UFC Fight Nights 55 and 56: A Complete Guide to the Full Cards
Remember when the mad scientist Dr. Frankenstein combed the human scrap heaps of society, selecting pieces of the dead and dying to create his own singular (and singularly powerful) version of life?
So take the opposite of that and you have UFC Fight Nights 55 and 56. The big names, the compelling matchups, the interesting prospects, the title implications—they're all there. But what we have is one powerful cable TV card rent asunder and distributed piecemeal to quell the squeals of globalization and media diversification.
This weekend could have been awesome, bro, is what I'm saying. And it will still have awesome moments. We'll just have to seek out and consume those moments in the same piecemeal fashion in which they are being presented.
Hopefully, this guide to both cards will help you get that done.
On Friday evening America time, UFC Fight Night 55 kicks off from Sydney, Australia—or as I like to call it, The Land Down Under. That card unfolds entirely on UFC Fight Pass, the company's subscription streaming service.
Twenty-four hours later and 8,500 miles away, UFC Fight Night 56 gets rolling in Uberlandia, Brazil. The first contest airs on Fight Pass, but then the action moves to cable partners Fox Sports 2 and Fox Sports 1.
Lots of stuff to take in; 22 helpings of MMA action spread over two days, to be precise. The most visible bouts are probably the Fight Night 55 main event between faux-rivals Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold (and really, bless their hearts for trying) and the Fight Night 56 co-main between Ian McCall and John Lineker, which could determine the next title challenger at flyweight.
Here are quick summaries on all the preliminary fights, alongside our usual information capsules, predictions and viewing coordinates for every main-card match. Gaze upon the wonder we hath wrought.
UFC Fight Night 55 Prelims
1 of 11
See them on:
UFC Fight Pass
Lightweight: Jake Matthews (7-0) vs. Vagner Rocha (11-3)
Light heavyweight: Anthony Perosh (14-8) vs. Guto Inocente (6-3)
Welterweight: Dylan Andrews (17-5) vs. Sam Alvey (23-6)
Welterweight: Vik Grujic (7-3) vs. Chris Clements (11-5)
Flyweight: Richie Vaculik (10-2) vs. Louis Smolka (7-1)
Middleweight: Luke Zachrich (14-3) vs. Daniel Kelly (7-0)
Bantamweight: Jumabieke Tuerxun (14-2) vs. Marcus Brimage
Soa Palelei vs. Walt Harris
2 of 11
Division: Heavyweight
Records: Soa Palelei (21-4), Walt Harris (7-3)
See it on: UFC Fight Pass (subscription required)
Of all the UFC heavyweight fights that have ever happened, this might be the heavyweightest.
That's not a description I lay down very often, but boom. These giants are going to lumber and they are going to lumber mightily. There will be wheezing, possibly gasping.
As for their fight games, both men have massive knockout power, but there's not a lot of mix in their MMA.
The difference may be Palelei's camp. He's now working under UFCer-turned-coach Mike Swick at American Kickboxing Academy's Thailand field office, and apparently following Cain Velasquez's own training and conditioning program. Let's hope they left out the part where you get injured.
A deeper gas tank, combined with that otherworldly power, might swing this one for the big Australian.
Prediction: Palelei, TKO, Rd. 2
Robert Whittaker vs. Clint Hester
3 of 11
Division: Middleweight
Records: Robert Whittaker (12-4), Clint Hester (11-3)
See it on: UFC Fight Pass (subscription required)
Whittaker is saying he wants a slugfest with Clint Hester. No, Robert Whittaker. That is not something that you want.
This is Whittaker's first fight in the division after moving up from welterweight. But he will still not be in a position to bully the very large Clint Hester. If Whittaker tries to stick and move, that's better. But it still may not be enough. Hester has shown decent endurance and the strategic understanding of how to prevent smaller guys (and to him, they're all smaller guys) from dancing away.
It's a brutal welcome to the weight class for Whittaker, even with the friendly Australian audience behind him. Methinks it prove a measure too brutal. Hester will test Whittaker's chin and it's not quite going to pass.
Prediction: Hester, TKO, Rd. 2
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Ross Pearson vs. Al Iaquinta
4 of 11
Division: Lightweight
Records: Ross Pearson (16-7), Al Iaquinta (9-3-1)
See it on: UFC Fight Pass (subscription required)
A lot of the MMA media's job is eliciting and chronicling the slinging of beef between fighters. The direct he-said-he-said that "hypes" a fight can string out for full news cycles.
So it goes with Pearson and Iaquinta, your Friday co-main. In a nutshell, Pearson doesn't respect Iaquinta's kickboxing, and Iaqunita is now bent on forcing Pearson to bend the knee. We'll see on Friday.
Personally, I think Iaquinta could use his takedown skills to good effect. Pearson has a solid but not impregnable 79 percent takedown defense rate, and Iaquinta converts half the takedown shots he attempts.
But honestly, I see this one working out more as a brawl. And that's Ross Pearson country.
Prediction: Pearson, TKO, Rd. 2
Luke Rockhold vs. Michael Bisping
5 of 11
Division: Middleweight
Records: Luke Rockhold (12-2-1), Michael Bisping (25-6)
See it on: UFC Fight Pass (subscription required)
The Sydney Opera House was an appropriate backdrop for something this orchestrated. In front of Australia's top landmark, Rockhold and Bisping traded insults about knockouts and neckties and whatever else. I trailed off.
Pretty tepid stuff. They get points for style and effort, but it just wasn't convincing. I'm afraid the fight will not be, either.
It's not overly difficult to plug Bisping's high-energy point-boxing style into the computer and let the models do their work. Things boded well against a slower Cung Le, and so they were. It's less promising against Rockhold, the overlooked contender of the middleweight division who should really be fighting someone higher up the ladder.
Instead, Rockhold has to slog through a few months of cheap heat before he can twist another sucker into submission. At least he got some free trips to Australia out of the deal.
Prediction: Rockhold, submission, Rd. 2
UFC Fight Night 56
6 of 11
See them on: Fox Sports 2
Diego Rivas vs. Rodolfo Rubio
Caio Magalhaes vs. Trevor Smith
Dhiego Lima vs. Pawel Pawlak
Leandro Silva vs. Charlie Brenneman
Thomas Almeida vs. Tim Gorman
On UFC Fight Pass (subscription required)
Wagner Silva vs. Colby Covington
Juliana Lima vs. Nina Ansaroff
7 of 11
Division: Women's strawweight
Records: Juliana Lima (6-2), Nina Ansaroff (6-3)
See it on: Fox Sports 1
Good to see the strawweights make the main card this time.
Lima was originally part of the The Ultimate Fighter 20 cast before being pulled from the show because of the language barrier. She still got her chance in the UFC, though, and was a house on fire in her July debut, firing Muay Thai bombs and takedown shots left and right but ultimately flaming out for a decision loss.
Will the same thing happen against Ansaroff? Probably not. But after her debut, I'm not sure Lima knows how to be her own best friend in the cage.
Ansaroff is a tenacious knockout artist in her own right. She's on a five-fight win streak, all by stoppage and all but one by strikes. Think Amanda Nunes with more precision.
Someone's going down here, and my guess is Ansaroff will capitalize on a moment of excess aggression.
Prediction: Ansaroff, TKO, Rd. 2
Claudio Silva vs. Leon Edwards
8 of 11Division: Welterweight
Records: Claudio Silva (10-1) Leon Edwards (8-1)
See it on: Fox Sports 1
London Shootfighters is on a bit of an upswing lately. The camp has a high-profile prospect in Bellator's Michael Page, and now it has an interesting UFC fighter in Claudio Silva.
The 32-year-old seems to thrive on chaos, charging forward and uncorking capoeira kicks and stuff to knock his opponent off-kilter and ripen him up for takedowns. A grappler, Silva is great in the scramble and knows how to lock on to a limb. He's also not above gamesmanship, if you agree with UFC debut opponent Brad Scott.
Silva will really have to pull something out of his hat to get past Edwards, who got The Call after excelling in the BAMMA promotion. There doesn't appear to be any problem The Englishman doesn't think he can solve with his fists or elbows. You stick with what works, I guess.
Silva could upend the formula, if he can get Edwards horizontal. But that word, "if," suggests a conditional thing. It will take more than flying feints to get Edwards vulnerable.
Prediction: Edwards, TKO, Rd. 1
Warlley Alves vs. Alan Jouban
9 of 11
Division: Welterweight
Records: Alan Jouban (10-2), Warlley Alves (7-0)
See it on: Fox Sports 1
Jouban is making a name for himself. The Muay Thai standout and working model from Louisiana got a stirring knockout over Seth Baczynski in his UFC debut in August, and it netted him a Fight of the Night bonus check.
But Warlley Alves is no Seth Baczynski. The undefeated Brazilian, who trains alongside Jacare Souza at X-Gym, stormed out of the Jungle Fight promotion to take the TUF Brazil 3 title. The guy is a finisher, pure and simple. If you get in the clinch or on the ground with the 24-year-old, you are in what they call trouble. Alves is also dropping to welterweight for this fight, making him even more powerful.
Alves is an extraordinarily promising prospect, and he'll put a game fighter in Jouban on the defensive and keep him there until the need for defense is gone.
Prediction: Alves, submission, Rd. 2
Ian McCall vs. John Lineker
10 of 11
Division: Flyweight
Records: Ian McCall (13-4-1), John Lineker (24-7)
See it on: Fox Sports 1
For a long time now, I haven't been a huge believer in "Uncle Creepy" McCall. Great wrestling, sure. Knockout power, check. But I just didn't see him having "it" when it came to that battleground between the ears.
Am I wrong here? If I am, he'll beat Lineker Saturday night under the co-main event limelight he seems to want so badly.
Lineker is a bit of a wild card in his own right. His difficulties begin during a challenging weight cut that doesn't always end with, you know, unmitigated success. On the other hand, he can knock the engine block out of a Chevy.
McCall has more tools in his bag than Lineker, but again, it's the intangibles that raise the red flags. Can he control himself in there? Can he stay patient, work his game plan and drive through openings?
Despite his wins and his talent, I'm not sure he can. But hey. Maybe I'm wrong.
Prediction: Lineker, unanimous decision
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Ovince St. Preux
11 of 11
Division: Light Heavyweight
Records: Ovince St. Preux (16-6), Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (22-9)
See it on: Fox Sports 1
This is not a compelling fight.
At one point, I thought Shogun had another run at light heavyweight in him. He doesn't. The old lion no longer has the knees or lungs for such things.
At one point, I thought OSP had the athleticism and charisma to become the next force at 205 pounds. Uh, it hasn't panned out.
Basically, one fighter is too green and the other is too gray. Neither end of the spectrum brings a ton of assurance that you'll see a fun scrap, especially given the added uncertainty of a late opponent replacement (St. Preux is stepping in on short notice for the injured Jimi Manuwa).
If you have to make a pick, make it for the celebrated Brazilian and the cage smarts he's developed after so many revolutions of the engine. He can neutralize the Tennessee linebacker in the clinch and coax another win from that shopworn body. Hooray.
Prediction: Rua, unanimous decision
Scott Harris writes about MMA and other things for Bleacher Report and other places. For MMA talk of a more unserious nature, follow Scott on Twitter.
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