The UFC returns to Brazil this weekend for UFC 163 where undisputed featherweight champ, José Aldo will defend his title against The Korean Zombie (Chan Sung Jung is his name in case you forgot and only paid attention to the event poster) at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. Also on the card is a clash of light-heavyweights as Lyoto Machida takes on Phil Davis in a bout that will likely have a say in who should face off with the winner of the Jon Jones-Alexander Gustafsson title fight later on in the year. As you can already tell and probably expect, this card is packed full of Brazillian talent with every pairing including at least one native. Helping to pad out the rest of the main card is a pair of middleweight tilts as the inaugural ‘The Ultimate Figther: Brazil’ winner, Cezar Ferreira takes on promotional newcomer Thiago Santos and former UFC middleweight title challenger, Thales Leites returns to the UFC to do battle with the always game Tom Watson. Completing the five-fight PPV portion of UFC 163 is a flyweight contest, as the highly touted John Lineker will go head-to-head with Jose Tome, who makes his first appearance inside the Octagon.
But before all that I am, as ever, here to tell you why you should be looking to tune in a little early in order to catch all of the action unfolding on the undercard. Here we go…
Vinny ‘Pezao’ Magalhaes (10-6-0) vs. Anthony ‘The Hippo’ Perosh (13-7-0) –
Magalhaes is now in his second stint with the UFC having gone 0-2 with the promotion back in ‘08/09 and it was during his time away from the UFC that Magalhaes was to find success in capturing the M-1 Global Light-Heavyweight Championship and defending it on one occasion before returning to the Octagon with a run of five wins. Magalhaes was able to finally place himself in the UFC win column on his return, as he would dispose of Igor Pokrajac via submission at UFC 152. A gold medallist at the 2007 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship and 2011 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, Magalhaes, however, was unable to sustain the kind of momentum that comes from a six fight win streak, as ‘Pezao’ could not find an answer for Phil Davis’ size and wrestling last time out, going on to lose by unanimous decision at UFC 159.
Anthony Perosh is no joke when it comes to grappling either. While he may not have the BJJ titles that Magalhaes has accumulated, Perosh is a 3rd degree black belt in jiu-jitsu and is more than a match for most on the ground. Where Perosh is let down is in his striking, or striking defence, or lack of both. Of Perosh’s seven losses, five have come from having his chin tickled a little too fiercely and as the fights have wore on, Perosh seems to becoming easier and easier to hit and testament to this was his last outing for the UFC. Facing off with Ryan Jimmo at UFC 149, Perosh was to suffer the shame of being on the receiving end of the fastest knockout in UFC history as Jimmo was able to separate Perosh from his senses in just seven seconds. How Perosh is able to rebound from a crushing defeat like that is anyone’s guess, but we’ll find out soon enough.
For me this has all the hallmarks of a straight-up slap fest. Fights with two as skilled in BJJ as Magalhaes and Perosh are seem to rarely transpire in to an expert grappling contest due to the respect each competitor has for the other’s skill and all that we’re left with is a sloppy kickboxing bout that nobody has any interest in seeing. Here’s hoping that they do engage in extended periods of grappling, as I for one would love to see these two hunt for subs and Magalhaes has in the past been less than complimentary about Perosh’s jitz so we may be in for a treat. However, if not and we are in for some exchange of windmills, look for Magalhaes’ rudimentary striking to exploit the glaring striking deficiencies that Perosh possesses.
Amanda ‘Lioness’ Nunes (7-3-0) vs. Sheila ‘The German Tank’ Gaff (10-5-1) –
Having cut her teeth on the Brazilian regional circuit before competing in Strikeforce and Invicta, Amanda Nunes will make her UFC debut in front of her native fans. With heavy hands and an aggressive fighting style, it is no surprise when looking at Nunes’ record to see that six of her seven victories have come via KO/TKO, with the majority ending in the first. Nunes last set foot in the cage at Invicta 4: Esparza vs. Hyatt back in January of this year where she took on Sarah D’Alelio and ultimately lost out via unanimous decision. Nunes will be looking to bounce back and not suffer back-to-back losses for the first time in her career when she takes on German striker, Sheila Gaff.
Gaff is a finisher. ‘The German Tank’ has yet to see the second round in any of her 10 victories and has proven to be pretty varied in her closing statements as she has nearly as many submission victories as she does KO/TKO’s. Gaff made her Octagon debut last time out against Sara McMann, however this did not go as she would have wanted it to, as McMann would prove to be a bridge too far for Gaff and the German succumbed to strikes late in the first round. Gaff will be looking to avoid being in the unenviable situation of losing your first two fights with the UFC, as even in a division as shallow as women’s bantamweight, this could well prove to be a very short and unsuccessful stint with the world’s largest MMA promotion.
Despite being slightly less experienced than Gaff, Nunes should have the mental edge in this fight. While Gaff is in the slightly more advantageous position of having already fought in the UFC, Nunes arguably has more big fight experience as a result of her time with Strikeforce and Invicta as well as hometown advantage, which has proved to be quite the fillip for Brazillian fighters competing on their soil. When taking in to account the physical nature of this matchup, Nunes is the larger fighter and will hold a significant strength, height and reach advantage over Gaff. However, this fight will likely be decided on the feet and as they have shown in the past, both of these women are more than capable of ending a fight in an instance and for me, this is a real pick ‘em.
Ian ‘Uncle Creepy’ McCall (11-4-1) vs. Iliarde Santos (27-7-1-1 NC) –
Ranked by many as the #1 flyweight in the world before the UFC open it’s doors to the little guys, Ian McCall has had a tough time of it since signing on with the UFC. From being robbed of a fourth round against Demetrious Johnson in their first meeting, then facing a fresh Johnson on his march to the title in a rematch, before narrowly losing out to top contender Joseph Benavidez, McCall has yet to register a win with the UFC and has yet to have a fight where he would be considered the consensus favourite, until now.
Santos will be making his flyweight debut when he takes on McCall having unsuccessfully debuted in the UFC as a bantamweight. Prior to his most recent setback, Santos had found some success on the Brazilian circuit racking up six straight wins before taking on Yuri Alcantara back in May at UFC on FX 8.
Santos is a game competitor and has no real glaring weaknesses in his skill-set but does not hold any real advantage over McCall in any of the technical aspects and unfortunately for Santos, he is just not quite on the level of ‘Uncle Creepy’. This is the type of fight McCall needed in order to register his first win in the UFC and get him back on track and in the hunt for a title shot, and I fully expect him to take this.
Rani Yahya (18-7-0) vs. Josh ‘The Gentleman’ Clopton (6-1-1) –
Since returning to the featherweight division in 2011, Yahya has undergone somewhat of a career renaissance as the Brazilian has managed to compile a 3-1 record with the UFC during this tenure with his only defeat coming at the hands of #1 ranked featherweight contender, Chad Mendes. We last saw Yahya, a 2nd degree BJJ black belt, in March earlier this year where he was able to grind out a decision victory over Mizuto Hirota at UFC on Fuel TV: Silva vs. Stann. Currently riding a two-fight win streak, Yahya will be looking for victory over Clopton to extend that streak to three fights for the first time since 08/09.
Armed with the task of defeating Yahya this Saturday is 32-year-old featerweight Josh Clopton. A product of UFC lightweight Gilbert Melendez’s Skrap Pack team, the California native returns to the Octagon having lost out in his UFC debut back in 2011 at the TUF 14 finale.
For me, this fight has all the feelings of being purely made to ensure that the home crowd can put another tick in the win column for Brazilian fighters on Saturday night. Clopton is coming off of a long absence, has never fought anyone with the calibre of Rani Yahya and will be undoubtedly be outmatched on the ground if Yahya is able to take it there. Clopton’s clearest path to victory will be if he can keep it standing and maintain a sensible distance from Yahya in the exchanges so as to avoid the takedown but for me, Yahya is way too big of a leap for Clopton to be making at this stage and I expect Yahya’s experience and superior grappling ability to prove decisive in this one.
