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: Daniel Cormier vs. Dan Henderson, UFC 175
The UFC last week announced that the co-main event for UFC 175 is a three-round light heavyweight bout between Daniel Cormier and Dan Henderson. This is a huge matchup in the 205-pound division because the winner has been promised a title shot, and this clash of light heavyweight studs is my pick for the best new fight announced this past week.
Cormier has looked amazing in mixed martial arts, going undefeated at 14-0 and running through Frank Mir, Roy Nelson, and Patrick Cummins with ease so far in the Octagon, but he really hasn’t had to face any adversity in those fights. Obviously part of that speaks to Cormier’s incredible offensive and defensive abilities, but part of that speaks to the fact that the fighters the UFC has put him in the cage with are either a) on the downside of their careers (Mir and Nelson), or b) not ready for the UFC (Cummins). It’s time to see Cormier tested against a fighter who is battle proven and who is coming off a big win, and that’s Henderson.
Although “Hendo” was given little chance to defeat Shogun Rua at UFC Fight Night 38, the proved the doubters wrong by surviving two early knockdowns to rally in the third round and finish the fight with a brutal knockout blow. The loss snapped Henderson’s three-fight losing streak and repositioned him as one of the top contenders in a severely-shallow 205-pound weight class. It sounds crazy to say, but even after consecutive losses to Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, and Vitor Belfort, Henderson is now just one win away from a title shot.
Do I expect Henderson to win? No, of course not. But I counted him out many times in the past, and he’s come back on many occasions to shock the world, most recently of course against Shogun, but he also did it against Fedor Emelianenko, Rafael Feijao, and Wanderlei Silva. With that massive right hand of his, you can never count “Hendo” out of any fight, and even at 43 years of age I still think he makes for a very interesting opponent and style matchup for Cormier.
I know a lot of fans and media members don’t like this matchup, but I personally think it makes all the sense in the world, and the UFC putting a title shot on the line will make it even more sweeter, as I expect the very best from both men when they step inside the cage this July. I can’t wait.
• Daniel Cormier vs. Dan Henderson
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Worst: Andy Ogle vs. Maximo Blanco, UFC Fight Night 41
My pick for the worst fight announced this past week is the upcoming featherweight bout at UFC Fight Night Berlin between Andy Ogle and Maximo Blanco, a matchup I believe has all sorts of weirdness written all over it, seeing as both men are almost always involved in very strange fights.
In Ogle’s case, his fights have just been very random so far in his UFC tenure. Against Akira Corassani he showed terrific striking power, and yet still lost the decision. Against Josh Grispi he won a decision, showing tremendous submission defence. Against Cole Miller he didn’t do anything for two rounds and lost a clear-cut decision. And against Charles Oliveira he was just plain beaten by a better fighter. It’s just hard to get a read on this guy, and I guess for laughs UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby paired him up with Blanco, who is the definition of an enigma.
Even after all of these years watching Blanco fighting in Sengoku, Strikeforce, and PRIDE, I’m still not sure what to say about him. Yeah, he’s an exciting fighter most of the time, but he also breaks more rules and commits more fouls than perhaps any other fighter on the UFC roster, and it often costs him victories. Blanco’s still relatively young, and I like him , but the guy doesn’t know the rules like a professional should know them, and his fights are very often tricky to gauge because of that.
Perhaps this fight between Ogle and Blanco turns out better than I expect, but I highly doubt it. Instead, look for a very strange matchup between two fighters known for being in strange fights, and while it might be memorable for another Blanco foul, I don’t think it will be a very good fight.
• Andy Ogle vs. Maximo Blanco
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UFC 175: Weidman vs. Machida is due to take place on July 5, 2014 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC 175 will be.
UFC Fight Night 41: Munoz vs. Mousasi is due to take place on May 31, 2014 at the O2 World Berlin in Berlin, Germany.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC Fight Night 41 will be.
