UFC on FX 7 Prelim Recap

This was the story of Lentz/Nunes.
Photo viaFernando Donasci/UOL

Francisco Trinaldo vs. CJ Keith: Following the first season of The Ultimate Fighter to only feature Brazilians, Trinaldo, or also known as Massaranduba, was considered one of the brightest prospects heading in. He entered as a middleweight but is a natural lightweight but shockingly didn’t give up much of a size advantage. He’s a huge lightweight, and he imposed his size and strength over Keith right from the get go. In the second round, he slammed him and locked in an arm triangle for the finish from half guard. This now makes Keith 0-2 in the UFC with two losses by finishes; I will be shocked if he fights again.

Possible matchups for Trinaldo: Though he’s only 2-1 in the UFC, he is still a very promising fighter and I would like to see him get a fight with a fighter higher up on the ladder, but not as high as Gleison Tibau. Perhaps a fight with the winner of Terry Etim and Renee Forte.

Wagner Prado vs. Ildemar Alcantara: Honestly, this fight was very difficult for me to predict. The deciding factor was the fact that Alcantara took the fight on two weeks’ notice. The short notice didn’t seem to affect him too much. Though he started a tad rocky in the first, he came out strong in the second and sunk in a very tight knee-bar. Prado screamed out in pain and the fight was over. Prado is simply not UFC caliber, so a pink slip is forth coming.

Possible matchups for Alcantara: You could tell during the fight that Alcantara had a huge size disadvantage, and that’s due to the fact that he is natural middleweight, not light heavyweight. But if he can do that good against a much larger fighter, I’m excited to see how he progresses. Buddy Roberts, who just pulled out of his fight with Michael Kuiper due to injury, will be looking for an opponent in his return and Alcantara will be waiting.

Yuri Alcantara vs. Pedro Nobre: Too bad the Oscar nominations already came out, because Nobre would be nominated for best supporting actor. I’m not surprised he did what he did though, Alcantara was about to destroy him. He rolled him over with a kimura and had his back. With three minutes left, Alcantara might have skimmed the back of his head and Nobre acted as if he was hit in the back of the head with a sledgehammer. It was a no-contest but Nobre will be released, Dana basically said it on Twitter.

Possible matchups for Alcantara: Though it wasn’t technically a win, everyone will look at that way. He has the chance to be a future title contender at 135. They should give him a guy with a name and a very well rounded game. That man is Mike Easton. These two could put on a very good fight and a win for Alcantara could launch him into the top-10 of the bantamweight division.

Edson Barboza vs. Lucas Martins: Well, this fight wasn’t particularly surprising, though I did think that Martins would do a lot better than he did. The problem with Barboza before was his lack of foot movement. He loved to be flatfooted all the time. The change of camps was obviously the best thing to happen to him.  His foot work was fantastic and he really opened up with his hands. He caught Martins early and put him away with ground and pound.

Possible matchups for Barboza: Even though he is recently coming off of his first loss and this win was over a general nobody, Edson Barboza is still a very bright prospect and a great fighter. It’s tough looking for a matchup for him though: do you want a stepping stone or a legitimate contender fight? I’m looking for a contender fight and the guy for that is Rafael dos Anjos.

Possible matchups for Martins: It’s pretty unfair being given a fight with Barboza on short notice as your UFC debut. He is a very promising fighter and deserves a fight closer to his talent level. Fabricio Camoes, who is coming off of a decision loss to Melvin Guillard, would be a good fight for both sides; they are close in talent level.

Diego Nunes vs. Nik Lentz: At first, I had Nunes winning this fight, but after some thought I changed it to Lentz due to the fact the wrestlers have been doing great lately as the underdog. Well, I was right to say the least. Lentz literally just smothered him for about 14 minutes of the fight. He easily took Nunes down every round and just out-grappled him. The most exciting part was in the last two seconds when Nunes almost finished Lentz. The win wasn't particularly flashy, but Lentz was extremely impressive.

Possible matchups for Lentz: Beating Nunes is a huge feat for people; it even got Kenny Florian title shot! It launches Lentz right into the title mix. Now, one of the most underrated fighters in the UFC is Darren Elkins. Though many would probably think that this fight would be horribly boring, almost every other fight that had two boring fighters ended up being amazing (Mike Pierce vs. Aaron Simpson and Damian Maia vs. Mark Munoz).

Possible matchups for Nunes: This was a very big loss for Nunes. It sets him pretty far back in the rankings. He is still a top-15 featherweight but he is definitely going to need to work on his takedown defense. A fight that he could take would the loser of Hatsu Hioki and Clay Guida.

Ronny Markes vs. Andrew Craig: Though Markes has an extremely bright future, if he wants to make it far in the UFC, he needs to fight more exciting. I’m not trying to sound like a fan at the bar but I’m saying that if your fights are more exciting, the UFC will heavily help you to a title shot. In the first two rounds, Markes just absolutely dominated Craig throughout, out-grappling him with ease. The third round though, Craig almost pulled off another crazy comeback. He dropped Markes and almost finished him off with strikes. It was really close to being stopped. But Markes recovered and survived for the 29-28 unanimous decision.

Possible matchups for Markes: With this rather lackluster showing, Markes isn’t just ready for a step up in competition just yet. He is extremely talented but he has to win at least one or two more fights. Chris Camozzi and Nick Ring are fighting at UFC 158 in Montreal. The winner of that should face off with Markes, in a fight that earns the winner a step up in competition.

Possible matchups for Craig: I really like Andrew Craig; he has so much heart and so much tenacity and loves to make fights way more competitive than it should be. He almost made the comeback in the third round and showed that you can’t ever count him out, he’s just too tough. A fight with the loser of Camozzi and Nick Ring makes sense as Markes could fight winner of it.

Godofredo Pepey vs. Milton Vieira: It seems that there always have to be at least one judging robbery on every UFC card. Well this was that one robbery. Vieira pretty handily beat Pepey in the first with superior takedowns and better striking. The second, though, was a whole different fight. Pepey absolutely dominated Vieira, getting his back and almost finishing him with both strikes and submissions. The third round was similar to the first with Vieira winning pretty much everywhere the fight went. Of course the split decision goes to Pepey, in a horrible robbery by the judges once again.

Possible matchups for Pepey: Though it wasn’t particularly spectacular, a win is a win. It honestly doesn’t do anything for his rankings. He really should be 0-2 in the UFC. If he wants to show that he is still UFC caliber, he should fight Felipe Arantes, who is coming off of a draw with Vieira. The 24 year old Arantes poses a lot of threats for Pepey in every aspect of MMA, especially on the feet.

Possible matchups for Vieira: Though this was such a close and debatable fight, Vieira didn’t lose too many points to his stock. If he wants to stick with the UFC though, he needs win in his next time out. Maximo Blanco, who hasn’t fought since his split decision loss to Marcus Brimage back in April of 2012, is definitely the guy for Vieira next.

UFC 150: Henderson vs. Edgar II Prelim Recap

Nik Lentz celebrating his victory over Eiji Mitsuoka. 

This was a solid night of fights that was sadly capped off with controversy. Every fight but two were entertaining and the prelims only had one fight go to a decision. This entire card was stacked from top to bottom with lower weight class fighters, something that has been slowly taking over the UFC with their entertaining fights and incredible speed. Let’s take a look at those fights and give some possible matchups.

Nik Lentz vs. Eiji Mitsuoka: Outclassed is the best word to describe Mitsuoka’s performance Saturday night. Lentz was clearly the stronger fighter and had the advantage everywhere that the fight went. He hurt Eiji with a beautifully placed knee on the chin that dropped him. Lentz got his back from there and slammed him, only to finish Mitsuoka off with strikes shortly thereafter. With that now making Mitsuoka 0-2 in the UFC with two TKO stoppages, he will most likely be cut.

Possible matchups for Lentz: Nik Lentz looked like he was on a whole other level to that of Mitsuoka. He rocked him, out grappled him, and finished him with strikes. He has the strength and wrestling ability to become an elite featherweight and the fighter to kick-start just that would be Matt Grice, who is coming off a dominating victory over Leonard Garcia. They are similar fighters and I believe Nik Lentz would take that fight.

Dustin Pague vs. Chico Camus: This was Dustin Pague’s third fight in three months, and it showed. Although he won the first round on two of the judges’ scorecards, he ultimately ended up losing the unanimous decision to the newcomer out of Roufusport.  Chico showed off a solid top game, especially for someone who is mainly known for his striking game. That’s now two in a row for Pague and 1-3 overall in the UFC. I would be surprised to see him back in action under the UFC banner.

Possible matchups for Camus: After his impressive performance, Camus clearly has a bright future. He fights with some of the best in the world: Ben Askren, Anthony Pettis, and Erik Koch, meaning that he might have what it takes to eventually be on the same level. If he wants to make it to that level, Vaughan Lee is still waiting for an opponent after his loss to TJ Dillashaw.

Ken Stone vs. Erik Perez: I was telling my dad as this fight started that Stone has one of the worst chins at 135. Right after I was done telling him about the brutal Jorgenson loss, he was dropped and finished. It couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. I really believe he should be cut and here is why: his only legitimate win was over Donny Walker (who isn’t exactly the greatest), three losses via 1^st round KO, not just TKO, but KO. And lastly, his last win was a slightly controversial decision over Dustin Pague who took the fight on one weeks notice, and only two weeks after his previous win. That, in my opinion, deserves a pink slip.

Possible matchups for Perez: Perez is the next big thing at 135. At only 22 years old, he has so much time to grow and he is already 2-0 in the UFC with two 1^st round stoppages, one by submission, and one by KO. Along with the fact that he trains out of Jackson’s and Winklejohn’s, he has what it takes to become an elite bantamweight. Edwin Figueroa and Perez are both looking for a step up in competition and that fight would be fireworks.

Jared Hamman vs. Michael Kuiper: I have to admit that I thought Hamman would rather easily dispose of the 23 year old Kuiper. But the Holland native really impressed me with his striking. Hamman was winning the first half of the opening stanza but Kuiper quickly turned that around with some nasty leg kicks that tore one of Hamman’s leg muscles. Kuiper would end up finishing Hamman with strikes in the 2nd round.

Possible matchups for Kuiper: At only 23 years old, Kuiper has a lot of time to round out his striking game, for it isn’t very technical. Chris Camozzi was originally supposed to fight on this card against Buddy Roberts but was then injured. Camozzi is visibly improving after each fight and I’m sure he’s itching to get back in there. A fight between these two would have the potential of being a barnburner.

Possible matchups for Hamman: Jared Hamman is one of the toughest guys in the UFC. He guts out big injuries and when he’s horribly rocked, he pushes forward. Rafael Natal and him are both coming off 2^nd round KO losses and are looking for rebound fights.

Dennis Bermudez vs. Tommy Hayden: Bermudez could be one of the first TUF runner-ups in a long time to actually be able to do something in the UFC. Although his chin is still suspect; which was shown with the knee that Hayden landed and almost KO’d Bermudez with. Bermudez still recovered and defended the rear naked choke that Hayden almost had. Dennis came back and submitted Tommy Hayden with a standing guillotine with seconds to spare in the first round. That Makes “Wild Card” 0-2 in the UFC with two 1^st round submissions, leading to the dreaded pink slip.

Possible matchups for Bermudez: Bermudez is one of the strongest guys at 145 in the UFC. He can outwrestle a lot of the guys at featherweight, almost purely based on strength. Sam Sicilia is fighting the winner of TUF: Brazil, Rony Jason. Bermudez should fight the winner of that fight if he wants to prove himself.

Click here for the main card recap!