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: Alex White vs. Clay Collard, UFC 181
My pick for the best new fight announced this past week is the upcoming featherweight fight at UFC 181 between up-and-comers Alex White and Clay Collard. The event, which is headlined by Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler for the UFC welterweight title, takes place December 6 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, and White vs. Collard is expected to take place on the event’s preliminary card.
Right now, UFC 181 looks absolutely stacked, and that’s the only reason White vs. Collard is a prelim bout, because otherwise, it would certainly be on the main card. I mean, look at this card: Lawler vs. Hendricks, Gilbert Melendez vs. Anthony Pettis for the lightweight title, Brendan Schaub vs. Travis Browne in a heavyweight fight, the UFC debut of Holly Holm, and of course the return of popular star Urijah Faber. As to the fight at hand, while neither White or Collard is a big name, both fighters are young and improving rapidly, and best of all, are already extremely exciting strikers who I guarantee will meet in the center of the Octagon and put on a great show for the fans.
White was undefeated before he made his UFC debut earlier this year, and he added to his body count with a first-round KO of Estevan Payan at UFC on FOX 11. He then fought Lucas Martins at UFC Fight Night 45 and was brutally knocked out himself in the third round to take the first loss of his career. However, the fight with Martins was highly entertaining, and until White was knocked out, he was actually quite competitive. In both of White’s UFC fights he’s entertained the crowd, and with his fan-friendly style (as well as the fact that he’s only 25) the UFC will keep him around for a while.
As for Collard, he fought top-ranked Max Holloway on just a week’s notice at UFC Fight Night 49 and put on a hell of a show in what was a terrific fight. I actually thought Collard should have received a Fight of the Night bonus for his war with Holloway, a fight he lost via third-round TKO, but the promotion decided to reward four Performance of the Night winners instead of two POTN winners and one Fight of the Night pair, which they usually do. Still, I thought Collard looked great – his chin held up well, he was extremely aggressive, and his striking looked good – and considering he’s only 21 and took the fight with Holloway on short notice, I think he has a lot of potential in the sport. Sure, his record might not be good at 13-5, but he’s only 21! He’s growing and getting better every fight, and I can’t wait to see his evolution against White.
White vs. Collard is going to be awesome, and its addition to the UFC 181 card makes the event look that much better on paper. Awesome fight.
• Alex White vs. Clay Collard
Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.
Worst: Thiago Santos vs. Andy Enz, UFC 183
My pick for the worst new fight announced this past week is the middleweight bout between Thiago Santos and Andy Enz, which is due to take January 31, 2015, at UFC 183. The event — which takes place in Las Vegas but which has not had a venue announced yet — is headlined by a five-round middleweight bout between Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz, and the bout between Santos and Enz is expected to be placed on the evening’s Fight Pass prelims.
The reason this fight is likely to be the curtain jerker of UFC 183 is because it’s not a very good fight — at all. Although Santos has performed better than expectations in his last two fights, knocking out Ronny Markes and losing a close decision to Uriah Hall, remember, this is the same guy who couldn’t cut it on TUF Brazil 2 and who was submitted in less than a minute in his UFC debut by Cezar Mutante. So yes, while Santos is better than most originally thought he would ever be, he’s still one of the lower-ranked middleweights in the UFC, and not a particularly intriguing fighter to watch.
As for Enz, he’s just not UFC caliber. Not even close. In his first two fights in the UFC, he showed he didn’t belong in the organization with listless losses to Clint Hester and Marcelo Guimaraes, but for some reason the promotion kept him on the roster and is giving him a third crack to get in the win column. I get that Enz is a tough guy and that he fought Hall with a broken arm in the TUF house, but at some point the UFC has to stop giving guys leniency for being “tough” if they don’t have other skills, and aside from being blessed with a strong jaw and a big heart, I’m not really sure what Enz does well.
There’s a lot of fights to be excited for at UFC 183 (Silva vs. Diaz and Jordan Mein vs. Thiago Alves are but two examples) but Santos vs. Enz is not one of them. Expect one of the most uneventful fights announced this past week to be uneventful when it plays out in the cage, and don’t say I didn’t warn you when you’re begging for those 15 minutes of your life back.
• Thiago Santos vs. Andy Enz
Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.
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UFC 181: Hendricks vs. Lawler II (formerly UFC 181: Weidman vs. Belfort) is due to take place on December 6, 2014 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC 181 will be.
UFC 183: Silva vs. Diaz is due to take place on January 31, 2015 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC 183 will be.
