An exciting bout in the light-heavyweight division keeps the main card rolling at UFC Fight Night 39. Fan favorite Fabio Maldonado, currently on a two-fight win streak, meets Gian Villante, who was last seen dispatching Cody Donovan by way of fist to face last November. These guys are heavy hitters and can really slug it out, so expect to see some fireworks when they meet.
Fighter Summary
Gian Villante (11-4 overall, 1-1 UFC)
Strengths: Well rounded, explosive striking
Weaknesses: Striking defense
Fabio Maldonado (20-6 overall, 3-3 UFC)
Strengths: Iron chin, heavy hitter
Weaknesses: Brawler at heart
Fight Breakdown – If you’ve ever seen Fabio Maldonado fight, it’s a wonder to behold. Not because of his precision or accuracy, his defense or evasiveness, his takedowns or judo. The guy can straight brawl. He’s very Roy Nelson-esque, a guy in the spirit of Nick Diaz, Diego Sanchez and the like. He will take a ton of punishment to dish out more. That’s both a gift and a curse, because while it can win him the support of the fans, it doesn’t always translate to winning fights. In the long run, it’s always better to win fights than be popular for your heart/brawling.
Maldonado is likely to be the aggressor here. He will slowly, but surely pursue Villante around the Octagon and look to unload some brutal combinations. That’s probably his game plan, and not much else. He’ll deal with whatever Villante throws at him by either trying to avoid it or walking right through it.
Villante could do a lot to win by simply throwing leg kicks. Timely counter punches will be available to him, and he has the goods to keep Maldonado honest, so don’t be surprised to see Maldonado get tagged several times throughout the course of the fight. But back to the kicks, Maldonado doesn’t exactly have explosive athleticism. He’s more dangerous with his back against the cage, or when he traps an opponent there, and both guys are in the pocket and swinging for the fences. That’s exactly what Villante has to avoid. Peppering Maldonado with inside/outside leg kicks will score him a ton of points, and do a lot to slow Maldonado down and take a lot of the oomph out of his strikes.
Villante has to stay active and remember to keep moving and take good angles when he throws. He has to get out of harm’s way afterwards, much like what Myles Jury recently did to Diego Sanchez. And you can bet harm will be on the way. One thing about Maldonado that is unquestionable is his toughness and heart. In that destruction that Glover Teixeira laid on him, Maldonado wanted to keep fighting. It was the doctor that stopped the fight, and rightfully so. Villante has the power to stop this fight, but it’s not likely because of that toughness, and also because Maldonado will take a toll on Villante as well.
Key to Victory: Can Villante weather the storms?
Maldonado is a walking wrecking ball, but wrecking balls generally only do one thing: wreck. Elite fighters have the ability to transform and turn into a wrecking ball at precisely the right moments. If Villante can avoid the barrages and keep his head straight through all of the exchanges, he has a more complete skill set that could win him the fight. That said, some wrecking balls are just too hard to avoid, and Maldonado is going to come at him for every second of every round. Villante will have to find a way to work around that.
Why It Matters –After that brutal shellacking he took at the hands of Teixeira, which was his third consecutive loss in the UFC, Maldonado is now on a two fight win streak and stands at 3-3 in the UFC. He’s got 25+ fights to his name and at 34, if he’s going to make any sort of push for a higher plateau, now is the damn time. His style is hugely entertaining and it’s hard not to enjoy watching him fight. Trouble is, it’s also hard to watch him get decimated as he did against Teixeira, or when he struggles to execute his game plan in hard fought decisions. He’s got two in a row, so it seems strange to say, but he could be fighting to stay in the UFC. If not that, at the least he’s fighting to stay afloat in the division. He’s still got it, but he has to prove it against a younger, hungry guy like Villante.
Villante is auditioning to make a move up in the division. There’s no shame in losing his debut to Ovince St. Preux, who is one of the top competitors at LHW. He bounced back resoundingly with a strong finish over Cody Donovan, a fight which he took on short notice. Maldonado is a big test for him and if he can get past him, then he will separate himself as someone who isn’t just division fodder, but a fighter who can handle a powerful striker like Maldonado and needs someone else to test his skill set. Maldonado is a big hurdle for him, and clearly a very dangerous one, but if he sticks to his game plan, it should be enough to earn the victory.
Prediction – Villante
