First and Worst: Week of February 2 – February 8, 2015

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: Takeya Mizugaki vs. Aljamain Sterling, UFC on FOX 15

My pick for the best new fight announced this past week is the upcoming bantamweight contest between veteran Takeya Mizugaki and rising star Aljamain Sterling, which is set to take place April 18 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Mizugaki is an injury replacement for Manny Gamburyan, and in my opinion this is a much better fight.

I really detested the Gamburyan vs. Sterling bout, as I believed it would have been a blowout in Sterling’s favor. The 25-year-old Sterling has looked nothing short of exceptional in his UFC career to date, defeating Cody Gibson and Hugo Viana with reckless abandon in his first two fights. He looks like he has all the tools to be a future bantamweight champion, and despite his young age, I wanted the UFC to put him on the fast track, which is why I was so disappointed in the Gamburyan matchup. But it’s why I like this fight with Mizugaki so much.

Yes, Mizugaki is coming off of a TKO loss to Dominick Cruz, but so what? That’s Cruz, arguably the best bantamweight fighter in the history of the division. Losing to Cruz doesn’t mean anything and doesn’t show that Mizugaki is on the decline at all. The guy is one of the top 10 fighters in the division, and has been for a long time. And he makes a great test to see just exactly where Sterling is at this point in time.

I think this is the fight where Sterling breaks out, but it’s not a lock, as Mizugaki is obviously a tremendous fighter in his own right. But it’s the right test at the right time for both men. For Mizugaki, it’s a chance to prove he still can compete with the young rising stars in the division. And for Sterling, it’s his shot to break into the top 10 of the division. This is a great fight on paper, and should play out wonderfully in the cage. I can’t wait to see it go down this spring.

UFC on Fox 15

• Aljamain Sterling vs. Takeya Mizugaki

Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.

Worst: Anthony Hamilton vs. Daniel Omielanczuk, UFC Fight Night 64

My pick for the worst new fight announced this past week is the upcoming heavyweight bout at UFC Fight Night 64 between bottom feeders Anthony Hamilton and Daniel Omielanczuk, which is set to take place April 11 at Krakow Arena in Krakow, Poland. With both men coming off of one-sided losses, it’s very likely the loser of this contest will receive his walking papers from the promotion.

This is barely a UFC-caliber fight, if you ask me. Hamilton is 1-2 in the UFC overall and has shown absolutely nothing, aside from pounding out the worst heavyweight on the roster, Ruan Potts, with body shots at UFC 177. He was submitted in his UFC debut by Oleksiy Oliynyk, and after beating Potts, was brutally knocked out by Todd Duffee in 33 seconds at UFC 181. At 34 years of age, Hamilton doesn’t have much time left to make a run in the UFC, and at his age it’s hard to see him improving much more. Sure, he can beat Potts, but that’s not saying much of anything, and as far as I’m concerned, he needs to beat Omielanczuk to save his job.

As for Omielanczuk, he will be fighting in his native country of Poland for this bout, a fight which is most definitely a must win for him. With a 1-1 record in the UFC and at 32 years of age, Omielanczuk has shown nothing to indicate he can be any sort of contender in the UFC heavyweight division. Sure, he knocked out Nandor Guelmino in his UFC debut at UFC 165, but it was late in the third round, and it only came after losing the first two rounds of the fight. He then fought Jared Rosholt in his next outing, but despite having a striking edge, was grounded out for three rounds en route to a clear-cut decision loss. He’s shown he simply does not have the wrestling to compete with even the mid-tier heavyweights in the UFC, and he absolutely needs to beat Hamilton to save his job.

I know the heavyweight division is shallow, but these two fighters are barely clinging to their respective spots on the roster. We might see a finish in this fight, but what does it mean? Not much, if you ask me, and I think it’s only a matter of time before both men are eventually released from their deals. Bellator, here they come.