UFC Germaine de Randamie v. Aspen Ladd is one of those cards that has a lot of younger, not as well known names. It will be an interesting night of fights. The UFC has been putting on so many shows, we eventually get cards like this one. I will say, the main event is not as sexy as the most recent card like this, Junior dos Santos v. Francis Ngannou. Hopefully, this card will deliver like that one did.
Germaine de Randamie v. Aspen Ladd
This is a matchup of a veteran that knows her way around the octagon, and a young prospect that is looking to make a statement and potentially earn a title shot. The UFC has been pushing the young prospects recently, and they are betting on Aspen Ladd to get the biggest win of her career to date. Ladd has wins over some quality opponents, but this will be her toughest test yet.
Germaine de Randamie, the first UFC women’s featherweight champion, is coming in on a four fight win streak. Granted, she has had one fight a year for the last several years, so the win streak doesn’t feel like much of a streak. Her last loss was to the Champion Amanda Nunes in 2013. GDR is an impressive kickboxer that likes to fight at a distance. She is very good at picking her opponents apart.
Ladd is a brawler that wants to get in close, take the fight to the ground and dominate until the fight ends. Her clinch game and wrestling is very strong. This confidence can lead her into danger. She tends to lower her hands, which leads to eating more punches than necessary. But she needs to get in close to utilize her skills. So as long as her chin holds up, she should do well. Luckily for Ladd, GDR doesn’t have much power and she should be able to keep her undefeated record intact.
Aspen Ladd by Decision
Urijah Faber v. Ricky Simon
This is another matchup of a veteran taking on a young prospect. I don’t really understand this matchup. Urijah has stated he never left USADA testing pool, so there was a strong feeling he wasn’t done. That’s not to mention the many grappling competitions he has competed in. It’s tough to make a call on this fight. Urijah has kept in shape and still trains, but there’s a difference between grappling tournaments and a UFC fight. Especially against a young, hungry Ricky Simon.
Urijah Faber is a legend in the sport. He is one of the reasons UFC even has a featherweight and bantamweight division. His pre-UFC battles with Dominick Cruz were epic. Faber’s grappling has always been top notch. He kept competing in grappling tournaments so his skills haven’t diminished. His striking has been decent, but he says he worked more on his offensive boxing this training camp than he has before. Working with great striking coaches, and a newcomer to his gym, Slava Borschev, a Russian kickboxer trying to transition to MMA. Urijah just had a kid a couple of months ago, and seeing Cowboy over the last several months, having a kid is a huge motivation to come out and fight at your best.
This is Ricky Simon’s biggest test yet. He is 3-0 in the start to his UFC career, but that first win was definitely a questionable one. The ref gave him a submission win after the bell rang. It was definitely a bullshit decision. But he followed that up with two decision wins over Montel Jackson (who?) and Rani Yahya, which is impressive. When he was offered Urijah, he immediately took the fight. He was supposed to be on his honeymoon, but delayed it for this fight. He better win this fight for his married life’s sake. If you push back your honeymoon to take a fight (his wife did approve), you better fucking win. Simon trains at Gracie Barra Portland, so his grappling game is pretty good too. Simon’s skill set matches up with Urijah’s skill set. It’s going to come down to who is better at it, at least at this stage in their career.
Ricky Simon by Decision
Josh Emmett v. Mirsad Bektic
This is a fun matchup. Josh Emmett has heavy hands and his last two wins have come by devastating knockout. Since dropping down to featherweight, his power seems to have multiplied, or maybe the featherweight division wasn’t ready for some lightweight power. For all of his skills in the standup game, it is forgotten that Emmett comes from a wrestling background and his grappling game is nothing to sleep on either.
Bektic is coming off a 13 month layoff after a disappointing injury pulled him out of a fight against Renato Moicano in late 2017. Bektic was looking at that fight to propel him into the Top 5. He is hoping, Josh Emmett is going to propel him to the Top 5. Bektic has power of his own, but his strength is grappling and getting into top position and dominating from there. Bektic’s takedown game is very strong. But he has tendencies to let his hands drop when he has a takedown on the mind.
You CANNOT do that against Emmett. Emmett has one punch knockout power. This fight has two outcomes, Bektic gets the takedown and dominates or Emmett puts Bektic to sleep.
Josh Emmett by 2nd round TKO
Karl Roberson v. Wellington Turman
Karl Roberson is a Dana White Contender Series winner who has yet to string together a winning streak. I think the match up with Glover Teixeira earlier this year was too much too quick. He shouldn’t have been paired up with a legend yet. He had a good win over Jack Marshman before that, but Marshman isn’t a gateway to a legend. He’s maybe a gateway to top 25 fighters. Roberson is a good kickboxer and he should be able to pick Turman apart. Turman took this fight on short notice.
Turman took this fight on short notice. Lucky for him, Roberson was training for someone that has no ground game at all. Turman’s ground game is pretty good. So Turman should hope that Roberson didn’t improve his stand up game too much. Turman’s stand up game isn’t too good. His footwork needs help, and he doesn’t have too much power. Turman is going to have to take the fight down to have a good chance. But as mentioned before, Roberson is a decent wrestler and was training hard in wrestling.
Karl Roberson by Decision
Marvin Vettori v. Cezar Ferreira
Marvin Vettori is coming off a USADA suspension, a very low level of Ostarine, so USADA believes he wasn’t taking it intentionally. Before that, he had a great fight against Israel Adesanya, that he lost by split decision. That fight was 13 months ago, and this is the longest time off between fights. Will he show octagon rust? Vettori is going to want to keep the fight standing up and use his striking to keep Cezar Ferreira at distance.
Cezar Ferreira is a veteran that has fought a lot of mid level guys. He seems to be one of the gatekeepers in the UFC. Being a brazilian, his strength lies in his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and grappling. He is going to try to take the fight to the ground. This fight depends on Vettori’s takedown defense. If he doesn’t have it, Ferreira is in for a good night.
Cezar Ferreira by 2nd round Submission
PRELIMS
John Allan Arte v. Mike Rodriguez
John Allan Arte is making his UFC debut, on short notice. He is a boxer that is hoping to add his name to the rising prospects in the light heavyweight division. Of his 13 wins, 9 come by KO/TKO, so you know he will want to stand in the middle of the octagon and knock Mike Rodriguez out.
Mike Rodriguez is a Dana White Contender Series veteran and he has quite the power in his hands as well. Of his 10 wins, 8 come by KO/TKO. Mike Rodriguez is going to want to stand in the middle of the octagon too.
Mike Rodriguez by 1st round TKO
Andre Fili v. Sheymon Moraes
Andre Fili has been around the UFC for 6 years, and is only 29. I thought he was a lot older than that based on the amount of times I’ve watched him fight. Fili hasn’t put together a solid winning streak in his UFC career. Since his loss to Calvin Kattar, he found a renewed love for fighting and is coming off a win of Myles Jury that he hopes to build on and propel himself to better competition and make a run at the belt. Fili is a Team Alpha Male fighter, with several others on this card, and is a striker but his grappling is effective as well. He is a pretty well rounded fighter. He just has to put it all together in one fight to get the W.
Sheymon Moraes is a featherweight with impressive. He is 2-2 since entering the UFC and he hopes to get a win over an established veteran. Of 11 wins, 5 come by KO/TKO. The rest were decision wins. Moraes is going to look to keep this fight on the feet and is going to try to get the finish of Fili.
Andre Fili by Decision
Julianna Pena v. Nicco Montano
Julianna Pena is coming back from a layoff due to the birth of her first child. Before that, she suffered a submission loss to flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko Before that, she was on a 4 fight win streak and was at the cusp of a title shot. She is hoping to get back to that spot, starting with a win over Nicco Montano, after a short term acceptance of this fight.
Nicco Montano was the original winner of the UFC women’s flyweight championship. She was unceremoniously stripped when she couldn’t pick a fight to defend her title. She is stepping up in weight to 135, and this could be a boon for her career. I bet she won’t miss cutting down to 125. She is coming off a long layoff because of a foot injury, and she was also involved in a group of fighters that were suspended for low levels of ostarine. She wants to make a statement that she is back and better than ever.
Julianna Pena by Decision
Darren Elkins v. Ryan Hall
This is a very interesting matchup. The quintessential striker, Darren Elkins, v. the quintessential grappler, Ryan Hall. Elkins, famous for his comeback win against Mirsad Bektic, is a monster that will not stop moving forward…as long as he is on his feet. His nickname, The Damage, is well earned and that win over Bektic is legendary. He was losing the entire fight, but somehow pulled off a late KO win. Elkins is going to keep moving forward and trying to break Ryan Hall’s face and spirit. He is coming off two losses to Ricardo Lamas and Alexander Volkanovski.
Ryan Hall is an enigma in the UFC. He only has 3 fights in the UFC, since joining in 2015. He won all 3 of those. He beat Artem Lobov, Gray Maynard, and BJ Penn. BJ is the only submission win of the 3. The other 2 were decision, and when a Ryan Hall fights go to decision, it is usually a snooze fest. Ryan Hall’s nickname, The Wizard, is pretty well earned as he is submission specialist. His strategy tends to be to fall back and try to grab their leg for a leg lock or transition to a different submission. This is a good matchup for him, Elkins will keep moving forward, putting him in danger of a Ryan Hall submission.
Ryan Hall by 1st round Submission
Liu Pingyuan v. Jonathan Martinez
Liu Pingyuan is a decently well rounded fighter out of Team Alpha Male, that is making his 3rd trip to the octagon. He is facing off with Jonathan Martinez, who is also making his third trip to the octagon. Martinez is more of a striker and these are two guys trying to make a name for themselves and will put on a good show.
Liu Pingyuan by Decision
Livinha Souza v. Brianna Van Buren
Livinha Souza is making her third trip to the octagon. She is a BJJ specialist that has 8 submission wins out of 13 total wins. She is going to try to take this to the ground and get a submission win. She is fighting Brianna Van Buren, an American Kickboxing Academy student, that is making her octagon debut, on short notice filling in for Cynthia Calvillo. She is a pressure fighter that is going to try to bring the fight to Souza.
Livinha Souza by 3rd round Submission
Benito Lopez v. Vince Morales
Team Alpha Male fighter Benito Lopez is making his third appearance in the octagon. He is 9-1 and coming off his first loss to Manny Bermudez by submission. How will he bounce back from that? He goes up against grappler Vince Morales. Morales has some power as 5 of his 9 wins have come by KO/TKO. He is also 1-1 in his UFC career. His loss coming at the hands of Team Alpha Male rising star Yadong Song. Can he beat this Team Alpha Male fighter?
Benito Lopez by Decision
Fight of the Night
Josh Emmett v. Mirsad Bektic