First and Worst: Week of March 16 – March 22, 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: Carlos Condit vs. Thiago Alves, UFC Fight Night 67

My pick for the best new fight announced this past week is the upcoming five-round welterweight bout at UFC Fight Night 67 between former UFC interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit and former title challenger Thiago Alves, which takes place May 30 at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. This bout will headline, and for good reason, as it’s an excellent piece of matchmaking by Joe Silva that pits arguably the two best strikers in the welterweight division against one another.

This is just an awesome fight. Both Condit and Alves have been around the UFC for years and by some strange reason have never met each other in the cage yet. These guys are constantly involved in high-paced, Fight of the Night striking battles, and I can’t see them putting on anything less than an amazing fight when they meet this May in Brazil.

For Condit, beating Alves will reaffirm his spot in the top 15 after missing the past year with a knee injury. We all know how good Condit is when he’s healthy, but after missing 15 months of action, there are certainly question marks surrounding him now. I still think he can come back and dominate, but until we see him in the cage it’s impossible to prove that.

As for Alves, after missing a few years of action due to injuries, he returned last year and defeated Seth Baczynski, then picked up another win over Jordan Mein this year. He’s looked great, and a victory over Condit would put him back in the title mix, somewhere he hasn’t been since losing to Georges St-Pierre back at UFC 100.

I can’t wait for this fight, and I really think it could end up being one of the best fights of the entire year when it’s all said and done.

UFC Fight Night 67

• Carlos Condit vs. Thiago Alves

Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.

Worst: Ronda Rousey vs. Bethe Correia, UFC 190

My pick for the worst new fight announced this past week is the upcoming UFC women’s bantamweight title fight at UFC 190 between champion Ronda Rousey and challenger Bethe Correia, which takes place August 1 at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This bout will headline the pay-per-view, although it’s possible another title fight could also be added to the card.

I think Miesha Tate said it best in a recent scrum when she said, “Bethe is over her head. This is too much too early in her career. She hasn’t even fought anyone in the top 10 yet. She’s not ready for Ronda yet.” I never thought I’d agree with something Tate said, but in this case I do. This is simply too much for Correia, and honestly, I think this is the biggest mismatch the UFC has ever put on.

I know the women’s bantamweight division is extremely shallow, but Correia does not deserve this title shot. Beating Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke, and Julie Kedzie – none of whom are ranked – shouldn’t earn you a title shot, even in a shallow division like women’s 135. And it’s not like she beat those girls convincingly, aside from Baszler. She struggled with a shot Kedzie, and even Duke had her moments against her. And if they could have success against Correia, imagine what Rousey could do to her if given an inch?

For Rousey, taking this fight was a no-brainer, because it’s an easy payday. She’s going to win this fight in the first round by submission or knockout, and she’s going to make a ton of money for an easy night of work. At the same time, though, what a boring fight. It’s not intriguing at all, and it would certainly be nice if Rousey cut five fewer pounds and chose to meet Cris “Cyborg” Justino at a 140-pound catchweight. But of course the UFC is protecting Rousey, so that will never happen. Instead we’ll be “treated” to a squash match between Rousey and Correia.

I’ll be buying UFC 190, but not for this fight. It’s not competitive, and if it lasts more than a minute I’d be shocked. Rousey by first-round, first-minute submission. Book it.