Not being a PR professional, I can tell you without hesitation that Saturday’s UFC card is, well, it’s just not very good.
Not being glib, I can tell you with equal conviction that this event—like all MMA events—has stories to tell and advance, if you care to look or look to care.
This is UFC Fight Night 92, going down Saturday from the combat mecca that is Salt Lake City. The first two bouts happen on UFC Fight Pass, the UFC’s subscription streaming service, with the rest of the broadcast airing on Fox Sports 1.
In the main event, we have Phenom of the Year front-runner Yair Rodriguez stepping in to face Alex Caceres. A win would bring the 23-year-old Rodriguez to 5-0 as a UFC fighter.
That fight could be exciting, but as indicated, familiar names and title implications will not be out in force in Utah. All the more reason, then, to read this article. We’re putting UFC Fight Night 92 into context with four storylines that make this card interesting before, during and after fight night.
The Push to Mexico Continues…Yes, in Salt Lake City
A native of Chihuahua, Mexico, Rodriguez is synonymous with the UFC’s oft-discussed desire to cultivate fandom south of the border.
At first glance, placing Rodriguez in Utah might seem about as canny a move in that strategy as Dana White speaking at the Republican National Convention.
But hold on a moment. Let’s let the facts be our guide.
Utah stereotypes as a stronghold of Jell-O and Mormonism but is also situated in the American Southwest, which contains three of the nation’s top 10 states for Hispanic/Latino population (Utah itself is 22nd), according to Pew Research Center. It’s also not far away, relatively speaking, from the top two states—California and Texas—not to mention Mexico itself.
In any event, this is all secondary to Rodriguez, the rare competitor with the penchant for fireworks and the technique and athleticism to back it up. It doesn’t matter where you’re from. Rodriguez doesn’t need translation.
If you need a reminder, check out his sensational knockout earlier this year of Andre Fili.
This is a thin card, but it’s the highest-profile showcase yet for Rodriguez. If he keeps doing what he’s been doing, it won’t matter where it happened, as long as it happened on TV.
Big Shot for the New Kids
The silver lining of bad cards is the new talent they bring in.
No fewer than eight fighters—heavyweight Marcin Tybura, middleweight Joe Gigliotti, strawweight Danielle Taylor, lightweights David Teymur and Jason Novelli, featherweight Horacio Gutierrez and heavyweights Chase Sherman and Justin Ledet—are making either their first or second appearances inside the UFC Octagon.
That doesn’t even take into account one Teruto Ishihara, the social media darling and self-proclaimed chick magnet who trains with Team Alpha Male and makes his third UFC walk on Saturday.
Mark it down: We’re bound to get something entertaining out of that, one way or another. Check out this tweet for some typical hilarious weirdness (warning: language NSFW):
Now, each fighter has his or her own level of attendant hype, and just because they’re new doesn’t mean they’ll stay. But for prospect hunters out there, this is an exciting chance to separate wheat from chaff.
Thales Leites Needs to Make an Impression
If you think you have a hard time washing Leites‘ 2009 title fight with Anderson Silva out of your hair, imagine how Leites must feel.
At UFC 97, the jiu-jitsu ace fell back to the canvas ad nauseam in an attempt to entice the champ into his guard. Silva didn’t take the bait. Leites didn’t have any other ideas. Stalemate. Afterward, Dana White said he had “never been [so] embarrassed” by a UFC fight.
After another loss, it was off to the hinterlands for Leites, where he wandered for four years. When he returned in 2013, he brought an improved stand-up game with him. Five straight wins followed.
But now he has dropped two straight and needs to show something against Chris Camozzi. And, yes, this is the third-to-last fight of the evening. Ugh.
Grappling will always be Leites‘ stock in trade, but if he can bang a bit with Camozzi, that might build more needed good will with fans and brass. If he loses his third straight—or rides takedowns and top control to a conservative win—the ghost of UFC 97 may again rear its head.
Court Comes Home
Utah is not an MMA hotbed, but it does have Court McGee.
The iron-tough middleweight clawed his way to prominence with the help of a gritty but inspiring back story and his unexpected title run on season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter.
McGee, who was born and still trains in Utah, headlines the undercard of this, the state’s first UFC card (a 2010 card moved to California after poor ticket sales). He has settled in as a serviceable midcard talent, and that’s his role here, where he’s a significant favorite against Dominique Steele.
If absolutely nothing else, Salt Lake City faithful have a chance of leaving on a high note if their guy can take care of business.
“I think Aug. 6, you’re going to see a local who took his opportunity,” said McGee’s coach, Rob Handley, in an interview with KSL.com. “It’s been a pipe dream, but now they can see it for real. And a guy who is friendly and nice and the guy next door will step in the cage.”
Scott Harris writes about MMA and other things for Bleacher Report. For more stuff like this, follow Scott on Twitter.
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