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: Jake Shields vs. Demian Maia, UFC Fight Night 29
My pick for the best fight announced this past week is the upcoming welterweight bout between standout grapplers Jake Shields and Demian Maia, a bout that is the five-round main event of October’s UFC Fight Night 29.
This is excellent matchup on paper between two of the best BJJ practitioners in the world, and it’s been a fight that fans have been asking for for years. Well, it’s finally here, and I think it will turn out to be a brilliant chess match when it goes down this fall.
Although Maia was recently tapped to fight Josh Koscheck at UFC 163, that fight made no sense, as Maia has been surging at 170 and Koscheck was coming off two straight losses. Shields, however, is coming off a big win (albeit a controversial one) over Tyron Woodley, so it made a lot of sense to match him up with Maia at this point in time.
This is the perfect main event for a Brazilian fight card, and I can’t wait for it to go down and to see who comes out on top.
• Demian Maia vs. Jake Shields
Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.
Worst: Felipe Arantes vs. Edimilson Souza, UFC Fight Night 28
My pick for the worst fight announced this past week is the upcoming featherweight bout between Felipe Arantes and Edimilson “Kevin” Souza, a fight that takes place at UFC Fight Night 28 in September. The fight is a late addition to the card due to injuries, but it’s a fight that I believe makes no sense.
Having never seen him fight, I can’t vouch for Souza’s skills, although if the UFC signed him he must be pretty talented. But what I do know, however, is that Arantes is quietly 2-1-1 in the UFC, with the only loss coming to top bantamweight contender Yuri Alcantara, and the draw being a bogus judges’ ripoff, and that in my opinion should have meant a better opponent for him.
I’m especially puzzled by this matchup because Arantes is coming off his best performance ever inside the Octagon, a TKO win over Godofredo “Pepey” Castro at UFC on FX 8. The UFC had actually originally booked Pepey vs. Souza, but after Pepey got hurt they called on Arantes to fill the spot, which shows this is just a filler fight for him and nothing more, since presumably he was higher up the ranks than Castro, and was due for a better opponent.
Expect a good performance by Arantes against Souza, but don’t go too crazy when it does happen, because this really does look like yet again another typical Brazilian card mismatch.
• Felipe Arantes vs. Edimilson Souza
Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.
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UFC Fight Night 29: Maia vs. Shields is due to take place on October 9, 2013 at the Ginasio Poliesportivo Jose Correa in Barueri, Brazil.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC Fight Night 29 will be.
UFC Fight Night 28: Teixeira vs. Bader is due to take place on September 4, 2013 at the Estadio Jornalista Felipe Drumond in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC Fight Night 28 will be.
