Since its announcement, UFC on Fox 9 has been a highly-anticipated card for a multitude of reasons. Team Alpha Male will be heavily represented, and there are many other interesting fights on the card. However, amidst the excitement, the UFC’s signing of Zach Makovsky has flown under the radar in the MMA world. Mainstream fans may not know him, but the two-time champion signing represents a key addition to the promotion’s flyweight division.
Zach “Fun Size” Makovsky was a prominent name in the bantamweight division years before coming over to Zuffa as a member of the flyweight division. The Philadelphia native has competed for such organizations as Bellator and EliteXCbefore making his appearance in the Octagon this weekend.
His most prominent run would occur from 2010 to 2011, when he would win eight straight fights. In Bellator MMA, he became the first man to capture the promotion’s bantamweight title when he defeated Ed West in 2010. Even though he would win two fights after that tournament, he dropped the title in his first official defense to current champion Eduardo Dantas. A few months later he would suffer his second straight to defeat, to Anthony Leone, and he ended up jettisoned from the promotion. Makovsky is currently riding a two-fight win streak after joining the 125-pound weight class to revitalize his career. And just last month, he defeated Matt Manzanares for the RFA flyweight title.
Stepping in on short notice to be Scott Jorgensen‘s opponent for his debut at 125 is an interesting way for Makovsky to make his UFC debut. While he will be the underdog going into this fight, he has the style to make this a tough bout for “Young Guns.”
After cutting his chops as a wrestler for Drexel University, Makovsky would be introduced to the world of grappling and MMA through a friendship with Eddie Alvarez. And he’s accrued a record of 16-4 by staying true to those roots, using a grinding fighting style where he grounds and controls position against his opponents. While he’s earned 9 decision victories in seven years of professional experience, he has also shown the ability to stop a fight on occasion.
He’s facing an opponent in Jorgensen who fights a very similar style. However, Jorgensen is known for engaging in striking exchanges, then using his wrestling in a defensive nature when forced. Makovsky is more apt to look for takedowns, and if he can score with them in this fight it will be hard for Jorgensen to find a way back to his feet. However, Jorgensen has the better resume as a wrestler, so that doesn’t mean it will be easy to score a takedown at any point in this fight. Still, the way these two match up should make this fight a lot closer than expected in the betting lines at this point in time.
UFC on Fox 9 has a number of reasons to watch from start to finish. One of them is this preliminary bout between Zach Makovsky and Scott Jorgensen at flyweight, a can’t miss fight that should build some interest in the 125-pound weight class.
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UFC on Fox 9 is due to take place on December 14, 2013 at the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, California.
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