First and Worst: Week of May 26 – June 1, 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: Matt Brown vs. Robbie Lawler, UFC on FOX 12

My choice for the best fight announced last week was easy to pick – it’s clearly the five-round welterweight bout at UFC on FOX 12 between surging contenders Matt Brown and Robbie Lawler, which takes place July 26 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.

This is, quite simply, an incredible fight on paper, and with the way these guys always fight, there’s absolutely no way this bout could be boring. Lawler and Brown are two of the most exciting and violent fighters in the entire sport, and when they meet in the cage this summer with a title shot on the line, I expect nothing less than a “Fight of the Year” candidate.

Although both of these men were counted out by the fans, media, and even the organization just as recently as the beginning of last year, both have been on an incredible tear over the last 18 months or so. And now, with Brown having won seven in a row and with Lawler having won four of five inside the Octagon, they will meet inside the cage with a chance to fight UFC Welterweight Champion Johny Hendricks as the prize for the victor.

Both fighters are finishers, both guys are veterans of the sport, and both men are still improving their games despite being in their thirties. I think both men are right in the primes of their careers right now, and I don’t think the UFC could have made a more intriguing matchup for a title eliminator in the welterweight division

There are some great fights coming up, but Brown vs. Lawler is the one I anticipate the most out of all of them, and I absolutely cannot wait for this scrap to go down this summer in Cali, because it’s going to be a war.

UFC on Fox 12

• Robbie Lawler vs. Matt Brown

Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.

Worst: Gunnar Nelson vs. Zak Cummings, UFC Fight Night 46

My pick for the worst new fight announced this past week is the welterweight bout between Gunnar Nelson and Zak Cummings, which is scheduled to take place July 19 at at UFC Fight Night 46 at The O2 in Dublin, Ireland. Nelson was originally set to fight fellow prospect Ryan LaFlare, but an injury to the New York native forced him out of the fight and the UFC replaced him with Cummings, who was originally targeted for a bout against Kenny Robertson at UFC Fight Night 45.

Nelson vs. Cummings isn’t the worst fight ever announced by the UFC, but considering how exciting Nelson vs. LaFlare could have been, I’m a little disappointed this is the replacement bout. With all due respect to Robertson, there’s a reason why Cummings was originally set to fight him and not Nelson, and that’s because Nelson is ready to break through into the top 15, while Cummings is nowhere near that.

I really believe that Nelson, who is 3-0 in the UFC, is ready to fight someone near the top 10 of the division, as he’s been nothing but dominant in his UFC career thus far, and beating Cummings doesn’t really prove much. Although Cummings is an improved fighter, he’s not even close to as talented as Nelson is, and I don’t think this is the right test for the young Icelander at this point in time. LaFlare was, and I know the UFC tried to make that matchup before he got hurt, but surely there was someone else who was a better choice for Nelson’s opponent than Cummings, who is lucky to even be in the UFC still, following a weight-cutting mishap at UFC China earlier this year.

I don’t blame Cummings for accepting this fight, as it’s a big opportunity for him to knock off a young prospect and move up the ladder, but I really believe there were better fights out there for Nelson, and I wish UFC matchmaker Joe Silva looked a bit harder for a replacement opponent for him. But hey, I guess you never know until the two fighters step into the cage.