First and Worst: Week of December 2 – December 8, 2013

By Adam Martin

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: Eddie Wineland vs. Yves Jabouin, UFC on Fox 10

My pick for the best new fight announced this past week is the upcoming bantamweight battle at UFC on Fox 10 between top strikers Eddie Wineland and Yves Jabouin, a matchup I believe is destined to provide fireworks for the fans.

Although Jabouin is coming off a win and Wineland is coming off a loss, consider that Wineland lost to current UFC interim bantamweight champ Renan Barao. That’s not a bad loss to have at all, and so it make sense for Sean Shelby to match him up with Jabouin, another striker, and one who is coming off a very contentious split decision win over Dustin Pague at UFC 161.

I just think that when you throw two strikers as talented as these two guys in the cage with one another, it’s the fans who end up winning, and I fully expect there to be a brutal knockout in this fight one way or the other.

I’m looking forward to this matchup quite a bit, and the only thing that would make it even more anticipated for me is if it was kicking off the UFC on FOX 10 main card, but the UFC elected for this to be the main event of the prelims instead. Still, I expect a great standup fight, and I think Shelby did well here.

UFC on Fox 10

Eddie Wineland vs. Yves Jabouin

Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.

Worst: Mike Rio vs. Daron Cruickshank, UFC on Fox 10

My pick for the worst new fight announced this past week is the upcoming lightweight tilt at UFC on Fox 10 between Mike Rio and Daron Cruickshank, a fight between TUF 15 vets which is really between two of the lower-ranked guys at 155 pounds.

I’m assuming this is going to be a “loser leaves town match,” as Rio is only 1-2 inside the UFC, and Cruickshank is 1-2 over his last three fights. To be honest, I’m surprised the UFC is even giving Rio another shot in the Octagon after two straight submission losses, and for his sake he better make the most of it.

I think my biggest problem with the fight is that both guys just looked so bad in their last fights that I just can’t see how they’d improve so much over the course of the next month to actually make this fight entertaining. Sure, Cruickshank is a solid striker, but if Rio can take him down like many expect he’ll be able to, it’s likely we will have a boring three-round grinder on our hands.

I like Cruickshank, but I feel like the UFC should have matched him up with another striker instead of a grappler. We’ll see what happens in January when these two square off, and hopefully my low expectations pay off, but I really don’t think this fight is going to be any good, and I think it’s just taking a spot away from two other more deserving fighters for the next FOX card.

UFC on Fox 10