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: Hyun Gyu Lim vs. Tarec Saffiedine, UFC Fight Night 34
My pick for the best new fight announced this past week is the new five-round main event of UFC Fight Night 34, a welterweight matchup between rising star Hyun Gyu Lim and former Strikeforce welterweight champion Tarec Saffiedine. I’ve seen a lot of people complain about this fight on Twitter, but I believe they are dead wrong about it, as I actually believe this is a better fight than the original main event that paired up Jake Ellenberger (hamstring inury) and Saffiedine. Much better, actually.
The thing that makes it better for me is the fact Lim is so unknown, so raw, and so talented. With Ellenberger, we know what we are getting – a top wrestler with heavy hands – but with Lim, we’re getting something very different, a fighter who can finish fights using any of his (pardon the pun) limbs at the blink of an eyelid, as he’s knocked out both his UFC opponents so far with knee strikes.
I hated Lim’s original fight booking at the Singapore card against Kiichi Kunimoto, because it made absolutely no sense to pair up a UFC newcomer with a fighter on a serious win streak like Lim. So when I found out Lim was replacing Ellenberger, I was pleasantly surprised, although I know many people were looking forward to that Ellenberger/Saffiedine tilt.
Although it’s not a ‘name’ headliner, I expect Lim vs. Saffiedine to be a tremendous fight, and I’m very much looking forward to watching it. Sadly, however, I can’t say the same for the rest of the Singapore card, but hey, you can’t have everything you want in life.
Hyun Gyu Lim vs. Tarec Saffiedine
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Worst: Charles Oliveira vs. Andy Ogle, UFC Fight Night 36
My pick for the worst new fight announced this past week is the upcoming featherweight bout at UFC Fight Night 36 between Charles Oliveira and Andy Ogle, a fight that is clearly designed to get Oliveira back on the winning track.
I really despise when obvious mismatches like this are made, and for some reason Ogle keeps getting himself booked for them, first with a summer fight against Conor McGregor (that was later cancelled due to an Ogle ‘injury’), and now this fight against Oliveira.
Although Ogle is a tough guy, Oliveira is one of the most naturally-gifted athletes in the UFC and the one aspect of his game that he’s best at – submissions – is arguably Ogle’s biggest weakness. So when the betting line for this fight opens up, I’m definitely expecting Oliveira to come in as a -500 favorite, or possibly even more.
There is always that outside chance that Ogle catches Oliveira’s chin and that he knocks him out, but if that did happen, I believe it would be the definition of a lucky punch, because on paper, there should be no way that Ogle can even come close to winning this fight.
Again, we’ve seen upsets happen before, but in this particular fight I highly doubt that’s the case, and instead of feeding Ogle to the wolves here in Oliveira, I’d rather “Do Bronx” got matched up with a better fighter so the fans got a legit fight and not just some mismatch in order to get the better of two prospects back on his winning ways.
Charles Oliveira vs. Andy Ogle
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