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: Edson Barboza vs. Michael Johnson, UFC Fight Night 61
My pick for the best new fight announced this past week is the upcoming lightweight bout at UFC Fight Night 61 between Edson Barboza and Michael Johnson. The card takes place February 22 at Ginasio Gigantinho in Porto Algere, Brazil, and Barboza vs. Johnson will be the co-main event of the event, underneath the headliner pitting former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans against Brazilian fan favorite Glover Teixeira.
This is great matchmaking on Joe Silva’s part because not only is this an exciting fight as far as styles go, it’s also a fight that makes sense as far as the rankings go, because both Barboza and Johnson are ranked in the top 15, and both men could potentially be fighting for a title with a few more victories. With Barboza, he’s coming off of the two straight dominant wins over Evan Dunham and Bobby Green that launched him into the top 10, while for Johnson this will be his first fight in nearly a year since defeating Melvin Guillard, which earned him a spot in the division’s top 15.
I like this fight because it’s likely to stay standing, and both men are going to trade leather and hurt each other for the fans’ delight. Johnson is more of a boxer with knockout power, while Barboza is more of a kicker who throws a high volume. If Barboza can avoid getting punched right in the chin, he can certainly win this fight with his leg kicking ability, but if Johnson can clip him right on the button, we’ve seen time and time again that Barboza doesn’t have the most sturdy beard, so this fight is really interesting from a style point of view.
But what I really like about this fight is that it’s going to determine which of these two talented yet inconsistent fighters is a true contender. Both men have been improving for a few years now, but both men have had letdown spots in their past. So it’s a good opportunity to determine which one of these men is on the path to the title, and which one isn’t. It’s just a very good fight overall, and I can’t wait to see it in February.
• Edson Barboza vs. Michael Johnson
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Worst: Ivan Jorge vs. Josh Shockley, UFC Fight Night 61
My pick for the worst new fight announced this past week is the upcoming lightweight bout at UFC Fight Night 61 between Ivan Jorge and Josh Shockley. While this week’s best new fight announcement, Barboza vs. Johnson, is a clash of elite lightweights, this bout between Jorge and Shockley is a battle of bottom feeders looking to save their jobs with the UFC.
Jorge has fought twice in the Octagon, going 1-1 with a decision win over Keith Wisniewski and a decision loss to Rodrigo Damm. Both fights were very boring to watch, and he didn’t show many skills in either fight to show me that he can hang with other lightweights in the UFC. Jorge is a tough guy and fairly well-rounded, but he doesn’t really do anything special, and that will hurt him as he steps up in competition.
Fortunately for Jorge, he’s getting a very favorable matchup here in Shockley, who looked atrocious in his UFC debut, getting TKO’d by Jason Saggo at UFC 174. Shockley had some hype coming into the UFC, but he looked like a regional show fighter and not a UFC caliber fighter at all. I guess you have to figure he had Octagon jitters in his debut, but seriously, his performance against Saggo was one of the weakest showings by a UFC fighter on any card all year long.
I’m really not expecting much from either Jorge or Shockley in this fight. I think this is going to be a very boring matchup for the fans, and it’s a fight whose sole purpose is to determine which fighter gets his UFC contract terminated, and which one will get another fight before he is put in the same must-win situation. Just a very uninspiring matchup overall.
• Ivan Jorge vs. Josh Shockley
Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.
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UFC Fight Night 61: Mir vs. Bigfoot (formerly UFC Fight Night 61: Evans vs. Teixeira) is due to take place on February 22, 2015 at Gigantinho Gymnasium in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC Fight Night 61 will be.
We've got a clear frontrunner for "worst fight" next week with the ridiculous pairing of Iuri Alcantara and Frankie Saenz?!!! I mean, seriously, WTF??