Fabricio Werdum vs. Mark Hunt: A Complete Guide to UFC 180
If you enjoyed The Ultimate Fighter Latin America, I have some good news for you.
You're going to see a lot of familiar faces this Saturday night at UFC 180. Five of the evening's 11 bouts feature contestants from this branch of the venerable reality series. That means 10 of the season's 16 fighters are in this event.
But hey, if you didn't watch TUF Latin America, at least you have Cain Velasquez to look forward to. Ah, wait. Velasquez got injured? In a way, this entire event was built around him. UFC 180 is happening in Mexico City. Velasquez, a proud Mexican-American, was anchoring the card by defending his heavyweight title against Fabricio Werdum after they coached against each other on the aforementioned television program.
And then Erik Perez, Joe Lauzon and Diego Sanchez fell injured, too? This is not what you want from an event that is a key tent pole in the UFC's blueprint to become more popular in Mexico and South America, thus making their sports domination of the Western Hemisphere complete.
Well crap.
Some of the air may be out of the balloon on this one. And fans may feel pressed for their MMA minutes this weekend, what with Bellator 131 and World Series of Fighting 15 also on the schedule for Saturday. But there are still some good fights to be had at UFC 180. For example, ever heard of Mark Hunt, now fighting Werdum for the interim heavyweight belt? That could be an interesting one.
There are others. Here are information capsules, predictions and viewing coordinates for the full UFC 180 card.
Enrique Briones vs. Guido Cannetti
1 of 11Division: Bantamweight
Records: Enrique Briones (15-4-1), Guido Cannetti (6-1)
See it on: UFC Fight Pass (subscription required)
This could be a nice little sleeper bout for the evening.
On the show, Briones was winning his fight with Marlon Vera until Vera landed a lightning-in-a-bottle upkick. Briones has real power, as evidenced by his eight pro knockouts. And he showed some good clinch and ground work in that lone fight as a cast member.
Cannetti has half his wins via the knockout. And if you are in Camp Cannetti, you believe he was on his way to winning his first-round scrap with Marco Beltran before the ref took a point for a kick to a downed Beltran's head. (Video evidence [subscription required] was pretty clear that the kick was indeed illegal, but it still caused controversy.)
In any case, Cannetti got another chance when he replaced Vera following Vera's withdrawal from the show for a nasty staph infection but was knocked out by Alejandro Perez after an absolutely crazily aggressive effort.
So to sum up, these are two knockout artists with something to prove. Cannetti will survive his own early adrenaline and use a more complete game and some agility to outwork the more plodding Briones.
Prediction: Cannetti, unanimous decision
Marco Beltran vs. Marlon Vera
2 of 11Division: Bantamweight
Records: Marlon Vera (6-1-1), Marco Beltran (5-3)
See it on: UFC Fight Pass (subscription required)
When Vera sustained that infection and could not fight in the semifinals of TUF Latin America, UFC President Dana White rode to the rescue, promising Vera a place at UFC 180.
And here it is. This one looks like a grappling match, with each man gaining the majority of his pro wins by submission.
It's hard not to root for Vera, given the misfortune with the skin infection and the fact that he's fighting to pay for a surgery for his daughter. But my feeling is that Beltran is the more physical of the two and will grind out the lanky Vera for the win.
Prediction: Beltran, unanimous decision
Gabriel Benitez vs. Humberto Brown
3 of 11Division: Featherweight
Records: Gabriel Benitez (16-4), Humberto Brown (4-4)
See it on: Fox Sports 1
Brown has three wins by submission and three losses the same way. That includes the one he suffered in the first round of the show. Brown is strong but susceptible, it seems, in every phase. If he's not controlling you, he's losing.
Benitez was a big fish in a small pond, one of the most experienced fighters in an experience-starved talent pool. But he showed a real and complete game in submitting Diego Rivas. It seems it's all kind of setting up for a tapout finish Saturday night.
Prediction: Benitez, submission, Rd. 1
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Jessica Eye vs. Leslie Smith
4 of 11
Division: Women's bantamweight
Records: Jessica Eye (10-2), Leslie Smith (7-5-1)
See it on: Fox Sports 1
No ambiguity in this one. Slugfest.
Both of these fighters love to charge in. Given the bombed-out-and-depleted nature of this card, the UFC has to love reading quotes like this one, delivered by Smith before her last bout, a first-round TKO of Jessamyn Duke: “When it comes down to it, about the only thing I can guarantee is A: I’m gonna make weight; and B: it’s gonna be an exciting fight."
There you go. Eye is going to function the same way. Alexis Davis controlled Eye for substantial stretches in Eye's last fight (a split-decision loss), but Eye will be the one doing the bullying this time, clinching up Smith effectively despite Smith's height (5'9" to Eye's 5'6") and slight reach advantage (67" vs Eye's 66"). Other than that, there won't be much friction to stop the fighting.
Prediction: Eye, unanimous decision
Alejandro Perez vs. Jose Quinonez
5 of 11Division: Bantamweight (TUF: Latin America bantamweight tournament final)
Records: Alejandro Perez (14-5), Jose Quinonez (3-1)
See it on: Fox Sports 1
Quinonez fires one heck of a wicked mustache-goatee combination; ergo, I must give him the edge. He's going to swashbuckle his way through this final just as, I assume, he swashbuckles his way through the rest of life.
The template is telling me I need to add some fight analysis. Very well. Each of these competitors notched a knockout and a decision on his way to UFC 180. Both men stuck out on the show for their poise (as well as, in Quinonez's case, some formidable facial hair, which I believe I already mentioned but will mention again here for emphasis).
Quinonez appears to be mainly a vertical fighter, and could be vulnerable on the ground. But I'll go with the swashbuckler, who keeps opponents off balance on the feet. All the better for the swashbuckling.
Prediction: Quinonez, TKO, Rd. 2
Yair Rodriguez vs. Leonardo Morales
6 of 11Division: Featherweight (TUF Latin America featherweight final)
Records: Yair Rodriguez (3-1), Leonardo Morales (4-0)
See it on: Fox Sports 1
Mexico's Rodriguez squares off against the 21-year-old Nicaragua native, Morales. Neither was a big favorite to get here, but TUF, like a lot of tournaments in sports, has a way of rewarding the underdog.
By that logic, I should go with Morales, the small but clear Cinderella. And Morales is a fine fighter. But Rodriguez might have had the most convincing run of any cast member. First, Humberto Brown tapped to his triangle choke, and in a later fight, Rodolfo Rubio tapped to strikes in the first round.
That is what they call pretty good. And it's hard to make a convincing argument against it. Rodriguez is smart, he is well-rounded, and he is going to win this tournament.
Prediction: Rodriguez, submission, Rd. 2
Edgar Garcia vs. Hector Urbina
7 of 11Division: Welterweight
Records: Edgar Garcia (14-3), Hector Urbina (16-8-1)
See it on: Pay-per-view
Not a lot of big implications for this contest. It's a big deal for these two journeymen, though, so we can be grateful that we are able to share this part of their journey.
Despite being only 27 years old, Urbina has been around since 2006. The American Top Teamer and TUF 19 member has faced name guys like Tim Kennedy, Jason Miller, Cathal Pendred and Lyman Good (all losses, by the way) during a pro career that has taken him through just about every promotion on Earth.
Garcia's in about the same boat, except that he has two official UFC fights on the ledger. Take a guess who he lost to in his last UFC fight back in 2009. If you said "DeMarques Johnson," you are correct.
Both come from wrestling backgrounds but like to bang. Garcia is the more powerful and well-rounded of the two, so that may give him the edge, particularly if there is a mutual desire for pleasing the crowd.
Prediction: Garcia, submission, Rd. 2
Chris Heatherly vs. Augusto Montano
8 of 11
Division: Welterweight
Records: Chris Heatherly (8-2), Augusto Montano (13-1)
See it on: Pay-per-view
Heatherly's base is wrestling. So what does it say that he was the first omoplata victim in UFC history?
It doesn't mean he lacks talent, but maybe he did play it a little loose in his UFC debut. He'll have an opportunity to tighten things up against Montano, a 30-year-old who wasn't on a lot of radar screens before now and probably only entered the UFC 180 picture because he hails from the same city where the event is happening.
He's got some punching power—and has a pretty massive six-inch height advantage (6'2" against Heatherly's 5'8")—but Heatherly should be able to smother him out.
Prediction: Heatherly, unanimous decision
Ricardo Lamas vs. Dennis Bermudez
9 of 11
Division: Featherweight
Records: Ricardo Lamas (14-3), Dennis Bermudez (14-3)
See it on: Pay-per-view
Identical records, nearly identical styles. This one is hard to call.
Both guys are athletic, aggressive and just plain old tough. Both use these tools to break down their opponents. So something/someone has got to give here. Surely the UFC would love to see Bermudez prevail, as he's the younger up-and-coming guy, and he doesn't already have a loss to champ Jose Aldo on his record, as Lamas does. This time, the UFC will get its wish, with Bermudez inflicting more damage on the feet to make the difference.
Prediction: Bermudez, unanimous decision
Jake Ellenberger vs. Kelvin Gastelum
10 of 11
Division: Welterweight
Records: Kelvin Gastelum (9-0), Jake Ellenberger (29-8)
See it on: Pay-per-view
My Spidey sense is tingling on this one. Gastelum is a hot commodity, riding a big streak that goes back to, well, the beginning of his career but more specifically to his contract-winning stint on TUF 17. Ellenberger, himself a sure-fire contender once upon a time, is the faded veteran with nothing special left in the tank.
So watch Ellenberger knock him out, and then it's all, "Jake Ellenberger is back!" and everybody who doesn't have to write down picks before the fights saying, "Yep, I had Ellenberger all along, no one should have ever counted out Jake Ellenberger." And I sit there and think "aaaargh!" like Charlie Brown with the football.
It's all just a little too easy. But here's the rub: I'm a sucker for easy stuff. Gastelum uses his wrestling and his mini-Cain charisma to take what everyone is currently thinking he will take. I'm glad we had this talk.
Prediction: Gastelum, unanimous decision
Mark Hunt vs. Fabricio Werdum
11 of 11
Division: Heavyweight (for interim UFC Heavyweight Championship)
Records: Fabricio Werdum (18-5-1), Mark Hunt (10-8-1)
See it on: Pay-per-view
You could say the turning point in Werdum's career was the moment Fedor Emelianenko tapped to that triangle.
Or you could see it as the moment he put that knee up Roy Nelson's nose.
The latter was the nutshell moment when it became clear that Werdum had a dangerous striking game to complement his world-class jiu-jitsu. And with that, the puzzle pieces locked into place for a UFC title run.
And here he is. He is not the most heralded of contenders or even heavyweights, but he is awfully good. Hunt is a popular and worthy competitor, and he could knock out an oak tree. But he himself has admitted that, here on short notice and in the high altitude and so on, he has little more than a puncher's chance, and that the clock will be ticking even on that.
Hunt will gas, Werdum will not, and Brazil will have itself a new UFC champion.
Prediction: Werdum, unanimous decision
Scott Harris likes to write and talk about MMA. He has been accused of being someone who yells at the TV a lot, in the kind of way that expects a reply. Scott doesn't have an antidote for this. In any case, feel free to follow Scott on Twitter if any of this sounds appealing.
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