First and Worst: Week of April 21 – April 27, 2014

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: Andrei Arlovski vs. Brendan Schaub, UFC 174

My pick for the best new fight announced this past month is the upcoming heavyweight bout at UFC 174 between former UFC heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski and the ever-improving Brendan Schaub. The fight booking came out of nowhere this past week, as it was widely expected that Schaub was going to fight Mark Hunt, but instead the UFC decided to sign Arlovski back to the promotion, and its matchmakers are giving him an interesting opponent in Schaub.

I think this is a very fair matchup on paper and I believe it has the potential to feature a devastating finish, as both men, despite being known for their knockout power, are also known for having weak chins, so putting them in the cage with one another makes for a very intriguing fight. Not only that, but even though Schaub’s ground game has looked great as of late, Arlovski has a solid ground game as well. If he can nullify Schaub on the ground and keep the fight standing, it’s possible he is the better striker and could knock Schaub out cold.

There was some giggling from some media and fans at the news that the UFC re-signed Arlovski, but I think it’s a good signing and I think Schaub is the perfect fight for him. I’m looking forward to this fight quite a bit, and it just made UFC 174 that much better on paper.

UFC 174

• Andrei Arlovski vs. Brendan Schaub

Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.

Worst: Chris Camozzi vs. Bruno Santos, UFC 175

My pick for the worst new fight announced this past week is the upcoming middleweight bout at UFC 175 between Chris Camozzi and Bruno Santos. A TUF 11 vet, Camozzi was recently scratched from UFC Fight Night 40 at the last second due to an illness to opponent Andrew Craig, while Santos hasn’t fought since losing a decision to Krzysztof Jotko in his promotional debut last December at UFC Fight Night 33.

I understand Camozzi and Santos are both coming off of losses, but I really don’t understand Joe Silva’s thought process for this one. While Camozzi has shown a penchant for exciting stand-up fights, Santos is essentially a grinder, and his fights usually lack excitement. So for the UFC to put Camozzi in this fight and waste his ability to brawl against high-level strikers, I just don’t get it.

The thing that really confuses me about this booking is that the UFC decided to break up the Camozzi and Craig pairing. I really wanted to see that fight and so did a lot of fans, but instead of matching them up again, Camozzi gets Santos and Craig is fighting Cezar Mutante. I have no idea why the UFC decided to switch the matchups, but I much preferred Camozzi vs. Craig to Camozzi vs. Santos and Mutante vs. Craig.

It’s possible Camozzi vs. Santos is better than I think it will be, but I have a feeling we’re in for a grind, and the UFC is wasting Camozzi’s best attribute – his chin – by booking this seemingly random fight.