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: Chad Mendes vs. Conor McGregor, UFC 189
My pick for the best new fight announced this past week was easy. It’s the interim featherweight title bout at UFC 189 between Conor McGregor and Chad Mendes, a fight that’s a dream matchup for fans. The card takes place this Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and this main event is sure to be in the running for Fight of the Night on what is a stacked card.
Of course, it’s disappointing in the sense that this fight was only booked because Jose Aldo pulled out of his fight with McGregor. That was a tough pill to swallow for every fan of MMA, as that was the most-anticipated fight of the year, but this replacement fight between Mendes and McGregor is actually just as good of a fight, if not better.
The whole time McGregor has been climbing the UFC featherweight ladder, fans have been wondering why he hasn’t fought a wrestler. It’s true the UFC was protecting him by matching him up with strikers, but after he accepted a fight with Mendes – the best wrestler in the division, aside from Frankie Edgar – it’s hard to say the UFC is protecting him any more. We will finally get to see if McGregor is more walk than talk, because if he can beat Mendes, who has only lost to Aldo in his illustrious career, it will say a lot about the Irishman.
As for Mendes, taking this fight against McGregor was a no-brainer despite the short notice. Yes, he took the fight on two week’s notice, but he’s a guy who is always in great shape, and he’s been five rounds before in his career. Mendes is an amazing wrestler with knockout power, and while he couldn’t beat Aldo, beating a guy like McGregor would be absolutely huge for his career, so I expect a great performance from him, even after having to cut so much weight on short notice to take this fight.
This is an amazing fight, a great replacement matchup, and I absolutely can’t wait to see it go down this weekend at UFC 189. It’s not Aldo vs. McGregor, but it’s the next best thing, and it’s hard to complain too much about seeing two highly-skilled featherweights like Mendes and McGregor clash.
• Conor McGregor vs. Chad Mendes (UFC Interim Featherweight Championship)
Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.
Worst: Uriah Hall vs. Joe Riggs, UFC Fight Night 73
My pick for the worst new fight announced this past week is the upcoming middleweight bout between Uriah Hall and Joe Riggs, which is due to take place at UFC Fight Night 73, which goes down August 8 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
Ugh, this fight is terrible. It’s just awful. Riggs should absolutely not be in the UFC anymore. The fact that he looked terrible in his two welterweight bouts against Patrick Cote and Ben Saunders and is now moving up to middleweight to take on a guy like Hall can’t be good news for him. Considering the state of Riggs’ chin, and considering his body seems to be broken down at this point, I have a hard time seeing any way he wins this fight.
As for Hall, the UFC seems pretty desperate to get this guy a win. He’s definitely got knockout power, and he does have talent, but the guy is not the contender Dana White thought he was back when he was ripping through the TUF 17 house. He couldn’t even beat Rafael Natal in his last fight, so the UFC had to give him an even worse opponent in Riggs just to get him back on track. That shows you just how far he’s fallen.
Having said that, I still expect Hall to demolish Riggs in this fight, probably knocking him out. It just depends on what Hall shows up. If it’s the guy who knocked out Chris Leben, this will be an easy fight for him. But if it’s the guy who lost to Natal and John Howard, wow, maybe Riggs can beat him. I doubt it, but it’s up to Hall. If he’s mentally there he will win this fight easily. But if he’s not, it’s going to be ugly. This is a bad piece of matchmaking as far as I’m concerned, and let’s just say I am not looking forward to watching this fight.
• Uriah Hall vs. Joe Riggs
Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.
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UFC 189: Mendes vs. McGregor (formerly UFC 189: Aldo vs. McGregor) takes place on July 11, 2015 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC 189 will be.
UFC Fight Night 73: Saint Preux vs. Teixeira takes place on August 8, 2015 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC Fight Night 73 will be.
