Photo by Joe Camporeale, US PRESSWIRE
Dustin Pague vs. Ken Stone: This fight was not the most
exciting but Ken Stone won by split decision over Pague who took this fight on
one week notice. Ken Stone really does not gain much from this fight due to
that fact and Pague barely loses any steam in the UFC brass’ eyes because he
took it on extremely short notice.
Possible matchups: I can see Ken Stone facing off against
Nick Denis because Stone is moving up and Denis just came down the rankings.
Pague should face Jeff Hougland. That fight will determine who is UFC caliber
and who needs to go.
Ricardo Funch vs. Dan Miller: This fight could have been
voted Fight of the Night. It was back and forth both standing and on the
ground. Every round was close and then Dan Miller pulled of a guillotine choke
out of nowhere.
Possible matchups: Funch simply is not UFC quality but if he
was to stay around I would say a fight with Jake Hecht in a loser gets cut
match would be acceptable. Miller would have a good fight with either Brock
Jardine or James Head. Both of those matchups interest me.
Matt Brown vs. Luis Ramos: This was a fun fight as well. All
Matt Brown fights are fun! Matt Brown is not the best fighter in the world but
can beat almost anyone at 170 when he is on. In this fight we saw Matt Brown’s
endless assault finally take out Ramos in round two after a flurry of uppercuts
and knees that left Ramos a bloody mess.
Possible matchups: Ramos needs to get cut and get some wins
outside the UFC. Brown should fight either Rich Attonito or John Maguire. Both
of those matchups would be very competitive and help us understand where
Attonito and Maguire stand in the rankings.
Chris Camozzi vs. Nick Catone: This fight was okay. It was
back and forth but ended with the always unsatisfying stoppage due to a cut.
Chris Camozzi caused the stoppage with a brutal knee in round 3. It really
sucked for Catone because he was fighting in his hometown.
Possible matchups: Camozzi keeps on winning somehow despite
the fact that his skills lack technique and polish. But Camozzi has won two
straight and is 4-2 in the UFC and that’s pretty dang good. I can see him
facing off against Clifford Starks who is a very tough guy. Or maybe Brad
Taveres who is another fighter who is not very technical but is 3-1 in the UFC.
Joey Gambino vs. Steven Siler: Going into this fight Gambino
was very highly touted even though it was his Octagon debut. I know he trains
at Tri-Star but I did not believe his hype. I do like Siler a lot and knew he
was the real deal. Both Sam (the other writer here at CR) and I knew Siler
would dominate. A lot of people disagreed with us but in the end we were right.
Everyone wants to put down Siler. Before his fight with Cole Miller everyone
counted him out and once he won everyone was like “Cole Miller sucks anyway,
that win doesn’t mean anything”. So, ridiculous. But anyway, Siler absolutely
killed this poor kid and it was a brutal, bloody display.
Possible matchups: It is time for Siler to get a contender.
I think Siler should fight Jonathan Brookins. That fight would be fast and
sick! Plus it would catapult one of them into title contention. For Gambino, he
needs to face someone a little less
seasoned. Someone like Pat Schilling. That would be a good loser goes home
match. However, Gambino could always make his way back to the UFC and make a
name for himself but he looked bad in this fight.
Rick Story vs. Brock Jardine: Pretty boring fight with the
ultra-seasoned Rick Story taking on UFC newbie Brock Jardine. First off Brock
Jardine is a crazy MMA name mixing Brock Lesnar and Keith Jardine but
anyway…The fight just showed that this was a mismatch and the UFC wanted Rick
Story to get back to his winning ways.
Possible matchups: Story needs to get a matchup with a guy
on his own level. Someone like Jake Ellenberger or the winner of Demian Maia/Dong Hyun Kim. Both of those
fights would be fun and help give some order to the welterweight division.
Jardine should get someone closer to his level as well. He could take on Che
Mills or Carlo Prater.
Ramsey Nijem vs. C.J. Keith: Keith looked okay in the first
45 seconds but then Nijem went on a tear and destroyed Keith at 2:29 of the
first round. It was a brutal loss for Keith because he also missed weight and
had to give up 20% of his purse to Nijem.
Possible matchups: Keith is not UFC caliber and after an
ugly loss and not making weight he will most likely get cut and he probably
should. Nijem keeps impressing me. After his horrible loss to Ferguson, I didn’t
think he had much of a future but he has now won two easy victories. I think
Nijem needs a step up in competition. A fight with Tim Means (our exclusive interview
with Means) would be a ton of fun and prove us Nijem can handle a deadly
striker.
Hatsu Hioki vs. Ricardo Lamas: Everyone and their mother
told us we predicted this way wrong. Even some of the biggest MMA news sites
all voted for Hioki but Sam and I were not convinced due to his other efforts
in the Octagon. I have always liked Lamas, even when he was an undersized
lightweight. He is always fun to watch and he has a great fighting spirit.
Lamas looked great by winning the standup and almost submitting the submission
ace. Ricardo ended up taking a unanimous decision. I loved how we called this
correctly and it shows are MMA brains off.
Possible matchups: No doubt that Lamas fights the Korean Zombie and Hioki fights Dustin Poirier. Those fights make perfect sense with
both Lamas and Zombie getting big wins and Poirier and Hioki coming off big
losses. Both of those fights would be a ton of fun and I would pay to see those
for sure. Make it happen Dana!
For the Main Card Recap Click here
