Tag: UFC 147

Although Yuri Alcantara vs. Hacran Dias hasn’t been gaining a lot of press, it probably should be. Both fighters are high-grade featherweight prospects, and either man could make some serious waves in the division sometime down the road.

Let’s have a look.  

 

The Fighters

Despite a great record, Brazilian featherweight Yuri Alcantara (28-3-1) was relatively unknown to North American fans until he dominated highly-touted Japanese sensation Michihiro Omigawa at UFC 142 back in January. Alcantara rocked his opponent and nearly finished him via submission en route to an impressive unanimous decision victory.

As he demonstrated in his breakout battle with Omigawa in only his second featherweight bout, Alcantara works a very technical stand-up game, with nice counter-strikes, knees and flashy spinning elbows. In his WEC debut back in 2010, he knocked out a very game Ricardo Lamas in the first round with a sickening left hook.

On top of his stand-up skills, Alcantara also owns a very solid ground game, which makes him a tough test for any fighter in the UFC’s burgeoning featherweight division. 

A proven finisher, only four of Alcantara’s 28 career wins have come by decision, and he has amassed an equal amount of knockout and submission victories in career.

The man is one heck of a well-rounded fighter, and he’ll be dangerous wherever this fight goes. As for his flaws, he might have tendency of fading late in fights, although this has not been a big issue for him up to now since so few of his matches have actually made it to a decision.

Before signing with the UFC, Shooto champion Hacran Dias (20-1-1) was widely considered one of the best featherweight prospects in the world, boasting an impressive record and martial arts pedigree. A very skilled grappler, Dias employs stifling ground control and is known for technically dominating opponents on the mat.

Right away the UFC knew they had something special.

Dias had originally tried out for TUF: Brazil, but the promotion signed him to an immediate UFC contract instead.

There are good reasons for this.

Training out of the famed Nova União jiu-jitsu academy with Marlon Sandro and Jose Aldo, Dias has garnered himself a lot of hype because of his highly-refined ground game. If he can bring the fight to the mat, he should be able to stifle Alcantara’s very dynamic attack and tough out a decision victory in his promotional debut.

He comes at you with a frantic ground attack, employing solid ground-and-pound work and an almost dizzyng amount of slick submission attempts. Still, there are a lot of question marks with Dias, but if he can find a way to implement his game with the big boys in the UFC, he could be a real force in the featherweight division.  

 

What to Expect

This is a very intriguing matchup between two promising featherweight prospects. While Dias is probably the more hyped of the two fighters, Alcantara has the superior resume, having fought much stiffer competition over the past few years.

Of the two men, Alcantara is the more consistent finisher. But if Dias can take Alcantara down and keep him down, he should be able to pull out a win.

On the other hand, if Alcantara can find his range, he might be able to derail Dias’ considerable hype and score his first stoppage in the UFC. If he’s smart, he’ll try to keep this standing and keep from rolling with Dias for too long.

 

The Bottom Line

Even through this bout between two relatively unknown fighters won’t exactly light the world on fire, it has the potential to be a great fight between a pair of featherweight up-and-comers. It’s a great matchup between two promising Brazilian prospects in the UFC’s burgeoning featherweight division.

And looking at the rest of the card, I wouldn’t be surprised if it steals Fight of the Night honours.

This is a hard fight to pick, especially when you consider Dias relatively sheltered career. Really it could go either way. 

Prediction: Alcantara via close decision

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(click here for a breakdown of the UFC 147 event)

The Fighters

Felipe Arantes (14-4-2) has made himself a mainstay of the UFC’s frequent trips to Brazil.

Making his promotional debut at the UFC’s much-hyped return to Brazil, Arantes lost a split decision to fellow UFC 147 fighter Yury Alcantara in an unspectacular affair.

Then, he picked up his own decision versus Antonio Carvahlo at UFC 142 in January. Now he stands at 1-1 in the UFC.

Arantes only has one submission loss in his career, being finished by a triangle choke in 2009, by TUF: Brazil alumni Rony Mariano.

Even so, he will have to be careful of Vieira’s strong jiu-jitsu game if he hopes to come out victorious.

Arantes is a tough fighter with crisp striking and a questionable game off his back, having been controlled for most of the first round during his most recent win against Antonio Carvalho.

If all goes in his favour, he should be able to use his superior striking to keep Vieira at bay— controlling the distance and winning the fight.

Milton Vieira has fought most of his career on the regional circuit in Brazil, and he is probably most well-known as the inventor of the anaconda choke. Vieira has a fairly ho-hum record  of 13-7-1 and, even worse, he lacks wins over any high-quality opponents.

It isn’t good news for fight fans that his most relevant win is a submission victory over current UFC fighter Johnny Eduardo. It came back in October of 2006.

Nevertheless, he is a strong grappler, even if he hasn’t fought many high-level fighters over the last several years. Even so, Vieira is a very dangerous fighter on the ground and will be looking to lock in a submission victory in his UFC debut.

What to Expect

This should be a fairly spirited contest, with Vieira looking to exploit his submission skills. Nine of his 13 wins come by way of submission.

Arantes will try to keep the fight standing in hopes of landing a knockout blow.

Vieira-Arantes is shaping up to be a classic striker versus grappler matchup, and the fighter who can get the fight where he wants it will likely come out on top.

If Arantes can use his striking to keep his opponent at bay, Vieira will be in for a long night. Likewise, if Vieira gets this to the ground, Arantes will have to be careful not to get caught in a submission.

 

The Bottom Line

Frankly, this is the sort of fight you would expect to see on a regional promotion, not on a UFC main card (although the fight might be relegated to the preliminaries once the schedule is shored up).

This match-up reminds me of the random throwaway fights between low-ranked Canadian fighters. They always seem to litter the preliminaries of every Toronto card.

As it stands, the UFC 147 card is still not confirmed with less than two weeks to go.

Still, Vieira-Arantes could certainly end up being a spirited fight, especially if both men are looking to put on a good show for the hometown crowd.

Remember—sometimes these under-the-radar fights end up being mini-classics.

 

Prediction: Arantes via Unanimous Decision

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