Mackenzie Dern and Amanda Ribas kick off the brand new 12 months with an outdated rivalry.
It’s been over 5 years since Dern and Ribas first fought in Tampa. Again then, Dern was the closely hyped prospect identified for her Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitors success, whereas Ribas was the well-regarded however lesser identified underdog. Ribas was the higher girl that day, incomes a convincing unanimous choice over Dern, they usually now run it again in Saturday’s UFC Vegas 101 important occasion.
Each fighters have been mainstays within the strawweight rankings—Dern is at present No. 8 at 115 kilos, whereas Ribas sits at No. 10—have struggled with consistency, although for various causes.
Dern’s prodigious grappling abilities have served her effectively for probably the most half, although she has developed a popularity for “by no means profitable the massive one,” as they are saying. She wins greater than she loses, however she’s faltered in opposition to prime contenders, together with Amanda Lemos, Jessica Andrade, and Yan Xiaonan, all fighters which have competed for UFC gold. Dern is but to indicate that she’s deserving of an analogous alternative.
As for Ribas, she could also be a sufferer of her personal versatility, as she has steadily bounced between the strawweight and flyweight (Ribas can be our No. 12 fighter at 125 kilos) divisions to. That recreation perspective has allowed Ribas to remain busy and guide some marquee matchups, however the outcomes haven’t all the time been there as she’s alternated wins and losses in her previous eight fights.
Who steps as much as the plate Saturday to maintain themselves within the title image?
In different notable important card motion, welterweight veterans Santiago Ponzinibbio and Carlston Harris face off within the penultimate bout of the night, Chris Curtis takes on Roman Kopylov in a fan-friendly middleweight matchup, and Christian Rodriguez seems to be to spoil the debut of blue-chip featherweight prospect Austin Bashi.
What: UFC Vegas 101
The place: UFC APEX in Las Vegas
When: Saturday, Jan. 11. The six-fight preliminary card begins at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+, adopted by a five-fight important card at 7 p.m. ET additionally on ESPN+.
Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas
One other 12 months means one other likelihood for these of us who simply can’t stop the Mackenzie Dern expertise to speak by way of why we nonetheless imagine she generally is a championship contender.
However not this man. Idiot me seven occasions, disgrace on you; idiot me seven or extra occasions, disgrace on me.
I genuinely like Dern’s probabilities to avenge the Amanda Ribas loss, however a lot of that optimism relies on the concept that she’s nonetheless enhancing and whereas we’ve seen some proof of that being true, there are nonetheless approach too many moments throughout her fights the place we’re left scratching our heads at her techniques. That is her twentieth MMA struggle. At what level will we simply settle for she is who she is?
We all know what Ribas is. She’s an thrilling striker with a powerful floor recreation, actually keen to struggle anybody at 125 and 115 kilos. The energetic Brazilian is saying all the proper issues about specializing in strawweight after ping-ponging between divisions the previous few years and I’m inclined to imagine her. A centered Ribas is a harmful Ribas.
Having 25 minutes to work with favors Ribas, as a result of whereas Dern can actually win a spherical or two along with her grappling, sustaining that during this important occasion will show troublesome. And each failed shot will end in Ribas peppering her face with punches. It gained’t be sufficient to complete the sturdy Dern, however it is going to put Ribas up 2-0 within the collection.
Decide: Ribas
Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Carlston Harris
Is there such a factor as a welterweight-y welterweight struggle? As a result of this may very well be it.
Props to the reserving crew for the age-appropriate matchmaking right here and with the Cesar Almeida-Abdul Razak Alhassan matchup, all that includes fighters 35 and up. It’s no GFL (*ba-dump-tsh*) however it’s all the time good to see revered veterans nonetheless getting a platform to carry out with out simply being fed to up-and-comers.
On this case, we’ve got over 60 mixed fights between Santiago Ponzinibbio and Carlston Harris, with each males in want of a win to extend their careers. Ponzinibbio has misplaced two straight and 4 of his previous 5, whereas Harris is coming off of a brutal knockout loss to Khaos Williams.
This needs to be a placing duel with Ponzinibbio main the dance. It’s been a wrestle for Ponzinibbio so as to add to his knockout tally lately, with only one KO/TKO for the reason that finish of 2018. Alongside the way in which he’s proven that he’s nonetheless a talented striker, he simply can’t faucet into that further gear he as soon as had.
That’s nonetheless greater than might be stated for Harris, who has regarded sluggish in his most up-to-date outings. Harris has by no means been a speedster, however it seems to be like time has caught up with him as he’s misplaced any semblance of explosiveness. He’s going to spend a lot of this penultimate bout chasing Ponzinibbio and getting countered into oblivion.
Ponzinibbio by choice.
Decide: Ponzinibbio
Cesar Almeida vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan
Worst-case state of affairs with Cesar Almeida and Abdul Razak Alhassan, we get two bruisers dancing round for quarter-hour afraid to drag the set off. Let’s be constructive, although.
Alhassan’s finest wager right here is to bull rush Almeida and never let him flip this right into a Okay-1 kickboxing match. Nearing 40, Alhassan won’t have the burst pace that he as soon as did, however he ought to nonetheless have loads to shut the gap. Whether or not he can keep away from a thudding counter from Almeida is one other query.
I feel Alhassan finds the proper second to strike, decking Almeida with an influence punch of his personal and placing him down on the mat. Ought to Almeida nonetheless have some struggle in him, Alhassan will comply with with ground-and-pound and finish this struggle early.
Decide: Alhassan
Chris Curtis vs. Roman Kopylov
When Jed Meshew and I had been recording No Bets Barred this week, I used to be surprised to listen to Chris Curtis was a greater than 2-to-1 underdog on most betting websites. The road has moved since, however Roman Kopylov continues to be significantly favored, which is absurd to me. What has “The Motion Man” executed to deserve this disrespect?
Curtis won’t be a world beater, however he’s constantly carried out effectively in opposition to upper-tier competitors. He focuses on defusing harmful strikers and wrestlers, so Kopylov doesn’t have a transparent path to victory. Nicely, exterior of the truth that Kopylov punches fairly rattling laborious, which is a stable base for MMA.
I’ve to think about that’s why there’s a lot confidence in Kopylov. When he’s on, he seems to be like a professional contender, and it’s potential he catches Curtis with a number of good photographs. The factor is, Curtis is near-impossible to place away and Kopylov hadn’t gained a call till his most up-to-date struggle. If this one goes to the playing cards, all indicators level to a Curtis win on factors.
That’s how I’ve received it, with Curtis outworking Kopylov for quarter-hour for the upset that gained’t be thought of an upset in my eyes.
Decide: Curtis
Christian Rodriguez vs. Austin Bashi
In case you haven’t seen, Christian Rodriguez has a knack for taking zeros.
Listed here are Rodriguez’s previous three wins and their data after they fought Rodriguez:
So Austin Bashi bettors, beware.
Bashi has impressed in his 13-0 begin, utilizing his brawny construct to out-wrestle opponents and bully them on the mat. He has all of the makings of a future featherweight contender, although one might say the identical about Rodriguez’s earlier challenges and look how these fights turned out.
One downside with Rodriguez is that his wins and losses don’t inform the entire story. Sure, he beat Rosas and Saaiman, however he additionally missed weight for each of these fights. Sure, he was profitable in his featherweight debut in opposition to Dulgarian, however he was then submitted inside a spherical by veteran Julian Erosa. Rodriguez has the body of a bantamweight, simply not the self-discipline to correctly reduce all the way down to that division.
All that’s to say I like Bashi’s possibilities of avoiding the pitfalls of the opposite fighters that put their undefeated data on the road in opposition to Rodriguez. His aggression may have Rodriguez on the back-foot from second one and I don’t count on Bashi to fuel out like Rosas did.
Bashi wins a hard-fought choice.
Decide: Bashi
Punahele Soriano vs. Uros Medic
Uros Medic is a wild man and one other stiff check for Punahele Soriano in his new life at 170 kilos.
At 185, Soriano developed a popularity as a slugger, however he needed to go to his wrestling in his welterweight debut to select up a win over Miguel Baeza. That’s an excellent signal for Soriano’s development and a method he could wish to make use of in opposition to the all the time aggressive Medic.
To place it kindly, Medic hates judges. Has no use for them. Hasn’t seen a scorecard in his professional profession and sure doesn’t plan on doing so Saturday. He’ll come out swinging and the query is whether or not Soriano will meet him within the center or determine to combine the martial arts and make this a extra tactical battle.
Provided that that is the principle card opener, I feel Soriano is on the hunt for a efficiency bonus and we’ll see him commerce arms with Medic. In that state of affairs, I like Medic to complete robust, even when Soriano attracts first blood early.
Give me Medic by knockout.
Decide: Medic
Jose Johnson def. Felipe Bunes
Marco Tulio def. Ihor Potieria
Thiago Moises def. Trey Ogden
Jacobe Smith def. Preston Parsons
Nicolle Caliari def. Ernesta Kareckaite
Magomed Gadzhiyasulov vs. Bruno Lopes
Fatima Kline vs. Viktoriia Dudakova
Nurullo Aliev vs. Joe Solecki
