Mackenzie Dern and Amanda Ribas kick off the brand new yr with an previous rivalry.
It’s been over 5 years since Dern and Ribas first fought in Tampa. Again then, Dern was the closely hyped prospect recognized for her Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitors success, whereas Ribas was the well-regarded however lesser recognized underdog. Ribas was the higher girl that day, incomes a convincing unanimous choice over Dern, they usually now run it again in Saturday’s UFC Vegas 101 major occasion.
Each fighters have been mainstays within the strawweight rankings—Dern is at present No. 8 at 115 kilos, whereas Ribas sits at No. 10—have struggled with consistency, although for various causes.
Dern’s prodigious grappling abilities have served her effectively for probably the most half, although she has developed a popularity for “by no means profitable the massive one,” as they are saying. She wins greater than she loses, however she’s faltered in opposition to high contenders, together with Amanda Lemos, Jessica Andrade, and Yan Xiaonan, all fighters which have competed for UFC gold. Dern is but to indicate that she’s deserving of the same alternative.
As for Ribas, she could also be a sufferer of her personal versatility, as she has steadily bounced between the strawweight and flyweight (Ribas can also be our No. 12 fighter at 125 kilos) divisions to. That sport perspective has allowed Ribas to remain busy and ebook some marquee matchups, however the outcomes haven’t all the time been there as she’s alternated wins and losses in her previous eight fights.
Who steps as much as the plate Saturday to maintain themselves within the title image?
In different notable major card motion, welterweight veterans Santiago Ponzinibbio and Carlston Harris face off within the penultimate bout of the night, Chris Curtis takes on Roman Kopylov in a fan-friendly middleweight matchup, and Christian Rodriguez seems to spoil the debut of blue-chip featherweight prospect Austin Bashi.
What: UFC Vegas 101
The place: UFC APEX in Las Vegas
When: Saturday, Jan. 11. The six-fight preliminary card begins at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+, adopted by a five-fight major card at 7 p.m. ET additionally on ESPN+.
Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas
One other yr means one other probability for these of us who simply can’t stop the Mackenzie Dern expertise to speak via why we nonetheless imagine she is usually a championship contender.
However not this man. Idiot me seven instances, disgrace on you; idiot me seven or extra instances, disgrace on me.
I genuinely like Dern’s possibilities to avenge the Amanda Ribas loss, however a lot of that optimism is predicated on the concept she’s nonetheless bettering and whereas we’ve seen some proof of that being true, there are nonetheless means too many moments throughout her fights the place we’re left scratching our heads at her ways. That is her twentieth MMA battle. At what level will we simply settle for she is who she is?
We all know what Ribas is. She’s an thrilling striker with a powerful floor sport, actually prepared to battle anybody at 125 and 115 kilos. The energetic Brazilian is saying all the fitting issues about specializing in strawweight after ping-ponging between divisions the previous few years and I’m inclined to imagine her. A centered Ribas is a harmful Ribas.
Having 25 minutes to work with favors Ribas, as a result of whereas Dern can definitely win a spherical or two together with her grappling, sustaining that at some point of this major occasion will show troublesome. And each failed shot will end in Ribas peppering her face with punches. It gained’t be sufficient to complete the sturdy Dern, however it can put Ribas up 2-0 within the collection.
Decide: Ribas
Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Carlston Harris
Is there such a factor as a welterweight-y welterweight battle? As a result of this could possibly be it.
Props to the reserving crew for the age-appropriate matchmaking right here and with the Cesar Almeida–Abdul Razak Alhassan matchup, all that includes fighters 35 and up. It’s no GFL (*ba-dump-tsh*) but it surely’s all the time good to see revered veterans nonetheless getting a platform to carry out with out simply being fed to up-and-comers.
On this case, we’ve over 60 mixed fights between Santiago Ponzinibbio and Carlston Harris, with each males in want of a win to extend their careers. Ponzinibbio has misplaced two straight and 4 of his previous 5, whereas Harris is coming off of a brutal knockout loss to Khaos Williams.
This needs to be a hanging duel with Ponzinibbio main the dance. It’s been a wrestle for Ponzinibbio so as to add to his knockout tally in recent times, with only one KO/TKO for the reason that finish of 2018. Alongside the way in which he’s proven that he’s nonetheless a talented striker, he simply can’t faucet into that further gear he as soon as had.
That’s nonetheless greater than might be mentioned for Harris, who has appeared sluggish in his most up-to-date outings. Harris has by no means been a speedster, but it surely seems like time has caught up with him as he’s misplaced any semblance of explosiveness. He’s going to spend a lot of this penultimate bout chasing Ponzinibbio and getting countered into oblivion.
Ponzinibbio by choice.
Decide: Ponzinibbio
Cesar Almeida vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan
Worst-case state of affairs with Cesar Almeida and Abdul Razak Alhassan, we get two bruisers dancing round for quarter-hour afraid to tug the set off. Let’s be optimistic, although.
Alhassan’s greatest guess right here is to bull rush Almeida and never let him flip this right into a Okay-1 kickboxing match. Nearing 40, Alhassan may not have the burst pace that he as soon as did, however he ought to nonetheless have a lot to shut the space. Whether or not he can keep away from a thudding counter from Almeida is one other query.
I feel Alhassan finds the fitting second to strike, decking Almeida with an influence punch of his personal and placing him down on the mat. Ought to Almeida nonetheless have some battle in him, Alhassan will comply with with ground-and-pound and finish this battle early.
Decide: Alhassan
Chris Curtis vs. Roman Kopylov
When Jed Meshew and I have been recording No Bets Barred this week, I used to be shocked to listen to Chris Curtis was a greater than 2-to-1 underdog on most betting websites. The road has moved since, however Roman Kopylov continues to be significantly favored, which is absurd to me. What has “The Motion Man” carried out to deserve this disrespect?
Curtis may not be a world beater, however he’s persistently carried out effectively in opposition to upper-tier competitors. He makes a speciality of defusing harmful strikers and wrestlers, so Kopylov doesn’t have a transparent path to victory. Properly, exterior of the truth that Kopylov punches fairly rattling exhausting, which is a strong base for MMA.
I’ve to think about that’s why there’s a lot confidence in Kopylov. When he’s on, he seems like a authentic contender, and it’s doable he catches Curtis with just a few good photographs. The factor is, Curtis is near-impossible to place away and Kopylov hadn’t gained a call till his most up-to-date battle. If this one goes to the playing cards, all indicators level to a Curtis win on factors.
That’s how I’ve received it, with Curtis outworking Kopylov for quarter-hour for the upset that gained’t be thought-about an upset in my eyes.
Decide: Curtis
Christian Rodriguez vs. Austin Bashi
In case you haven’t seen, Christian Rodriguez has a knack for taking zeros.
Listed here are Rodriguez’s previous three wins and their information once they fought Rodriguez:
So Austin Bashi bettors, beware.
Bashi has impressed in his 13-0 begin, utilizing his brawny construct to out-wrestle opponents and bully them on the mat. He has all of the makings of a future featherweight contender, although one might say the identical about Rodriguez’s earlier challenges and look how these fights turned out.
One downside with Rodriguez is that his wins and losses don’t inform the entire story. Sure, he beat Rosas and Saaiman, however he additionally missed weight for each of these fights. Sure, he was profitable in his featherweight debut in opposition to Dulgarian, however he was then submitted inside a spherical by veteran Julian Erosa. Rodriguez has the body of a bantamweight, simply not the self-discipline to correctly lower all the way down to that division.
All that’s to say I like Bashi’s possibilities of avoiding the pitfalls of the opposite fighters that put their undefeated information on the road in opposition to Rodriguez. His aggression could have Rodriguez on the back-foot from second one and I don’t count on Bashi to gasoline out like Rosas did.
Bashi wins a hard-fought choice.
Decide: Bashi
Punahele Soriano vs. Uros Medic
Uros Medic is a wild man and one other stiff take a look at for Punahele Soriano in his new life at 170 kilos.
At 185, Soriano developed a popularity as a slugger, however he needed to go to his wrestling in his welterweight debut to choose up a win over Miguel Baeza. That’s a very good signal for Soriano’s development and a technique he could need to make use of in opposition to the all the time aggressive Medic.
To place it kindly, Medic hates judges. Has no use for them. Hasn’t seen a scorecard in his professional profession and certain doesn’t plan on doing so Saturday. He’ll come out swinging and the query is whether or not Soriano will meet him within the center or resolve to combine the martial arts and make this a extra tactical battle.
On condition that that is the principle card opener, I feel Soriano is on the hunt for a efficiency bonus and we’ll see him commerce fingers with Medic. In that state of affairs, I like Medic to complete robust, even when Soriano attracts first blood early.
Give me Medic by knockout.
Decide: Medic
Jose Johnson def. Felipe Bunes
Marco Tulio def. Ihor Potieria
Thiago Moises def. Trey Ogden
Jacobe Smith def. Preston Parsons
Nicolle Caliari def. Ernesta Kareckaite
Magomed Gadzhiyasulov vs. Bruno Lopes
Fatima Kline vs. Viktoriia Dudakova
Nurullo Aliev vs. Joe Solecki
