AS THE UFC touches down in Winnipeg, Canada for the first time it brings a mix of fights from the heavier end of the scale interspersed with a woman’s bantamweight bout between Rosi Sexton and Alexis Davis.
Both Rashad Evans and Dan Henderson are seeking to prove they can still mix it in the top end of the light heavyweight division. A win for either would thrust them right back into title contention whereas a loss could consign any future thoughts of a tilt at the title to the rubbish bin.
Roy Nelson v Stipe Miocic and Pat Barry v Shawn Jordan all face off in the heavyweight division while Ryan Jimmo and Igor Pokrajac complete the main card. The undercard features fighters such as Jake Shields, Sam Stout and John Maguire making it every bit as good as the main show.
‘Suga’ sweet on Henderson
Rashad Evans enters this fight looking to overcome back-to-back defeats including a surprisingly tepid display against ‘Little Nog’ last time out. His reluctance to fully engage and lack of aggression in that fight cost him a potential title shot at 185lbs and left many observers scratching their heads as to what the problem was.
One thing is for sure, he can’t afford a repeat performance because Dan Henderson will not be so forgiving as he will take the centre of the Octagon with his huge right hand cocked and ready to pounce should the opportunity present itself.
While Henderson represents the brute force in this fight, Evans must use the more cerebral approach. Both men cancel each other out in the wrestling stakes and as “Hendo” is such a threat standing, Evans must utilize his kicks, targeting Dan’s standing leg to weaken his base and make his stand-up game less effective.
If “Suga” is fit to execute this game-lan he has a real chance of winning but we’ve seen him being KOd before by Machida, not a renowned KO specialist, and he was badly rattled by Rampage Jackson in their bout. If Henderson gets anywhere close with ‘old faithful’, Evans could be in big trouble.
YouTube credit: UFC
A whole lot of Rosi
The women of the UFC have shown that they are every bit as exciting as the men and this weekend’s matchup between Rosi Sexton and Alexis Davis should be no different. Irish fans have witnessed first hands the skill-set of Sexton as two of her last three fights have been on these shores under the Cage Warriors banner.
Having fought hard to overcome Aisling Daly via a unanimous decision in Dublin a year ago, Sexton has been rewarded with a UFC contract and although she is viewed as an underdog in this fight, she definitely has the ability to cause an upset here.
Davis has a very dangerous submission game so keeping the fight standing should be a priority for Sexton. Rosi arguably possess the better boxing skill-set which could prove key if she is to win this fight, but the real difficulty for her could be avoiding takedowns by the much bigger and stronger Davis.
Best of the rest
Like Dan Henderson, Roy Nelson is famed for his devastating right hand and he will look to lay it on Stipe Miocic at some point in their heavyweight bout. Nelson took this fight on short notice but could reap the rewards if he wins. If Werdum, dos Santos and Frank Mir were unable to stop Nelson on the feet, Miocic will struggle to do that also so expect him to look to drag the fight to the ground.
But that is by no means a formality and Nelson has an underrated ground game so even if he does get it to the mat, he may not be best placed to win the fight. Roy is on a great run at the minute and a win will lift him closer to a title shot so expect “Big Country’s” cult status to grow even more after this weekend.
Speaking of cult heroes, Pat Barry brings his ‘KO or get KOd’ style to the Octagon this weekend when he faces Shawn Jordan. Barry’s 5-5 UFC record speaks volumes about what kind of fighter he is so expect fireworks and wild exchanges in this bout. It’s a case of flip a coin to see who wins this one.
The Ryan Jimmo v Igor Pokrajac bout could easily have been replaced by Jake Shields/Tyron Woodley or Sam Stout/James Krause bouts but as it stands, it makes up the main card.
