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: Jessica Eye vs. Sarah Kaufman, UFC 166
My pick for the best fight announced this past week is the upcoming women’s bantamweight match between Top-10-ranked Sarah Kaufman and Jessica Eye, which takes place at UFC 166 this October in Houston, TX.
I love this fight, as it’s a matchup between two of the best female fighters in the sport regardless of weight class, and I expect it to be in contention for “Fight of the Night” at the stacked UFC 166 event.
Kaufman is the former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion and she will be making her debut against Eye after a successful short stint in Invicta. She had originally been set to fight Sara McMann at UFC Fight Night 27, but after McMann withdrew for undisclosed reasons, she has instead been booked against Eye, who was released by Bellator last week, and who signed with the UFC immediately.
If you haven’t seen Eye fight, the only thing I can say is that she is as strong as an ox, and you can see just how much if you watch her fight at Bellator 83 against Zoila Gurgel, a fight Eye won via standing arm-triangle choke.
This is a great fight ,and the UFC made a good decision to shift Francisco Rivera vs. George Roop off this card to make room for Kaufman vs. Eye, as the UFC is going to have a lot of eyeballs on them at UFC 166, and what better way to show off than putting a great fight between two tough and talented women on the card?
• Sarah Kaufman vs. Jessica Eye
Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.
Worst: Andrew Craig vs. Luke Barnatt, UFC Manchester
My pick for the worst fight announced this past week is the upcoming middleweight bout between Andrew Craig and Luke Barnatt, which takes place this October at UFC Fight Night 30 in Manchester.
It’s my pick for the worst fight announced because the fight makes little sense. Craig is 3-1 thus far in the UFC, with wins over veterans Chris Leben, Kyle Noke, and Rafael Natal, and his only loss came to Ronny Markes, who is still undefeated in his MMA career. Barnatt, meanwhile, has only one UFC fight.
After defeating Leben in his last outing at UFC 162, the 27-year-old Craig deserved a step up in competition, perhaps against someone with a few UFC fights under their belt, such as Chris Camozzi, and not against a fighter such as Barnatt, a TUF 17 alum who won a screwy decision over Collin Hart at the finale.
Barnatt is lucky to be in the UFC right now, considering the promotion let go of Hart, and he’s done nothing to draw a fighter of Craig’s ilk, at least not just yet. Instead, the UFC is giving him the opportunity to move way up the ladder, while at the same time seemingly giving Craig a step backwards.
Perhaps the UFC expected better things from Craig against Leben, as he barely squeezed out a split decision in that one, but either way that was a big win for him on his record, and he should have gotten a ranked opponent because of it, and not a bubble guy like Barnatt.
• Andrew Craig vs. Luke Barnatt
Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.
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UFC 166: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos III is due to take place on October 19, 2013 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC 166 will be.
UFC Fight Night 30: Machida vs. Munoz is due to take place on October 26, 2013 at Phones 4u Arena in Manchester, England.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC Fight Night 30 will be.
