By Adam Martin
This week’s Monday fight survey takes a look at four fights announced for August fight cards, including a spectacular main event for the second UFC on Fox Sports 1 card and three other terrific matchups for other late summer events.
Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampmann, UFC on FOX Sports 1: 2
The best fight announced this past week and the first fight in this week’s Fight Survey is the upcoming five-round welterweight bout between Carlos Condit and Martin Kampmann, which will be the main event of August’s UFC on Fox Sports 1: 2 card. The fight is a rematch of the pair’s razor-close match back at UFC Fight Night 18, a fight Kampmann won via close split decision.
But Condit wants revenge and now he’ll get the chance to do so but with his back up against the wall, as he’s lost his last two bouts to Georges St-Pierre and Johny Hendricks. Kampmann is also coming off a loss to Hendricks, so both of these fighters are going to be very hungry to pick up a decisive win and prove they are still top contenders, and that likely means the fans are going to get a war.
This is an absolutely awesome fight and I expect it to be one of the best fights of the year after it’s all said and done.
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Lyoto Machida vs. Phil Davis, UFC 163
Another big fight that was announced this past week is the upcoming light-heavyweight bout between Lyoto Machida and Phil Davis, which is set to take place at UFC 163. The pair were previously supposed to fight at UFC 140 expect Davis was injured and instead Machida fought Jon Jones for the UFC light-heavyweight title.
Machida vs. Davis is an intriguing fight between a lethal striker and a stud wrestler but I could see it being very boring, with Machida moving backwards a lot and landing just enough strikes on Davis in order to win a decision. But if Davis can get the takedown, he can certainly make things interesting.
Look for this bout to be the co-main event of UFC 163 and hopefully the fans in Brazil get an aggressive Machida and he goes for the knockout, but don’t surprised if this fight ends up a snoozer.
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Uriah Hall vs. Nick Ring, UFC on Fox Sports 1: 1
The UFC added a middleweight fight between Uriah Hall and Nick Ring to the UFC on Fox Sports 1: 1 preliminary card. It will be Hall’s first fight since losing in the finals of TUF 17 to Kelvin Gastelum, while Ring is looking to get back in the win column after a poor performance against Chris Camozzi at UFC 158.
I’m split on how I view this matchup. On one hand, I like how the UFC is trying to bring along Hall slowly after the surprising loss to Gastelum, but on the other hand I think he might be just a little bit too much for Ring, who looks like he’s lost a step or two.
This should be a gritty fight but I wouldn’t be shocked if Hall landed one of his signature spinning hook kicks and knocks Ring’s lights out, but Ring definitely has the chance to pull off the upset if he fights smart and beats Hall to the punch.
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Conor McGregor vs. Andy Ogle, UFC on Fox Sports 1: 1
As well, the UFC added a featherweight matchup between Conor McGregor and Andy Ogle to the UFC on Fox Sports 1: 1 card. It will be McGregor’s first fight outside of Europe and it’s a fight that has been booked in order for McGregor to get another highlight-reel knockout on his resume.
Although Ogle is a tough guy and definitely underrated by most, he’s nowhere near McGregor in the striking department and it’s likely that this fight takes place standing. Although McGregor was clipped in the chin a few times by Marcus Brimage in his UFC debut, he showed that he has exceptional knockout power and the most likely way this fight ends is with Ogle having his lights switched off.
I’m looking forward to seeing how far McGregor can go in his career but I don’t like this fight and feel as though he should be fighting someone higher up the ladder than Ogle. Still, the fans should get a pretty sweet knockout out of the fight, so I guess it serves its purpose.
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