First and Worst: Week of June 1 – June 7, 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: Beneil Dariush vs. Michael Johnson, UFC Fight Night 73

My pick for the best new fight announced this past week is the upcoming lightweight fight at UFC Fight Night 73 between Beneil Dariush and Michael Johnson. The card takes place August 8 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, and Dariush vs. Johnson is expected to be the co-main event under the headlining light heavyweight fight between Glover Teixeira and Ovince St.Preux.

This is great matchmaking by Joe Silva, once again proving he is the premier matchmaker in the sport. It’s just a perfect fight to make for both men at this point in each fighter’s career. With Dariush, you have a guy who is already 5-1 in the UFC, but he’s only 25 years old and gets better every single fight. Training with UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos, Dariush has won four straight fights and looks like a serious threat at 155 lbs, considering his rate of improvement. He has an amazing ground game, but he’s also shown off terrific striking in his last few outings. He’s already great, and he’ll continue to get better, but if there’s one flaw in his game it’s his striking defence, as he was able to get tagged and knocked out in his lone career loss to Ramsey Nijem, and the UFC clearly wants to see if he’s improved that part of his game by pitting him against a talented striker in Johnson.

As for Johnson, he’s also won four straight fights, and he is quickly closing in on a title shot. His striking has always been fantastic, and training at Blackzilians, he is always working to improve the other facets of his game. After an early UFC career struggle, Johnson has really righted the ship as of late and could very soon fight for the title. However, if there’s one knock on Johnson, it’s his ground game, which has been exploited many times in the past. The UFC clearly wants to see him get tested against a grappler like Dariush, or else they wouldn’t have made this fight. If he passes the test, he moves into the elite at 155 lbs, but if he doesn’t, then we’ll know for sure what his ceiling is.

This is just such a good fight, and it’s a fight I could see either man winning. Either Dariush exploits Johnson’s weak ground game or Johnson outstrikes Dariush — it’s just hard to say which one happens. But that’s why it’s a great fight, because both men have clear paths to victory, and only one man will walk out the cage a winner. I can’t wait to see it.

UFC Fight Night 73

• Michael Johnson vs. Beneil Dariush

Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.

Worst: Jared Cannonier vs. Jonathan Wilson, UFC Fight Night 73

My pick for the worst new fight announced this past week is the upcoming light heavyweight bout at UFC Fight Night 73 between Jared Cannonier and Jonathan Wilson. Cannonier, who is dropping down to light heavyweight, is filling in on short notice for an injured Matt Van Buren in what is sure to be a preliminary-card fight.

I don’t like this fight because quite honestly, neither of these fighters should be in the UFC. Cannonier had a nice record on the Alaska regional circuit, but keep in mind that’s the Alaska regional circuit, which basically means the wins mean nothing. He showed in his UFC debut he was too small for heavyweight when Shawn Jordan knocked him out at UFC 182, so perhaps he’ll be a better fighter at 205 lbs, but I’m not ready to get excited for him just yet until I see him actually compete at that weight class.

As for Wilson, a.k.a. “Johnny Bravo,” he was undefeated on the California regional circuit to earn the UFC call-up, but like Cannonier, he’s fought a bunch of, ahem, cans. Competing for Gladiator Challenge and the Xplode Fight Series, it’s really hard to read into Wilson’s record too much, so until we see him fight in the UFC it’s just hard to say whether he’s actually a good fighter or not. Right now, though, I’d venture to say his ceiling isn’t too high.

It seems to me the UFC is just absolutely desperate for light heavyweights, which is the only reason these two are on the roster. In a perfect world, both men would have gotten experience fighting higher-level opponents before coming to the UFC, but with so few fighters at 205 lbs on the UFC roster, and with so many events needing prelim filler, this is what you get. Maybe I’m being too hard on these guys and they put on a good scrap, but I doubt it. It just seems like a fight that’s going to end up as a cage grind between two guys who don’t want to lose, and that’s not the kind of fight I enjoy watching.