forward with high-volume punch combinations.
Andrade is one of those fighters who is dangerous to any opponent. She may not win, but she can. Gadelha will have to stay within herself, avoid lengthy striking exchanges (and the damage they can easily inflict when you’re trading with Andrade) and work takedowns for top control and ground-and-pound.
No matter who comes out on top, this is a big fight and it will be fun to watch.
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