First and Worst: Week of May 11 – May 17, 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: Yoel Romero vs. Lyoto Machida, UFC Fight Night 70

My pick for the best new fight announced this past week is the upcoming middleweight matchup between Yoel Romero and Lyoto Machida, which is set to headline the TUF Brazil 4 Finale, UFC Fight Night 70. The event takes place June 27 at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, and Romero vs. Machida is scheduled for five rounds.

This is just an absolutely fantastic matchup between two of the best middleweights in the world. Romero is 4-0 since entering the UFC and has looked like an absolute killer who could be a future champion. He just needs a signature win on his resume. Enter Machida, the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Everyone knows how good Machida is, but after losing in devastating fashion to Luke Rockhold in his last outing, there are certainly questions about whether or not he’s championship-caliber any longer.

That’s why I like this matchup so much. For Romero, beating Machida would answer those questions about whether he can beat one of the best in the world. As for Machida, defeating a highly-ranked beast like Romero would go a long way towards convincing the MMA world that he is not done just yet, and that he has a lot left in the tank. These fighters are almost always in exciting fights, so when they meet this June the fans should be treated to a really good one.

I love this fight, but I do have one concern: Is Machida returning too fast? We all saw what Rockhold did to him, and that was just last month. For Machida, fighting is his job and he has a family he needs to support, so I understand why he wants to get back in the cage, but if he did indeed suffer a concussion against Rockhold like many expect, then maybe he should have taken more time off. I will give him the benefit of the doubt though, and if he’s healthy like he says he is, then this fight against Romero should be fireworks, and be a candidate for “Fight of the Night” at the TUF Brazil 4 Finale.

UFC Fight Night 70

• Lyoto Machida vs. Yoel Romero

Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.

Worst: Jessica Andrade vs. Sarah Moras, UFC Fight Night 71

My pick for the worst new fight announced this past week is the upcoming women’s bantamweight bout between Jessica Andrade and Sarah Moras, which is set to take place on the UFC Fight Night 71 card July 15 at Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California.

Unlike this week’s “First,” a compelling middleweight bout between Machida and Romero, this fight between Andrade and Moras just doesn’t do it for me. It’s not because they are female fighters — I actually enjoy watching the ladies compete inside the Octagon, unlike some others — but this matchup just doesn’t scream “must-watch” to me.

With Andrade, she’s been pretty solid overall inside the UFC but after seeing her get choked out by 37-year-old Marion Reneau in her last outing, I really question her ceiling in the sport. As for Moras, she won an awful decision over Alexis Dufresne in her last fight, and that was a year ago. She’s been asking for a fight for a while now but the UFC kept passing her over, and I think it’s because they don’t really see much in her. Neither do I.

This fight just isn’t very good. Sure, Andrade is aggressive, but she has so many flaws in her game that it’s hard to really view her as anything more than a plug in the women’s bantamweight division. And Moras, she’s a fellow Canadian and she has a good personality, but she’s extremely limited as a fighter and not very inspiring to watch. Anyways, hopefully this fight is better than I think, but I doubt it’s anything more than filler at UFC Fight Night 71.

UFC Fight Night 71