First and Worst: Week of April 6 – April 12, 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: Dustin Poirier vs. Yancy Medeiros, UFC Fight Night 68

My pick for the best new fight announced this past week is the upcoming lightweight fight at UFC Fight Night 68 between Dustin Poirier and Yancy Medeiros. UFC Fight Night 68 takes place June 6 at Smoothie King Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana, and with “The Diamond” hailing from “NOLA,” Poirier vs. Medeiros is undoubtedly going to be on the main card, likely opening up the festivities.

Man, this is a cracking fight. What I love about this matchup is not just the fact that the two men are ranked similarly at 155 — both just on the cusp of the top 15, looking to break in — and not just the fact that they are both coming off of impressive wins. I love it especially because both guys are finishers who have proven they can finish opponents via submission and knockout at the UFC level.

With Poirier, we’ve seen during his time at 145 and in his UFC 155-pound debut against Carlos Diego Ferreira that he has amazing standup, but we can’t forget his wicked ground game. I mean, this is the same guy who finished Max Holloway with an inverted triangle armbar, and that’s not an easy feat to accomplish against someone like Holloway. Training at ATT, Poirier is a fighter who gets better and better every time we see him, and after seeing him look amazing against Ferreira at 155 lbs, it’s very likely that lightweight is the right division for him; perhaps he should have been fighting in this weight class all along.

As for Medeiros, this guy is a wicked fighter to watch. He showed against Yves Edwards in his second UFC fight that he has knockout power, blowing out the veteran with one punch, and he’s shown since then in his wins over Joe Proctor and Damon Jackson that he has slick submissions too. Training with the Diaz brothers in California, Medeiros is a guy who could contend at 155 lbs, but he just needs that big win to prove to everyone he’s the real deal – beating Poirier would accomplish just that.

This is going to be an awesome fight, and I have no idea who wins it. UFC Fight Night 68 is a pretty stacked card, but this could truly be Fight of the Night over any of the other bouts on the docket, so make sure to tune into this one in June because there is no way it can be boring.

UFC Fight Night 68

• Dustin Poirier vs. Yancy Medeiros

Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.

Worst: Mike Swick vs. Alex Garcia, UFC 189

My pick for the worst fight announced this past week is the upcoming welterweight bout at UFC 189 between Mike Swick and Alex Garcia. UFC 189 is due to take place July 11 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Swick vs. Garcia will be on the preliminary card.

This fight… I don’t even know what to say. This past week was the 10th anniversary of the TUF 1 Finale. You know who was a cast member on that show? Swick. You know how Swick’s career has gone since then? Not well. Although he is a talented fighter, injuries and health concerns have really hurt his career, and he hasn’t fought in nearly three years since suffering a brutal knockout to Matt Brown at UFC on FOX 5. I have no clue why he’s returning to the Octagon — he is doing a great job as a coach at AKA Thailand — but the UFC is throwing him to the wolves here against Garcia.

Although Garcia lost his last fight to Neil Magny, keep in mind he injured his knee badly during that fight, and it was still competitive. After having missed the last year, Garcia is ready to return, and the TriStar Gym representative still has a lot to offer the UFC. Prior to losing to Magny — a top-20 welterweight — Garcia had gone 2-0 in the UFC with wins over Sean Spencer and Ben Wall. And prior to signing with the UFC, he had racked up an impressive resume, with his only other loss coming to Brandon Thatch. He’s good, the UFC knows it, and they are giving him a comeback fight tailor-made for him to win in devastating fashion.

I don’t know what Swick did to UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, but man, drawing Brown in his last fight — which also came after a long injury layoff — and now a destroyer in Garcia is rough. I don’t give Swick much of a chance in this fight, and to me it’s just a fight the UFC booked to get Garcia back in the win column, and that is not the kind of matchup that I look forward to watching.