10 Things I Like at UFC Vegas 25
From the light heavyweight main event to a collection of intriguing upstarts, Saturday's event has plenty that grabs my attention.
Dominick Reyes at a Crossroads
It’s kind of wild to think that Dominick Reyes is at a point where he needs a win in order to maintain his standing as a contender in the light heavyweight division just over a year after he arguably bested Jon Jones and could have (should have) been crowned champion, but here we are.
The judges were unanimous in scoring the UFC 247 main event in favor of the champion, though all three scorecards were different, and while two-thirds of the media members submitting their cards to MMA Decisions saw the fight in Reyes’ favor (as did I), the challenger was sent home empty handed.
Seven months later, after Jones vacated the title to fully embrace a move to heavyweight, Reyes got a second chance to claim UFC gold, only this time, Jan Blachowicz hit him with some of that “legendary Polish power” and handed him the first stoppage loss of his career. Just like that, after the starting 2020 as the top contender and walking into the bout against Blachowicz with many calling him the “uncrowned king” of the division, the 31-year-old landed on a two-fight skid and standing at a crossroads.
Saturday’s main card meeting with Jiri Prochazka isn’t quite must-win, but it’s at least “you really don’t want to lose this one too” territory for Reyes, as a three-fight slide likely drops him out of the Top 5 and leaves people questioning whether he can get back to being a contender. That’s a sharp decline from entering last year as the No. 1 contender and nearly dethroning Jon Jones less than 16 months ago, but things move quickly in the UFC and this is where Reyes is at now.
Prochazka is a difficult matchup because he’s awkward and powerful and challenging to prepare for in the same way that it’s hard to get someone to replicate Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson or Dominick Cruz or Lyoto Machida back in the day. It’s a less technical version of the Blachowicz matchup without the real concerns about getting taken down and wrestled, but that more chaotic potential is also what elevates the degree of difficulty because you can’t get a real read on how Prochazka is going to come forward because there is no pattern to his movements and he doesn’t fight with a fundamental foundation.
Reyes needs this one, not to maintain his place on the roster, but to regain some confidence after what has to have been a demoralizing year, so it will be real interesting to see what he looks like out of the gate and how this one plays out.
Test #2 for Jiri Prochazka
I love this escalation for Prochazka, who earned a second-round stoppage win over former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir in his promotional debut last summer. The Swiss stalwart is the gatekeeper to contention and the Czech newcomer flattened him to merit a step up in competition and now here we are.
As mentioned above, the thing with Prochazka is that’s unconventional and unpredictable — he moves out of rhythm and in odd directions, and fights with his hands low and his chin high, yet still manages to roll with punches and not take anything too flush. He blitzes forward, believing in his power and trusting his ability to eat a shot, but also has movements where he steps back and resets, getting himself into space so that he can gear up for the next charge.
He switches stances frequently and fluidly, has an 80” reach, throws everything from odd angles, and never stops talking or gesticulating during the fight. It has to be strange standing opposite him in the Octagon and trying to get a bead on him because there is no telling which direction he’s going to go or where the next attack is going to come from.
All of that makes the former RIZIN champ a truly intriguing addition to the light heavyweight ranks and someone I’m dire to see in a fight like this, because as good as Oezdemir is — and he’s a legit Top 10 talent, no doubt — this is the kind of test Prochazka needs to pass in order to become a title challenger and I’m completely flummoxed when it comes to figuring out if he can pass it or not.
Fighter I Can’t Quit: Cub Swanson
I’m not alone in having a longstanding fighter crush on Cub Swanson — the guy has been an all-action guarantee since his WEC days, constantly conducting symphonies of “beautiful violence” inside the Octagon, and he’s one of the most genuinely thoughtful, articulate, and engaging athletes I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing over the course of this 12-year odyssey of covering the fight game.
Last time out, when he rallied to finish Daniel Pineda, making a successful return after blowing out his knee? I screamed at my television in excitement, for the finish, sure, but manly for Cub because you know how hard this road his been for him.
Dude has had his jaw wired shut twice. He’s dealt with innumerable additional injuries, openly discussed his periods of doubt and struggle, and always pressed on, returning to the Octagon to deliver another entertaining performance, win or lose.
I have a “Killer Cub” sticker on my laptop, having transferred it from the original notebook it adorned because I wasn’t losing something I consider one of my most treasured keepsakes from my travels in this sport.
You put Cub Swanson on a fight card and I’m tuning in, no matter what, and like a lot of people, I will forever want good things for one of the true good guys in this sport.
Crucial Contest for Giga Chikadze
Giga Chikadze was one of the low-key breakout stars of 2020, registering four wins in as many starts to push his UFC record to 5-0 and his overall winning streak to seven, sending him into this year as someone to watch on the fringes of the featherweight rankings.
Saturday night, the former Glory Kickboxing competitor squares off with Swanson in the co-main event, taking the step up in competition he both wants and needs in order to prove he’s deserving of a place in the Top 15 and assignments against even bigger names going forward.
Chikadze is one of those guys that I can’t quite get a proper read on right now because he’s had a bunch of short-notice fights against good, but not great competition, and while he’s handled his business every time out, I still find myself wondering if he’s simply making good against lesser opponents or genuinely someone that could be a contender in the loaded 145-pound weight class?
His best win to date (IMO) came against Omar Morales, who feels better suited to fighting at lightweight to me, and as good as he’s looked at times, I’m not sure how much stock to put into edging out Brandon Davis and Jamall Emmers or finishing Jamey Simmons, which is why I’m so enamoured with this matchup against Swanson.
This is the kind of fight Chikadze needs to win in order to take a step forward, and Swanson is by far the most complete, most experienced, most dangerous opponent he’s faced thus far, so how this one shakes out will go a long way to helping me formulate my opinions on the 32-year-old Kings MMA representative going forward and projecting where he fits in the featherweight division.
Banger Alert: Ion Cutelaba vs. Dustin Jacoby
As much as I adore ultra-competitive fights carrying divisional significance or litmus test pairings like Swanson-Chikadze, I also love me a good potential slobberknocker where the chances of someone getting laid out in the center of the Octagon are high and this is one o those fights.
Ion Cutelaba is a lunatic, and I mean that in the most respectful way possible. He paints himself green for the weigh-ins, pantomimed being dazed so well last February that he convinced the ref he was actually out on his feet, leading to a controversial stoppage loss, and has never been in a boring fight as long as he’s been in the UFC. The 27-year-old from Moldova is 4-5 in the Octagon with seven of those nine bouts ending inside the distance, including each of his last six appearances, which means that on his own, Cutelaba makes for a solid bet that the judges won’t be needed for his fight.
Now you factor in Dustin Jacoby and you’ve got yourself an even higher probability of things ending before the 15 minutes are up, because despite three decisions in his last four fights, the 33-year-old kickboxer isn’t particularly fond of the scorecards either.
Prior to pressing pause on his MMA career at the end of 2015, Jacoby had been the distance three times in 15 fights, and his bout against Justin Ledet should serve as a reminder of what the Factory X Muay Thai product is capable of when he’s not dealing with a heavyweight opponent, as he was in two of his last four contests.
Stylistically, Cutelaba is the kind of dance partner to bring the best out of Jacoby — a guy that will come forward and give him ample opportunities to strike — which means we should be treated to a non-stop firefight for as long as this one lasts… which probably won’t be too long.
Sean Strickland: Middleweight Dark Horse
Sean Strickland is undefeated at middleweight, amassing a 17-0 record when fighting in the 185-pound weight class.
That stat gets overlooked or obscured because he dropped to welterweight back in the day and caught a couple losses, but after a two-year absence, Strickland returned to the Octagon and the middleweight ranks last fall and registered two very good wins in as many weeks to establish himself as a dark horse contender, beating Jack Marshman by decision before finishing Brendan Allen in the second.
The 30-year-old was a highly regarded prospect in his early 20s as he worked his way to the UFC, but that period at welterweight and the extended absence following his motorcycle accident in December 2018 made him an understandable afterthought for a couple of years, and it was impossible to know what to expect from him back in November because it'd been two years since he stepped into the Octagon.
But now we know, now Strickland has shown he’s still a fundamentally sound, technical striker with a good chin, good movement, and a genuine nasty streak and it would be a mistake to not think of him as someone capable of making a push for title contention in the wide open middleweight ranks.
Saturday’s bout against Krzysztof Jotko is another solid measuring stick opportunity, but if he performs the way he did against Marshman and Allen, Strickland should maintain his unbeaten record at middleweight and take another step towards cracking the Top 10.
Big-Time Bantamweight Bout
If you’ve been reading this newsletter since its launch, thank you; I really appreciate it.
Secondly, you know I love the bantamweight division and believe it’s the most competitive weight class in the UFC at the moment, and Saturday’s bout between Merab Dvalishvili and Cody Stamann highlights that perfectly.
The 30-year-old Dvalishvili has rebounded from losing his first two UFC appearances to put together a five-fight winning streak, going all-in on his outstanding wrestling to demoralize opponents, rack up takedowns, and transform himself into a legitimate Top 15 bantamweight. He’s kind of like an “Alternate Reality Khabib,” complete with the black papakha, charming broken English, and crew of elite training partners.
Stamann has been a fixture in the Top 15 for the last couple of years, amassing a 5-2-1 record inside the Octagon while sharing the cage with the likes of Tom Duquesnoy, Bryan Caraway, Aljamain Sterling, Song Yadong, and Jimmie Rivera. He dealt a family tragedy last year and it surely impacted his performance, though he did look good in beating Brian Kelleher before losing to Rivera, but is the kind of solid wrestle-boxer that hovers in the lower half of nearly every division, serving as the experienced hand hopefuls need to beat in order to advance to the next tier of competition.
This should be an interesting cat-and-mouse contest where both sides know what the other is trying to do and it all comes down to who can dictate the terms of engagement, with the winner inching closer to the Top 10 and the vanquished not losing too much ground.
I Want to Know More About… Luana Pinheiro
I’ve been intrigued by Luana Pinheiro since I started researching her ahead of her Contender Series appearance last fall.
Sporting a 7-1 record at the time and riding a five-fight winning streak, I was curious to see how the then 26-year-old Brazilian would do in a matchup with veteran Stephanie Frausto. Then Pinheiro went out and earned a first-round stoppage win just over halfway through the opening stanza and she instantly became someone I wanted to see more from heading into this year.
Saturday night, Pinheiro makes her promotional debut against Randa Markos in a perfect bout to gauge where she fits in the strawweight division. Despite her recent struggles, Markos is a tenured veteran and tough out, making her Pinheiro’s toughest test to date.
The Brazilian newcomer has said all the right things leading up to this fight and I truly believe the experience of being on the Contender Series and cornering her boyfriend, UFC flyweight Matheus Nicolau, in his return to the Octagon will serve her well heading into Saturday night, but like anyone making their first foray in the UFC cage, I want to see more from Pinheiro before offering a real assessment of where I think she stands and what her ceiling might be in the most competitive female division in the UFC.
When You Call Yourself “JSP”…
Jonathan Pearce goes by the nickname “JSP” and every time I hear it, I immediately think of “GSP” which is probably the point.
But here’s the thing with making people think of Georges St-Pierre every time they hear your nickname: it sets a pretty high bar for you to clear, even if that wasn’t your intention or that’s wholly unfair… which it is.
I know Pearce isn’t coming out here saying, “I’m on the same level as the arguably the greatest fighter in MMA history” or even putting himself in the came company, but that’s where the part of my brain with frayed connections goes whenever I hear “JSP” and I would bet that I’m not alone.
The 28-year-old is 1-1 in the UFC and looked very good in his return to featherweight last time out, earning a second-round stoppage win over Kai Kamaka III after getting thrown in against Joe Lauzon — in Boston no less — in his promotional debut.
This weekend, he faces divisional staple Gabriel Benitez in another one of those fights that will go a long way towards informing my opinion about the East Tennessee native fighting out of the Fight Ready camp in Phoenix, Arizona. Benitez is experienced and dangerous and stern test for Pearce, so I’m really curious to see how this one plays out.
Prospect Clash: Loma Lookboonmee vs. Sam Hughes
One of the early preliminary card bouts I’m most looking forward to is the strawweight pairing between prospects Loma Lookboonmee and Sam Hughes.
Lookboonmee looked solid in her promotional debut against Aleksandra Albu, landed opposite Angela Hill on short notice in her sophomore appearance, then rebounded with a quality win over former Invicta FC atomweight champ Jinh Yu Frey last time out, pushing her record to 5-2 and setting her up as someone to track heading into this year.
Hughes made her first trip into the Octagon on short notice back in December, jumping in against rankings fixture Tecia Torres in a fight that was halted after the first round when Hughes couldn’t see due to an inadvertent eye poke. She too is 5-2 overall and has been champing at the bit to get her first full camp appearance in the books in order to show fans what she’s truly capable of inside the cage.
This is one of those perfect “pair ‘em up early” type of prospect fights where both athletes are still so new to the promotion and so early in their respective careers that a loss isn’t going to do much other than show them what elements they need to continue working on going forward. Especially in the strawweight ranks, where there is a ton of depth and quality competition, setting matchups like this for competitors in those early days of their UFC careers is far more beneficial than tossing them into the deep end of the talent pool, putting them in “sink or swim” situations.