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: Sam Alvey vs. Dan Kelly, UFC Fight Night 65
My pick for the best new fight announced this past week is the upcoming middleweight bout at UFC Fight Night 65 between Sam Alvey and Dan Kelly. Alvey called out Kelly after his recent knockout win over Cezar Ferreira, and the UFC obliged by matching them up for a bout May 10 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre in Adelaide, Australia, Kelly’s home country.
I’ll be honest, it was slim pickings for this award this week, and basically Alvey vs. Kelly gets it by default because the other fights announced this past week – Josh Koscheck vs. Erick Silva, Luke Barnatt vs. Mark Munoz, and Royston Wee vs. Ning Guangyou – are all pretty terrible, as far as I’m concerned. So I know that’s no ringing endorsement for Alvey vs. Kelly, but I still do like this fight.
The reason I like it is because Alvey and Kelly are both scrappy dudes who will stand in the pocket and trade leather, and who doesn’t like that? Alvey is 2-1 in the UFC with two brutal knockout wins over Ferreira and Dylan Andrews and an entertaining decision loss to Tom Watson, while Kelly is 2-0 with a submission win over Luke Zachrich and a decision win over Patrick Walsh. While Kelly’s fight with Walsh was hard to watch, I blame his opponent for that more so than Kelly, so I’m giving him a pass for it based on the fact his prior fights have been, for the most part, very entertaining.
And speaking of entertaining, that’s what Alvey does. He’s one of those guys who just bites down on his mouthpiece and swings for the fences, and he more often than not gets the knockout finish. I don’t think Alvey is going to win the middleweight title anytime soon or anything like that, but I do enjoy watching the guy fight, and while I’m a bit surprised he called out Kelly, I guess I can understand it since Kelly is an undefeated fighter, and Alvey I’m sure would love to knock that 0 off his record.
This is going to be a pretty solid middleweight scrap. I’m expecting a standup battle between these two that could be pretty exciting, and in a week where the other fights announced were lackluster, I have to give this props for at least being somewhat of a good matchup.
• Sam Alvey vs. Daniel Kelly
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Worst: Luke Barnatt vs. Mark Munoz, UFC Fight Night 66
My pick for the worst new fight announced this past week is the upcoming middleweight bout at UFC Fight Night 66 between Luke Barnatt and Mark Munoz. The card takes place May 16 at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Philippines, and it’s likely going to take place on the main card because of Munoz’ Filipino heritage.
The reason I don’t like this fight is because, plain and simple, Munoz should not be fighting anymore. He’s lost his last three fights by stoppage, all in the first round, and he has just one win in the Octagon in over three years, his win over Tim Boetsch at UFC 162. I know Munoz is a nice guy and is highly respected by the MMA community, but at 37 years of age, and considering how terrible he’s looked as of late, I have no idea why he’s still fighting.
I get that he wants to fight in the Philippines, but considering how bad he looked against Roan Carneiro at UFC 184, I wish he would have just retired instead. I know it’s important for Munoz to fight in his native land, but his health is also important, and at this point of his career I believe he is risking his health for money and the chance to fulfill a dream, and I don’t know if I agree with it.
Munoz’ opponent, Barnatt, is coming off of two straight decision losses himself, but he’s 10 years younger than Munoz, he’s way taller, he has a huge reach advantage, and he has knockout power. I don’t think that highly of Barnatt, but I think he wins this fight, and I think he probably knocks Munoz out in brutal fashion. And honestly, while I do like a good, clean KO as much as anyone, I think I’ll feel guilty watching it happen to Munoz.
I really hope Munoz changes his mind and retires before this fight even takes place, but it seems like he’s dead set on fighting in the Philippines, and all I can say to him is good luck, and I hope he doesn’t end up unconscious on the mat and wondering where he was like he has in his last three fights.
• Luke Barnatt vs. Mark Munoz
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UFC Fight Night 65: Hunt vs. Miocic takes place on May 10, 2015 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Due to time differences, the event will air on May 9, 2015.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC Fight Night 65 will be.
UFC Fight Night 66: Edgar vs. Faber takes place on May 15, 2015 at SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Philippines.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC Fight Night 66 will be.
