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: Cat Zingano vs. Amanda Nunes, UFC 178
My pick for the best new fight announced this past week is the upcoming women’s bantamweight bout between Cat Zingano and Amanda Nunes, which is set to take place at UFC 178. That event will take place in Las Vegas on September 27, although as of now there is no confirmed venue. This is an excellent matchup between two of the top 10 female fighters in the UFC, and the winner of the bout will become an instant contender for UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey.
Zingano earned a title shot with her win over Miesha Tate at the TUF 17 Finale last April, but following a major knee injury and the death of her husband Mauricio, Zingano needed time off, and overall she hasn’t fought in a total of 17 months. That’s a long time – not Dominick Cruz territory, but still long. She could have been booked opposite Rousey for her return fight, but coming off that long of a layoff, it makes way more sense to book her in a “tune-up” fight against another top-ranked fighter before she fights the champ Rousey, even if she likely beats 90 percent of the other fighters in the division despite the time off.
That being said, while Zingano will be the favorite over Nunes, she is no lock to win this fight. Nunes, an Invicta FC vet, has looked fantastic in the Octagon, going 2-0, with wins over Sheila Gaff and Germaine de Randamie. She is only 26 years of age, and constantly improving every fight. She looks to play spoiler to Zingano, and if for whatever reason “Alpha” doesn’t look good in her return bout and Nunes gets the upset, the UFC would have another top contender on its hands. So either way, it’s a win-win fight.
This is a good fight and it makes UFC 178 even stronger. Look for it to be a main card bout on the Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson 2-headlined pay-per-view card, and look for the UFC to promote this as a #1 contender’s fight when they do.
• Cat Zingano vs. Amanda Nunes
Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.
Worst: Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Kyle Noke, UFC Fight Night 52
My pick for the worst new fight announced this past week is the upcoming welterweight bout at UFC Fight Night 52 between the returning Yoshihiro Akiyama and Kyle Noke. The bout takes place September 20 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and it’s expected to be on the main card of the Mark Hunt vs. Roy Nelson-headlined event.
This is Akiyama’s first fight in over two-and-a-half years. His last fight was against Jake Shields at UFC 144, which took place in February 2014. Overall, he has lost four fights in a row, and he hasn’t won a fight in the UFC in over five years, against Alan Belcher at UFC 100. He shouldn’t even be on the UFC roster anymore, but he is popular in the international market just like Dan Hardy was, and even with his four-fight losing streak, the UFC has decided to keep him around and give him a winnable fight against Noke.
It’s a winnable fight, but at the same time I don’t think it’s that great of a matchup. No offence to Noke, who is a solid fighter in his own right, but a fight between him and Akiyama just doesn’t excite me. While Akiyama has been on a losing streak, he has almost always put on Fight of the Night candidates. As for Noke, again, he’s had some solid performances, but he’s had them against a much lower caliber of opponents. While Akiyama has been fighting the Vitor Belforts and Michael Bispings of the world, Noke has been fighting the Charlie Brennemans and Chris Camozzis. So even though he still has a better UFC record than Akiyama, it seems like he’s getting a higher-profile matchup than he deserves based on his record.
The fight may be fun since most of Akiyama’s fights are, but for whatever reason I just don’t dig this fight, and I think the UFC should have matched up Akiyama with someone better. But considering the way they have used him in the last five years, this fight booking doesn’t surprise me at all.
• Kyle Noke vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.
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UFC 178: Johnson vs. Cariaso (formerly UFC 178: Jones vs. Cormier, UFC 178: Jones vs. Gustafsson II) is due to take place on September 27, 2014 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC 178 will be.
UFC Fight Night 52: Hunt vs. Nelson is due to take place on September 20, 2014 at the Saitama Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC Fight Night 52 will be.
