UFC 143 Fight Card: Renan Barao vs. Scott Jorgensen Breakdown

UFC 143 falls on Super Bowl Saturday this year, and for 27-1-1 NC Andre Pederneiras pupil and Nova Uniao phenom Renan Barao, Saturday night means the biggest test of his already-impressive career against the always aggressive Scott "Young Guns" Jorgensen.

Jorgensen is a former WEC Bantamweight title contender who can fight to his game plan against anyone and still make it a fun fight, but just as Barao's never faced a wrestler that could dominate fights the way Jorgensen dominates fights, Jorgensen has never encountered a phenomenal athlete with Barao's potential for greatness and constant evolution.

How do the two stack up heading into UFC 143?

Let's take a look at the advantages of the Nova Uniao supernova, followed by the advantages of the man they call "Young Guns," in this breakdown of this potential candidate for "Fight of the Night."

Renan Barao's Muay Thai: A Strong Sign of a Bright Future?

Some would argue that, for a man who has finished the majority of his fights by submission, Barao's Muay Thai is seen as on par with that of the elite of the division, and many believe that he's more than lived up to what his potential suggests as nobody has been able to present any clear threat to Barao.

This is going to be a problem for Jorgensen, who has always been an exciting fighter but has never wowed much in the stand-up, whereas Barao has proven himself solid in bouts such as his UFC 130 bout against Cole Escovedo.

If one needed further proof of Barao's ability to strike, however, they need look no further than his last fight against Brad Pickett, who is competent on the feet in his own respect and yet was thrown off by Barao's ferocious relentlessness with his Muay Thai offense, which eventually led to the Tiger Knee that served as the bridge towards the neck crank that was called a rear naked choke, but nonetheless earned Barao a win in the co-main event of UFC 138.

Add in the fact that he can explode on his opponents with strikes without having to go into "Garcia-Jung mode", and the guy is a Jiu-Jitsu fighter with some serious stand-up ability and some even more serious technique to go with his striking.

If his UFC 138 performance was what Barao could do against PIckett, who is no slouch in any realm of the game and actually considered one of the more prominent names in the Bantamweight division, imagine how Barao will look when he's facing Jorgensen on the feet.

Scott Jorgensen Does Have Some Stand-Up Skills, Believe It or Not

Jorgensen's stand up skills have never been considered among the most refined or the most technically crisp by MMA fans or pundits, but he's gotten a lot better with his Boxing over time, and his dirty Boxing skills have always supported the argument towards his ability to land effectively from up close.

His most recent loss was to Dominick Cruz in WEC 53, but there's no shame in losing to the champion. We also have to remember that Jorgensen's only fought twice since then, so in between a KO win over Ken Stone and a UFC 137 win by unanimous decision over Jeff Curran, he's definitely taken the time to fine-tune up his regimen.

People often forget the type of fighter Jorgensen is, despite only having two KO wins, but fight fans that haven't seen Jorgensen might be surprised at what the kid can do against a serious name like Barao.

Barao might be the more diverse striker, but will he be the man more willing to push the pace against "Young Guns" on Saturday night?

The Nova Uniao Jiu-Jitsu Academy and Muay Thai Monster Factory

MMA legend Andre Pederneiras, 1-1-2 as a pro fighter in his day, runs the Nova Uniao Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Now, the team is officially a Jiu-Jitsu academy, but Pederneiras is housing more than Jiu-Jitsu aces like former UFC Middleweight title contender Thales Leites in his camp.

In addition to Leites and Barao, Pederneiras has offered his tutelage to UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo, former Sengoku Featherweight Champion Marlon Sandro, current Bellator Bantamweight Championship contender Eduardo Dantas, Luis Ramos, Yan Cabral, Johnny Eduardo, Diego Nunes and a plethora of other great Lighterweights that are noted for having some of the most-feared striking regiments in MMA today.

How feared are the men that Pederneiras has molded into some of the best array of strikers in MMA today?

They've been called a factory of Lightweight Muay Thai monsters.

Check the track records of the boys that train under Pederneiras, and try to prove that claim wrong.

Any other questions?

Scott Jorgensen and the Art of "Twisted"

Twisted Genetiks is the camp commonly associated with Scott Jorgensen, and this almost-handsome devil is Kit Cope, who is commonly known as the coach for Jorgensen.

It also helps Jorgensen out that he's not only a wrestler with a more-than-credible pedigree, but also a man that often trains with Bellator Featherweight Champion (for now) Joe Warren. When you have a wrestler the size of Warren training with you, it gives a guy a good feel of how to handle himself so that he doesn't get taken down.

As for taking a big left hook to the jaw and dropping like a tree... well, that's not something Warren should be teaching Jorgensen, but for all we know, Jorgensen might be ready to teach Barao how to take one on the chin and stay down from it.

The Jiu-Jitsu Game

The reason why nobody's pointed that much to Jorgensen's wrestling in the weeks leading up to this fight is because of Barao's Jiu-Jitsu game, which has been the one key element of Barao's game that few have been able to get past.

His technique and form have been excellent thus far. His holds have always spelled doom for his opponents, and he's shown a willingness to finish from the top and from his back, which has resulted in Barao going 4-0 in his last four fights with three submission wins and a decision win over Cole Escovedo.

Jorgensen is a solid wrestler with good top control, but he's never had to hold down a guy like Barao before, and even in trying to hold Barao down, he risks limbs as well as his neck against a man who will not be hesitant to try and look for the finish from his back.

Submission Skills Aren't Just for BJJ Black Belts

For a BJJ purple belt, Jorgensen does have some sweet submission skills, having submitted four of his opponents in his career.

Mind you, he hasn't submitted anyone since he choked out Chad George at WEC 47, but if that fact should speak to anything, it should speak to the toughness that his opponents possessed.

When the time comes, however, Jorgensen does have what it takes to lock up a sweet submission, and as he's fighting a man who earned his black belt from Andre Pederneiras in September 2011, one of the two big questions surrounding this fight is about what Jorgensen's response will be to a submission ace like Barao.

If Jorgensen cannot respond well, Saturday might not be a great night for him.

Defense, Defense, Defense

Renan Barao has some serious defense, plain and simple.

In an MMA world that emphasizes being good everywhere, Barao has shown to be as good defensively as he is offensively.

Barao has trained himself over the years to keep his head moving and build up his defensive skills on the feet, developing some sound head movement and a keen awareness to keep his guard up along the way.

You talk about a guy that might frustrate you by keeping his guard up—that's Barao—but he's not the Bantamweight version of what Lyoto Machida was just a few years ago. Barao's definitely not going to serve as a fifteen minute-long shot of Nyquil in the process of playing defensively.

When he's on, he's on. But of course, every great fighter has to find a way to shut their opponents' offense down before turning their offense up, and Barao is one of those guys.

Luckily for Jorgensen, he signed a contract granting him the chance to shut Barao's defenses down inside of a fifteen-minute time limit at three rounds apiece, so not all hope is lost. Still, that doesn't make the job any easier for Jorgensen on Saturday night. Even Jorgensen has to admit it will not be easy to catch Barao.

Wrestling

This is a no-brainer: Jorgensen is a fantastic wrestler and trains with Joe Warren and Kit Cope consistently.

This is that other big question we've constantly pressed throughout this piece, and it's a question both men need to answer on Saturday night.

We know Jorgensen has some sick wrestling, but can Barao be held down and controlled by it. If so, how does Barao respond to it? If not, how will Jorgensen respond to the toughest opponent he's ever tried to outwrestle?

Composure

If Barao looks like he can go five rounds at any time during a fight, that's probably because he's picked up on a little something.

Now, his striking is a little something, and his Jiu-Jitsu is a little something, so what other little something could Barao have picked up?

Well, it's actually composure he picked up, and it's not so much that he picked up composure as much as it was a fact of him never really opting to be a wreckless fighter.

Sure, he turned the pace up with his striking in a lot of his fights, but he never created a ton of brawls (nor did he ever incite any, luckily) with his style; he's always managed to keep his cool and remain patient in fights, and the intense speed at which he throws... well, that's a Nova Uniao trademark. 

That patience has translated into success for Barao, who will look to keep his momentum going against Jorgensen, who has often been seen as too aggressive for his own good at times. Of course, though, Barao shouldn't bank on Jorgensen fighting very recklessly.

Aggression

Whereas Renan Barao is an exciting fighter that often shows a great deal of patience in his attack, Jorgensen is an exciting fighter that love to establish himself as the aggressor from the onset of fights.

Some have seen this as a flaw, as he's been susceptible to counters in the past due to his aggressive style, but if that's still a problem with him in 2012, he's done a good job of controlling it by picking his spots to strike and also picking his moments to set his takedowns up before shooting in.

Realistically speaking, that's the main reason why you're more likely to see Jorgensen find the tap more than the knockout. It's not that Jorgensen has no striking to speak of, but the guy uses his to set up his wrestling game, and so far, only a few people have been able to work around it.

Heart

In the long run, a fight like this boils down to the question of "who wants it more?"

Jorgensen has shown time and time again that he's not afraid to go the distance if it means earning a win, as has Barao, but something will have to give. Someone's iron will will have to show off some rust when the fight goes down.

Showing off their awesome cardio is one thing, but what happens if Jorgensen sticks a heavy slam on Barao in taking him down and rains on Barao with his ground-and-pound?

Likewise, what if Barao lands something hard that causes Jorgensen to back up and eventually fold up like a lawn chair?

Super Bowl weekend causes everyone to be on their game in some respect, but at the end of this fight, something will have to give.

The Verdict: Young Guns Will Be Loaded, but "Barao" Will Be Quicker in the Kill

The fact of the matter is that Renan Barao is a completely different animal than any of the fighters Scott Jorgensen has fought and beaten.

In all honesty, it's easy to understand why some (in the forums, anyway) are legitimately arguing Barao as a potentially worse matchup for Jorgensen than what Dominick Cruz was for Jorgensen.

Jorgensen did neutralize the BJJ of Jeff Curran, and Curran's no bum on the ground himself, but Barao is a bit tougher to throw off physically and mentally. If the fight tries to turn itself into a wrestling match, Barao will find a way to either keep it on the feet or make Jorgensen regret trying to take the fight to the ground.

Don't discount "Young Guns" because all of the aforementioned edges and more are all why many felt he would greatly test Barao, but UFC 143 will be the night where Barao will be accurately connecting his kill-shots while Jorgensen winds up shooting blanks.

Winner: Renan Barao by second-round Ninja (Brabo) Choke