Viewers Guide to the Undercard: UFC Fight Night 38 – Shogun vs. Henderson 2

Previews

In a rematch of their classic first encounter, Dan Henderson and Shogun Rua are set to hook ‘em up once more, as the pair have been booked as the headline act at the Ginásio Nélio Dias in Natal, Brazil for UFC Fight Night 38.

The rest of the main card is typical of a Brazilian UFC card, having been populated by mildly recognisable names in barely meaningful bouts, but then again, I’m not here to talk you through the main card, so let’s just leave that thought there.

On to the prelims!

Diego Brandao vs. Will Chope – 145lbs.
If only Diego Brandao could have been what we hoped he would be. The Brazilian’s winning run on season 14 of The Ultimate Fighter was met with great fanfare and people were pretty high on Brandao. While he has a 4-2 record inside the Octagon, which is perfectly acceptable, it can only feel disappointing considering we know what Brandao is capable of. When on point, Brandao is a straight up killer. Sadly, last time out we saw the other side of the Brandao coin in his most recent performance, as in addition to coming in overweight, Brandao had his lights shut off by Dustin Poirier inside of a round, back at UFC 168.

Standing at 6’4″, Will Chope is supposedly the tallest featherweight in the world. Chope made his UFC debut last time out, having spent his MMA career on regional shows in various corners of the globe. Chope squared off with Max Holloway back in January, which is a tough fight for most, never mind your debut. Chope entered the bout with a 14-fight win streak, but quickly had that snapped, as Chope succumbed to strikes midway through the second round.

Chope showed in his fight with Holloway that he has the potential to do damage with his hands, but that he doesn’t deal well when someone begins to put it on him. That’s exactly what Brandao is famed for. Brandao takes this.

Prediction – Brandao via KO/TKO

Ronny Markes vs. Thiago Santos – 185lbs.
Markes had begun life inside the Octagon in impressive fashion, rattling off three straight wins over Karlos Vemola, Aaron Simpson and Andrew Craig, but hit quite the roadblock in his most recent appearance, losing out to the rising Yoel Romero via KO, snapping a seven-fight win streak.

Thiago Santos was also on the losing end in his last outing, having tapped out to Cezar Ferreira back at UFC 163. I know they need bodies for these Brazilian shows, but I can’t see Santos being kept around if he loses out in this one.

Markes looks like a promising fighter who just came up against a guy in Romero who has a higher talent ceiling than him, and I can’t see how Santos poses any more of a threat that the guys Markes has already disposed of in his UFC career to date.

Prediction – Markes via submission

Jussier Formiga vs. Scott Jorgensen – 125lbs.
Formiga has found life tough in the UFC. Having been a star on the pre-UFC flyweight circuit, big things were expected of the Brazilian, but Formiga has struggled with the diet of 125lb’ers being fed to him. A victory over Chris Cariaso has been sandwiched by defeats to top contenders John Dodson and Joseph Benavidez; but with another defeat here taking his UFC record to 1-3, there very well could be some serious questions asked in the aftermath.

Jorgensen has quite the spotlight on him at the moment, but unfortunately for him, it’s not exactly the one you’d want. Jorgensen is 1-4 over his last five UFC contests, and the former WEC bantamweight title challenger has lost his last two fights, including his flyweight debut last time out.

Personally, I feel that this fight should be on the main card. Irrespective of form, these are two exciting flyweights with reasonable name value for their division, and they’re swamped down here. This one could go either way, but I’m picking Formiga with a midway sub.

Prediction – Formiga via submission

Thiago Perpétuo vs. Kenny Robertson – 170lbs.
Perpétuo had a solid debut in the UFC, finishing Leonardo Mafra with strikes late in their contest back at UFC 147, however Perpétuo was not able to build on this as he would go on to be KO’d by Omari Akhmedov in his most recent fight back in November. After loss to Akhmedov, Perpétuo decided to drop down in weight, and will be making his 170lbs debut this Saturday.

Kenny Robertson needs a win here to keep his job. Now in his second stint with the UFC, Robertson currently holds a 1-3 record inside the Octagon with his sole win coming over Brock Jardine back at UFC 157. Robertson was last seen dropping a decision to Sean Pierson at UFC 161.

If this fight has a finish in it, it will be because of the superior striker, Perpétuo. If this fight goes the distance, it will be because of the superior grappler, Robertson. A superior grappler with reasonable stand-up, which Robertson has, will win this fight nine times out of ten.

Prediction – Robertson via unanimous decision

A History graduate from Royal Holloway University of London, Adam Keyes has been an MMA enthusiast since being introduced by friends to videos of Bas Rutten demonstrating a warped form of self defence. From there Adam has immersed himself in all the MMA he could get his hands on and has never looked back.