By Adam Martin
This week’s Monday Fight Survey is primarily dedicated to the upcoming UFC on FOX 8 card, which recently had three new fights announced for it, as well as a bonus fight at the upcoming UFC 162 card.
Rory MacDonald vs. Jake Ellenberger, UFC on FOX 8
Top welterweight contenders Rory MacDonald and Jake Ellenberger will meet in Seattle, and with both fighters coming into the fight on winning streaks, it’s possible the winner will see himself fighting for the title in the near future after Johny Hendricks get his crack at UFC champion Georges St-Pierre.
Both Ellenberger and MacDonald are entering this bout off their respective career-defining wins, as Ellenberger knocked out former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nate Marquardt at UFC 158 and MacDonald beat up on former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion BJ Penn at UFC on FOX 5. Both men are extremely aggressive stand-up strikers, and fans will definitely get a good showing.
There have been some people that have said Ellenberger should have been matched up against Demian Maia but I like the MacDonald fight much better, and I think the casual fans — the ones that the UFC is targeting with its FOX fights — will, too. This is great matchmaking and hopefully, knock on wood, MacDonald doesn’t get hurt in training camp so we get to actually see this fight.
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Tarec Saffiedine vs. Robbie Lawer, UFC on FOX 8
Along wth MacDonald vs. Ellenberger, another high-profile 170-pound tilt was added to UFC on FOX 8 as the last Strikeforce welterweight champion Tarec Saffiedine will take on former EliteXC middleweight title-holder Robbie Lawler. The fight will be Saffiedine’s UFC debut, while Lawler knocked out Josh Koscheck in his return to the Octagon at UFC 157.
I’ve seen more than a few people complain about this fight, saying that Saffiedine and Lawler should have been matched up with UFC fighters, but I have to disagree. When matchmaking fights, the most important thing to consider is how exciting the fight should be, and a secondary consideration is how the fight makes sense in the division’s rankings, not what promotion the fighters came from. And that’s exactly why this fight got made — because it should be an exciting stand-up fight and the winner will be immediately launched into title contention.
This is a great opportunity for Saffiedine, who fought on many low-rated Strikeforce cards but who now gets to fight on FOX for the first time. And it’s a great opportunity for Lawler, too, because he gets to prove that his TKO on Koscheck was real in front of a massive television audience. This should be a fun fight and the UFC was smart to book it.
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Bobby Green vs. Danny Castillo, UFC on FOX 8
The UFC also added a lightweight bout between the scrappy Bobby Green and Team Alpha Male member Danny Castillo to the Seattle event. Green is coming off an amazing UFC debut win over Jacob Volkmann at UFC 156, while Castillo was last seen winning a decision over Paul Sass at UFC on FX 7.
This should be a very fun little fight that features some exciting scrambles and back-and-forth action. Sure, neither Green or Castillo is a household name (yet, anyways), but both of these fighters consistently deliver a good showing and that’s why the UFC decided to book this match.
This is a very important fight for both fighters at this point in their respective careers and look for the winner of this fight to get a step up in the lightweight division.
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John Makdessi vs. Edson Barboza, UFC 162
In what might be the best fight announced all of last week, the UFC confirmed that a lightweight contest between flashy strikers John Makdessi and Edson Barboza has been booked for UFC 162, which takes place July 6 in Las Vegas.
Both Makdessi and Barboza are extremely high-level standup fighters who each have had memorable “spinning” knockouts in the UFC. For the Canadian Makdessi, it was his spinning back fist KO of Kyle Watson at UFC 129, while for Barboza it was his spinning wheel kick KO of Terry Etim at UFC 142. Both knockouts were amazing, and both are going to be playing on UFC highlight reels for years to come.
On paper, this should be a very exciting fight, however Makdessi has been criticized by some as playing it a little too safe in his last few fights. Against Barboza, though, he won’t have that luxury, so hopefully the fans get what they want and that’s a “Fight of the Night”-type showing from both men.
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Adam Martin has blogged for theScore.com and is a regular contributor to Sportsnet.ca’s MMA section. Follow him on Twitter @MMAdamMartin.
