First and Worst: Week of January 28 to February 3, 2013

By Adam Martin

First and Worst is an ongoing series for MMARatings.net, where every week Adam will make his pick for the best and worst newly-announced fight of the past week (Monday to Sunday). If you’d like to see any additions to this series, hit him up on Twitter @MMAdamMartin.

First: Nate Diaz vs. Josh Thomson, UFC on FOX 7

The best fight announced this past week is undoubtedly Nate Diaz vs. Josh Thomson, a battle of perennial lightweight contenders that takes
place at UFC on FOX 7. Both Diaz and Thomson are extremely exciting fighters
who always leave it all in the cage, so this is exactly the type of fight the
UFC needs to open their next big FOX event with.

Diaz is coming off a listless decision loss to Benson Henderson
at UFC on FOX 5 where he was taken down and controlled for 25 minutes by the
UFC lightweight champion. After earning his chance to fight for gold with wins
over Takanori Gomi, Donald Cerrone, and Jim Miller, Diaz folded when the
spotlight was put on him and he wants another crack at the belt to prove he
just had an off night.

Conversely, Thomson also wants a crack at the UFC lightweight
title. The former Strikeforce lightweight champion Thomson’s last outing came
last May when he lost a razor-thin split decision to Gilbert Melendez in a
fight that many (including myself) believe he won. Strikeforce folded, of
course, so Thomson will never get a chance to fight for that strap anymore, but
with a win over Diaz he could potentially be fighting for an even more
prestigious title.

Thomson fought in the UFC many moons ago and racked up two wins
before fighting Yves Edwards at UFC 49 in a fight to determine the uncrowned
champion of the lightweight division (there was no belt at the time). In one of
the most memorable moments in UFC history, Thomson, after controlling Edwards
in the early going of the bout, was knocked out cold by a flying head kick.
That was the last time he fought in the UFC, and there’s no doubt it still
leaves a bitter taste in his mouth to this very day.

There’s no way this fight can be bad, and I fully expect Diaz
vs. Thomson to be awarded the “Fight of the Night” at UFC on FOX 7.

Worst: Michael Bisping vs. Alan Belcher, UFC 159

I’ve seen a lot of people this past week get very excited over
the booking of Michael Bisping vs. Alan Belcher at UFC 159. Both fighters were
close to a UFC middleweight title shot only to lose in their last respective
appearance, so it was easy matchmaking by Joe Silva to pair them together,
especially since the two traded barbs on Twitter and in interviews while both
were making a run up the ladder.

On paper, it’s a fun fight between two middleweight contenders,
and it should be exciting. But this bout between two fighters coming off losses
is not co-main event worthy to UFC 159’s headliner of Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen, and that’s my biggest issue with it.

To me, this feels like UFC 151 all over again, and no, that’s
not a good thing.

If you recall, back in August of 2012, Dan Henderson pulled out
of a fight with Jones not even two weeks before UFC 151 was set to take place.
The UFC tried to get Sonnen to fill in, but when Jones refused to fight him on
short notice the entire event was put on thin ice. And when the UFC realized
that Josh Koscheck vs. Jake Ellenberger – which had been scheduled as the
co-main event—wouldn’t draw flies on pay-per-view as the main event, the
promotion decided to cancel the entire show.

Now, imagine if Jones or Sonnen gets hurt before UFC 159. Do
you then elevate Bisping vs. Belcher to the main event slot?

It’s a question we have to ask, even though it sucks to even
consider the possibility, only because this is something that’s already
happened once in the last six months. If the nightmare scenario of UFC 151 was
to occur at UFC 159, I think the UFC would go ahead with Bisping vs. Belcher as
the main event, and I think a lot of people would be very unhappy if that
happened.

My impression is that the UFC wanted to book New Jersey native
Jim Miller vs. Eddie Alvarez as the co-main event (the fight takes place in
NJ), but when Alvarez’ contract was matched by Bellator and he was put in a holding
pattern, the promotion matched Miller up with Pat Healy instead. I think that’s
when the decision was made to promote Bisping vs. Belcher as the co-main event,
because while it’s an awesome third fight on a card, it’s not a co-main event,
especially with Bisping coming off that nasty head kick loss to Vitor Belfort
at UFC on FX 7.

I really hope UFC 159 goes down as planned, but if something
bad happens, the UFC can’t say they weren’t warned. They’re playing with fire
again, and we’ll see if it burns them again just like it did last summer.

**********