Fights To Make After UFC On Fuel

By Raphael Garcia

While UFC on Fuel may have been a card that lacked the biggest names that the UFC has to offer, it was still a show that left many fans cheering and wanting more. From the Facebook fights all the way through the main event, the card gave us impressive knockouts, comeback submissions, and close contests. For the night’s winners and losers, Zuffa matchmakers will be tasked with creating matchups that will maintain momentum for some fighters, and regain momentum for others. Here are a few suggestions:

Carlos Condit vs. Jake Ellenberger

Back in September 2009 Jake Ellenberger was making his debut for the UFC, while the last WEC welterweight champion, Carlos Condit, was coming off of a close split decision loss to Martin Kampmann a few months before. Back then, no one knew how vital these two fighters would be to the future of the UFC welterweight division. In this fight, Ellenberger was able to rock Condit early, and put him in a dangerous position. Yet the current interim champion was able to battle through, as we would see him do time and time again in subsequent fights, and pull out a split decision victory. If they were to fight a second time around, I believe the fight would go quite the same way.

Ellenberger would come out the gates fast, as he generally looks to overwhelm his opponents very quickly. Condit would have to survive that first wave if he is planning on winning the bout. Ellenberger has scary power in both his hands and is a very technical counter striker. However, Condit is also very technical on the feet, and would be able to hit Ellenberger without leaving many openings for him to fire back. As we saw in the Sanchez fight, if Ellenberger’s opponent can press him back, he will begin to tire early in the fight. And once Condit gets into the later rounds he should be able to control the fight on the feet and use active Jiu Jitsu to control “The Juggernaut” on the ground. I see Condit winning a second decision victory this go around, but this time unanimously.

Diego Sanchez vs. Gray Maynard

Diego Sanchez needs to move back to lightweight. While UFC President Dana White allows him to decide where he fights, it’s very apparent where he has been more effective in his career. Until he was stopped by BJ Penn, Diaz looked like trouble for any fighter in the 155 pound weight class. Moving back and staying there would be the best move for his career. I would match him against the returning Gray Maynard, who is in need of a tough bout to test his place as a top contender.

Sanchez–Maynard would be a very interesting bout. While Maynard is the more effective wrestler, both are not shy about standing in the pocket and throwing punches. The question is whether Maynard’s chin would be able to stand up to Sanchez’s pressure, or if he would have to resort to the “lay and pray” tactics that have brought him heat in the past to pull out the win. We’ve seen that Sanchez can take a serious beating without stopping, so I believe he would be able to take Maynard’s shots. At the same time, while I don’t think he would be able to take Maynard down at all, I don’t believe he would even try. I think Sanchez would win this bout by third round TKO.

Stefan Struve vs. Mike Russow

At 23 years old, Stefan Struve is an impressive heavyweight in a division that is short on true contenders. While some will question his jaw and his ability to take shots from the division’s heaviest hitters, there is no doubt that he has tremendous upside, and can threaten a finish in many ways. He may have floundered against some of the better heavyweight fighters, but I believe he should be tested once again to see where he stands, and Mike Russow would be a formidable threat.

Riding a four-fight UFC win streak, Russow has quietly become a heavyweight to watch. We remember his ability to take a beating before he dispatched prospect Todd Duffee at UFC 114, and since then he has accrued two less-than-impressive, but still important, wins in the heavyweight division. Against Struve we would see if Russow is a true contender or just another mid-tier fighter holding a position on the UFC roster.

In this fight, Russow would have to get the fight to the floor in order to have even the slightest chance at victory. Struve’s reach and striking abilities would be enable him to hit Russow repeatedly from distance while avoiding taking any big shots to the face. What I want to see is how Struve would deal with Russow on top of him, because Struve has shown in the past that he can throw up submission attempts from his back and moves very well on the ground. The blessing of long limbs helps his submission game, and I believe he would keep Russow on the defensive, even if he was fighting off his back. I predict a Struve victory by first round submission.

Ronny Markes vs. Ed Herman

Ronny Markes is yet another name in the Nova Uniao camp that has stepped into the Octagon and found a way to exceed expectations. Many fans expected Aaron Simpson to be able to stuff the Brazilian’s takedowns while laying powerful hands upon him. While Simpson was able to drop Markes and nearly finish him in the first round, Markes brought his own heat while on the feet, delivering stiff leg kicks and other strikes while stuffing all of the former Division I wrestler’s takedown attempts. While the crowd didn’t agree with the split decision, Markes went a long way towards proving that he may be an eventual force at 185.

I would match him against Ed Herman to truly test where he stands. While Herman has never been considered a top contender in the middleweight division, he has the ability to defeat many individuals. His striking leaves a lot to be desired, however his grappling is tough to deal with. I see Markes spending much of the fight circling and landing stiff leg kicks and punches. Herman would continue to go for takedowns, but Markes strength would be able to keep the fight on the feet. However, if the fight were to hit the ground, the question would shift to whether Herman’s technical grappling would be able to overpower the defenses of the Brazilian and coax a submission. Yet I don’t see Herman being able to get this fight to the mat, so I predict that Markes would be able to earn a unanimous decision.

TJ Dillashaw vs. Alex Caceres

Team Alpha Male standout TJ Dillashaw put on a show as he gave one of the most one-sided three-round beatings we’ve ever seen in the Octagon to Walel Watson. Team Alpha Male is known for fighters that put on an impressive work rate in the cage, and Dillashaw is exactly like his teammates in that respect. The TUF finalist has the potential to shake up the bantamweight division, and even the flyweight division if he has the ability to make that weight.

I would match Dillashaw against other standout TUF alumnus in Alex Caceres. While he wasn’t that big of a factor on the show, Caceres has looked very solid since dropping down from featherweight. While repeated groin shots cost him his last fight, I would get him right back into the cage to see if he’s a serious prospect in the division.

In this bout, I believe Dillashaw would be relentless with his pressure and force the issue by staying in Caceres’s face. “Bruce Leroy” has shown to be susceptible to fatigue during his bouts, and doing so against Dillashaw would put him in severe peril. I see Dillashaw being able to get in close and score takedowns at will while moving into position for ground and pound. This fight would end in the favor of Dillashaw by technical knockout in the second round.

Aaron Simpson vs. Mike Pierce

Aaron Simpson was defeated for the third time in his career and announced that he is considering a drop to the 170 pound division. Simpson had the power and wrestling to stop many people in the middleweight division, where he was expected to be an eventual force, so Simpson at welterweight is an interesting concept. For his first bout in the weight class I would match him against another intriguing wrestler who is a question mark in the division in Mike Pierce.

This fight would place wrestler against wrestler, which eventually breaks down into a standup affair. Simpson has shown the power to rock fighters such as Chris Leben, and that ability would be a problem for Pierce, who doesn’t mind trading blows. I see Simpson rocking him early in the first round, forcing Pierce to attempt a takedown, only to have it stuffed and fall into a bad position where Simpson would be able to finish him. Pierce’s best shot at winning this bout, however, would be circling and counter punching Simpson, who has shown that he doesn’t have the best technique, considering the amount of strikes that he throws. However, if Pierce proved unable to do that, Simpson would win by technical knockout.

UFC on Fuel may not have been a huge Pay-Per-View or Fox card, but it can still be considered a success. Often times we see the small cards turn out to be great shows, and this event was one of them. After this event I’m looking forward to seeing whom the winners and losers are matched against, and if they are featured on more Fuel events, or moved to the bigger shows.

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