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: Dennis Bermudez vs. Max Holloway, UFC 160
My pick for the best fight announced this past week is the upcoming featherweight bout at UFC 160 between surging prospects Dennis Bermudez and Max Holloway. Both fighters are 3-1 in the UFC and both are currently riding three-fight win streaks, so the winner of this bout will take a huge step up the ladder, while the loser will have to rebuild from scratch. With that pressure in mind, who will come out on top?
It’s a difficult question to answer, as this is a very even match. The 26-year-old Bermudez is one of the most exciting featherweights in the UFC, as he’s racked up two “Fight of the Night” awards and one “Submission of the Night” award in just four appearances inside the Octagon. Bermudez is coming off a split decision win over veteran Matt Grice at UFC 157, a fight that many have labeled “Fight of the Year” so far in 2013 due to its back-and-forth nature, but Bermudez was dropped at multiple points during the fight, and he may be taking this fight with Holloway too soon, considering that fight was in February.
A wrestler by trade, Bermudez has solid standup as well, but his chin is a bit of a question mark, and that’s dangerous considering Holloway is such a potent striker despite being only 21 years old. Holloway recently defeated veteran Leonard Garcia at UFC 155 via split decision to pick up the biggest win of his young career to date, but many observers felt he should have lost the fight, and if he shows up against Bermudez like he did against Garcia, he’ll lose.
One thing to keep in mind with that Garcia fight is that Holloway took it on 10 days’ notice, so he should be much more prepared for this fight considering it takes place on May 25, and that should equal better results inside the cage.
This is an excellent matchup between two surging prospects, and don’t be surprised if it ends up a darkhorse contender for “Fight of the Night” at UFC 160.
Worst: Brian Bowles vs. George Roop, UFC 160
My pick for the worst matchup announced this past week is the upcoming bantamweight fight between Brian Bowles and George Roop, which also takes place at UFC 160. This will be Bowles’ first fight since November 2011, while Roop recently fought and won at UFC 158 in his own return after a year-plus away from the Octagon.
Despite the long layoff, Bowles is the former WEC bantamweight champion for a reason, and that’s because he’s an excellent fighter. Sure, he lost to Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber, but there’s no shame in that. If he’s totally healed from whatever injuries he was dealing with, he should absolutely steamroll Roop, because honestly, this is a mismatch.
I know Roop is an intriguing character in the 135-pound division because he stands 6’1”, but the truth is he’s a very hit-or-miss fighter who is capable of putting on a great performance one fight and a stinker the very next. In his last bout, he barely squeaked by Reuben Duran at UFC 158, and in that fight he was rocked early on and would have been finished if Duran recognized how hurt he was. If Bowles hurts Roop this May, he’s not going to stand around and do nothing like Duran did; he’s going to turn Roop’s lights out.
This is a strange matchup because Bowles is a top 10 bantamweight, and Roop is maybe number 25 in the division. I guess it’s supposed to be a bounce-back fight for Bowles after a long time away, but I don’t really see what it does for him. I would have preferred if Bowles jumped right back into the fire and got matched up with someone in the top 15 like Ivan Menjivar, but the UFC must have some sort of plan for him, and I guess we’ll just have to trust they know what they’re doing because, on paper anyways, this matchup doesn’t excite me, and it seems like it’s destined for the Facebook prelims despite the fact that Bowles is a world-class fighter.
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UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Bigfoot II is due to take place on May 25, 2013 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC 160 will be.
