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: Chris Cariaso vs. Louis Smolka, UFC Fight Night 40
My pick for the best fight announced this past week is the upcoming flyweight bout between veteran Chris Cariaso and young up-and-comer Louis Smolka, a match that will take place at UFC Fight Night 40 this May in Cincinnati. I think this is an incredible flyweight fight that has the potential to be a “Fight of the Night” candidate at UFC Fight Night 40, and one that could possibly be on the shortlist for “Fight of the Year” when it’s all said and done.
Smolka made his UFC debut against Alptekin Ozkelic at UFC Fight Night 35, and as a big underdog, put on a tremendous outing, showing off an impressive muay Thai attack and winning a decision in a very fun fight. Cariaso, meanwhile, is coming off wins over Iliarde Santos and Danny Martinez, and at 6-3 overall in the Octagon, is arguably the top gatekeeper at 125 pounds.
I said after Smolka’s fight against Ozkelic that he’s my new favorite flyweight, and Cariaso has always been a favorite of mine for his fun-to-watch standup attack, so pitting these two fighters against each other is going to be an absolute treat to watch. This is the perfect fight for both guys at this point of their careers, and UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby deserves kudos for an excellent job of fight fixin’ here.
• Chris Cariaso vs. Louis Smolka
Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.
Worst: Danny Castillo vs. Isaac Vallie-Flagg, UFC 172
My pick for the worst fight announced this past week is the upcoming lightweight bout at UFC 172 between Danny Castillo and Isaac Vallie-Flagg that takes place April in Baltimore. This isn’t necessarily the worst matchup ever, but I’ll explain why I think it’s the worst fight of the week.
At UFC on FOX 9 in December, Castillo took on Edson Barboza in a fight he was supposed to lose. However, despite the odds being stacked against him, Castillo rocked Barboza early on in the fight and clearly won a 10-8 first round before losing the next two 10-9.
Although most observers of the bout scored it a 28-28 draw, only one of the three judges deemed that first round 10-8, and Castillo ended up losing the fight via majority decision.
Based on that bad decision, Barboza earned himself a fight against Donald Cerrone that will take place on the UFC on FOX 11 main card. Castillo, meanwhile, will fight against Vallie-Flagg – who was absolutely dominated by Elias Silverio at UFC Fight Night 35 – on the prelims of UFC 172.
This just shows me that the judges have way too much influence on fighters’ careers, and instead of the UFC doing the right thing and giving Castillo a fight against someone ranked, they’ve decided instead to give him an opponent who is in his mid-thirties and coming off the worst loss of his career.
I don’t get the UFC’s matchmaking sometimes, and I doubt this fight between Castillo and Vallie-Flagg is going to be very competitive. And that’s why it’s my pick for the worst fight announced last week.
• Danny Castillo vs. Isaac Vallie-Flagg
Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.
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UFC Fight Night 40: Brown vs. Silva is due to take place on May 10, 2014 at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC Fight Night 40 will be.
UFC 172: Jones vs. Teixeira is due to take place on April 26, 2014 at Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC 172 will be.
