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: Gegard Mousasi vs. Lyoto Machida
My pick for the best fight announced this past week is the upcoming middleweight matchup between Gegard Mousasi and Lyoto Machida. The fight will be a five-rounder headlining a yet-to-be-named event on Fox Sports 2 next February in Brazil, and I expect it to be a hell of a fight when it happens.
In my opinion these are two of the very best strikers in all of mixed martial arts, so to put them in the same cage together is just asking to create magic. Yes, neither man is the most active fighter in the world, but they are the most technical and most skilled, and if they both come to fight, this should be a real treat for the fans, as both are capable of pulling off a highlight-reel KO at a split second.
The reason I think both men aren’t going to screw around here is that they both know a middleweight title shot is likely on the docket for the winner. There really is no clear-cut #1 contender poised to fight the winner of UFC 168’s Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva II, so considering this fight happens about five weeks later, it’s very possible the winner snags that elusive crack at gold.
With their respective drops down to 185, both Mousasi and Machida have a chance to restart their careers in a new division, and if the winner can shine in impressive fashion, he will no doubt earn the opportunity to prove he is #1 in the whole world. And the winner might just be – but we’ll have to wait until next summer or so to find out.
Worst: Rampage Jackson vs. Joey Beltran
My pick for the worst fight announced this past week is the upcoming catchweight bout at Bellator 108 between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Viacom’s latest UFC washout signing, Joey Beltran.
Obviously Bellator was in a tough spot when Tito Ortiz got injured and pulled out of the fight against Rampage, but I don’t understand why Beltran was the first guy to get called on when they needed a replacement.
For starters, Beltran wasn’t even in Bellator last week. Instead of giving Rampage a fight against a home-grown Bellator light heavyweight like Mikhail Zayats or Christian M’Pumbu, the promotion signed a guy who was just cut by the UFC two weeks ago, and was suspended for PED use within the past 12 months.
I know Beltran is a brawler with a good chin, but he is not in Rampage’s class, and it’s pretty sad that Bellator couldn’t find their prized free agent acquisition a better opponent than a guy who is 2-6 with 1 No Contest (a win overruled after he tested positive for PEDs) over his last nine fights.
I’m not counting Beltran out here, as Rampage has looked poor his last few fights, but on paper this fight makes absolutely zero sense, and I really hope Bellator can find some better 205-pound talent in the future.
By the way, what happened to the organization not signing UFC fighters coming off of losses?
