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: Claudia Gadelha vs. Jessica Aguilar, UFC 190
My pick for the best new fight announced this past week is the women’s strawweight battle at UFC 190 between Clauida Gadelha and Jessica Aguilar, a fight that will likely determine the next title challenger at 115 lbs. UFC 190 takes place August 1 at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Gadelha vs. Aguilar will likely be placed on the main pay-per-view card.
Now this is a good one. In fact, it’s one of the best women’s fights we’ll see all year long — in any promotion, in any division, anywhere in the world. Gadelha lost her last fight against Joanna Jedrzejczyk, yes, but it was a controversial split decision, and after Jedrzejczyk won the title, the loss doesn’t look bad at all, especially considering the controversy involved in its scoring. I still believe in Gadelha’s talent and think she’s one of the best strawweights in the world, and a win over Aguilar will likely earn her a rematch with the champ.
After winning 10 fights in a row for organizations such as WSOF and Bellator, Aguilar finally signed with the UFC last week and now gets the chance to prove she’s the best strawweight in the world by taking out a tough opponent in Gadelha. This is a tough fight for Aguilar in her UFC debut, as she will be travelling down to Brazil for it, but if anyone’s up for the job it’s “JAG.” She’s a tremendous talent, and if she can defeat Gadelha, a title shot will certainly be in order.
This is just a really good fight, any way you look at it. Fans get to see two of the best female fighters in the world go at it for 15 minutes, and the winner is most likely going to get a title shot. The only thing that would make it better is if it were 25 minutes. But hey, we can’t have everything.
• Claudia Gadelha vs. Jessica Aguilar
Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.
Worst: Konstantin Erokhin vs. Daniel Omielanczuk, UFC Fight Night 72
My pick for the worst new bout announced this past week is the heavyweight fight at UFC Fight Night 72 between Konstantin Erokhin and Daniel Omielanczuk. The event takes place July 18 at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, and this clash of heavyweights coming off of losses is likely to take place on the preliminary card.
This fight could play out in one of two ways. Either someone gets brutally knocked out in the first round, or both guys are able to survive the initial onslaught and compete in a 15-minute gasfest. And, unfortunately, I’m thinking the latter is what prevails.
Although Erokhin had a ton of hype coming into the UFC, he showed in his debut against Viktor Pesta that he simply does not have even passable takedown defence, despite fighting a non-wrestler. He has knockout power, obviously, but this is the UFC, and if you don’t have solid takedown defence and cardio, you’re pretty much screwed at heavyweight. So while I am impressed with Erokhin’s power, that’s about the only thing I’ve been impressed with since he came to the UFC.
Same thing with Omielanczuk. He showed he had knockout power in his UFC debut against Nandor Guelmino, but in his last two fights against Jared Rosholt and Anthony Hamilton, he
showed that his takedown defence is extremely poor, and he showed awful cardio as well. Like Erokhin, he has stopping power in his strikes, but if he can’t get an early finish he’s one of those guys that’s going to gas out and become useless. Therefore, putting these two together is most likely going to result in a terrible fight.
Hopefully, someone does get finished in the first round of this one, because if this fight goes past round one like I expect, fans may be “treated” to one of the worst heavyweight UFC fights of the year. And that’s saying a lot, considering the dearth of talent in the heavyweight division.
• Konstantin Erokhin vs. Daniel Omielanczuk
Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.
**********
UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia takes place on August 1, 2015 at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC 190 will be.
UFC Fight Night 72: Bisping vs. Leites takes place on July 18, 2015 at SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow, Scotland.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC Fight Night 72 will be.
