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: Jorge Santiago vs. Gunnar Nelson, UFC London
Due to an injury to Justin Edwards, former UFC middleweight
contender Jorge Santiago returns to the Octagon at UFC London when he takes on
hotshot prospect Gunnar Nelson in a featured welterweight bout. Santiago has a
poor 1-4 record overall in the UFC, but when you look at the fighters he lost
to – Chris Leben, Alan Belcher, Brian Stann, and Demian Maia – they really are
the cream of the crop in the UFC’s middleweight division, and he really does
deserve to get one more shot in the organization at 170 pounds.
Santiago’s biggest problem has been his chin, but going up
against Nelson, the odds of him getting knocked out are slim. Therefore, the
UFC has actually given him a winnable fight here, even though ironically he’s
going up against Nelson, who many consider to have title contendership
potential. If Santiago can keep the fight standing and use his superior standup
– or even survive enough on the ground long enough not to get submitted – he
can win this fight.
As for Nelson, defeating Santiago adds another big name to his
young resume, so this is a fight that makes perfect sense for both fighters. I
like this matchup even more than Edwards vs. Nelson, so it just shows that
sometimes injuries aren’t actually the worst thing that can happen, because
better fights can actually come out of it.
Worst: Mike Ricci vs. Colin Fletcher, UFC 158
It was also announced this week that TUF 16 runner-up Mike Ricci will take on TUF Smashes runner-up Colin Fletcher at UFC 158, which takes
place this March in Ricci’s hometown of Montreal. The bout will be Ricci’s UFC
lightweight debut after losing to Colton Smith at the TUF 16 Finale, while
Fletcher gets a chance at redemption after being outgrappled by Norman Parke at
UFC on FX 6.
My problem with this bout isn’t the matchmaking, because it
makes sense to pair off the most recent TUF runner-ups. My problem is that
neither man looked very good in his UFC debut, so I don’t really know how
exciting this fight is going to be.
Sure, Ricci has some decent striking and
Fletcher is unorthodox with his submissions, but both fighters were absolutely
dominated in their last fights and I am not sure that either is UFC calibre at
this point. There’s no doubt in my mind that the loser of this bout is going to
get his walking papers, so hopefully that motivates both fighters to train very
hard for this bout and leave it all in the cage this March, but after their
last performances, who knows what to expect from these two.
