UFC on Fuel TV 4 Prelim Recap

Andrew Craig's crazy comeback headkick.
Photo by SporTV.com

Overall, this was a very good night of fights.  We got to see a potential dethroner of Anderson Silva’s long reign show why he is being considered the next big thing in MMA, with his win. We also got to see a potential Fight of the Year and several other rising prospects show that they are ready for a step up in competition. Only two fights were not entertaining, that’s a rarity that there were only two. Anyway, into the recap!

Raphael Assuncao vs. Issei Tamura: Assuncao seems to have really rejuvenated his career at 135. So far, he has looked fantastic in his last two performances at bantamweight, following his KO loss at the hands of Erik Koch. He won this fight with a relentless TKO win over rising prospect in Issei Tamura. Assuncao controlled the fight from the very start and finished it early in the second round.

Possible matchups for Assuncao: Following this impressive victory, Assuncao is ready for a bigger test if he plans on making a title run at 135. Yves Jabouin and him had a very close fight back in October of 2009; in which Assuncao won a razor thin split decision over Jabouin. Yves looked fantastic in his last bout with Jeff Hougland, making for this rematch to be interesting. The winner deserves a top-15 or top-10 opponent.

Possible matchups for Tamura: Tamura was anything but impressive in his TKO loss to Assuncao. John Albert has lost his last two, despite the second being highly controversial, and a fight between these two could prove to be a loser goes home bout.

Marcelo Guimaraes vs. Dan Stittgen: This was one of the two fights mentioned above that did not perform. There were times where I was actually getting angry with myself for watching the fight. They were constantly stalling in the standup, with some of the worst standup I have ever seen, and doing nothing on the ground. Guimaraes eventually took the split decision in a fight that will do no good for either’s careers.

Possible matchups for Guimaraes: I thought that this would be one of the only times that both fighters should be cut for their performances in the Zuffa-era of the UFC (the only other I can think of is Maiquel Falcao vs. Gerald Harris). Him and Papy Abedi should face off in a loser goes home match; I have no interest in either of them.

Andrew Craig vs. Rafael Natal: Andrew Craig has a ton of heart, which was shown in his two UFC fights so far. He was being thoroughly dominated by Rafael Natal. The second round was looking to be a 10-8 and I was looking to be 3-0 in my predictions, but Craig put those to rest with a head kick. It landed flush and Natal went OUT.

Possible matchups for Andrew Craig: Craig is a hard fighter to find matchups for. He doesn’t look good but figures out a way to win. The guy is not ready for upper echelon but he should fight the winner of Jared Hamman-Michael Kuiper to decide where he goes in the middleweight division.

Possible matchups for Rafael Natal: One kick can end your night, no matter how impressive your performance. Natal lived that statement in this fight. Natal has not impressed me in his 2-2-1 stint in the UFC so far. His wins over Kuiper and Paul Bradley did not impress me in the slightest. Both him and Karlos Vemola had losses on this card so a rebound fight between them makes sense.

Chris Cariaso vs. Josh Ferguson: The flyweights still haven’t had a boring fight in the UFC. They have all been crazy brawls and insanely entertaining. Cariaso and Ferguson continued that streak as Cariaso outworked his way to a unanimous decision victory over the tenacious Josh Ferguson, who I presume will be cut after an 0-2 stint in the octagon.

Possible matchups for Cariaso: That is now 3 in a row for Cariaso, making him 4-1 in the UFC and 5-2 under Zuffa. Despite the fact that his wins over Mizugaki and Vaughan Lee are highly disputed, especially Mizugaki, a win is a win and Cariaso is slowly, but surely, working his way up to a title shot. With the flyweight division so thin, UFC executives are scrambling for title contenders. Cariaso should fight Louis Gaudinot next and whomever wins that fight, should move up to a number one contenders bout.

Alex Caceres vs. Damacio Page: Bruce Leroy has found his home all the way down at 135 pounds. After being very hyped following TUF, he lost two fights in-a-row making me believe that he would receive the pink slip, but ended up dominating former WEC bantamweight champ in Cole Escovedo. He would then lose one of the weirdest decisions that I have ever seen to Edwin Figueroa, a fight in which was highly controversial. Tonight, Caceres had the clear submission advantage as he continually went for submissions against Page once the fight hit the mat, eventually securing a slick triangle in the second round and earning him SOTN honors.

Possible matchups for Alex Caceres: While I was on Twitter, I noticed that Walel Watson had called out Caceres saying that their fight would be awesome. I agree, I believe that could very well be a fight of the night and a tough test for both young fighters.

For the Main Card Recap Click Here