While most of the attention for UFC on FOX 4 has gone to the four light-heavyweights competing in the main and co-main events, there are several other interesting storylines to follow.
The most intriguing one is UFC veteran and Ultimate Fighter season 1 competitor Mike Swick returning to the Octagon after 911 days away, recovering from injuries and illness.
Also, there are many talented fighters competing on the preliminary card and a handful of them have a lot to gain.
Watch UFC on FOX 4 live on Sportsnet ONE, Pacific and West Saturday starting at 8pm ET / 5 pm PT and watch preliminary action starting at 7pm ET / 4pm PT also on Sportsnet ONE, Pacific and West
SPORTSNET.CA guest bloggers Dwight Wakabayashi and Brad Taschuk debate whether Swick can make a successful comeback and which fighter on the preliminary card has the most to gain from a win.
WHICH PRELIM FIGHTER HAS THE MOST TO GAIN?
Taschuk: Grispi will rise up the ranks
Looking at Saturday’s UFC on FOX 4 undercard, Josh Grispi has the most to gain from an impressive performance. The man who was thought to be the biggest threat to Jose Aldo when the WEC and UFC merged has since gone into a tailspin, losing his two bouts inside the Octagon and looking rather listless in both performances. Prior to that, Grispi was garnering an incredible amount of attention due to his 10-fight win streak at the time of the merger, with nine of those victories coming inside the first round.
If Grispi were to even show glimpses of the form that saw him dispose of Mark Hominick in under three minutes, he could quickly rise back up the featherweight ladder which is sorely lacking in challengers at the moment.
The Massachusetts native has plenty of reason for optimism moving forward, as he has shown the ability to finish fights effectively with both strikes and submissions. However, what will truly determine Grispi’s future success is how he reacts when he isn’t able to dispatch his opponents in short order. In his losses to Dustin Poirier and George Roop, the 23-year-old faded badly after the first round, and allowed his opponents to take over.
If Grispi can either put grappling phenom Rani Yahya away early like he has done to so many other foes, or show that he has improved his cardio, he will prove that his run in the WEC was certainly no “Fluke” and the future looks bright for a man once seen as a top prospect at 145 pounds.
Wakabayashi: Phan has the most to gain
If Phil Davis was taking on original opponent Chad Griggs instead of Wagner Prado, I think that he or Griggs would get the nod on this one. Since that isn’t the case, if Nam Phan can get a dominant win or stoppage against Cole Miller, he could gain the most in a fairly shallow division.
Phan already has a good following of fans and his UFC record is deceiving because he has faced some of the best in the division and has held his own in each one. Miller, despite the fact that he is coming off a loss is one of the more recognized names on the undercard and in the division. If Phan can work his standup and stay off his back, he has a good chance of taking a decision, but if he gets a big stoppage, he will be one or two wins away from a shot at the title.
No disrespect to Erik Koch, but him having a shot at the title so early in his career shows how shallow the division is. A guy like Hatsu Hioki was said to be the No. 2 before he put in a very disappointing and unimpressive performance in his last fight. Phan could climb the ladder quickly with a win.
CAN MIKE SWICK FIND SUCCESS IN THE UFC AGAIN?
Taschuk: The welterweight division has moved on
Amid little fanfare, Swick makes his return to active competition after countless injuries and setbacks. The real question is whether the AKA fighter can return to a level of prominence in the division. Unfortunately for Swick, my answer is a resounding no. If we’re really being honest about Swick’s career, he’s never even beaten a truly topflight fighter, so it’s hard to imagine after being out for over two years, coming back at age 33 and returning to a much better division than the one he left in 2010 that he’ll make a significant mark at welterweight. Even looking at Swick’s 9-3 record in his UFC career is misleading, as all nine fighters he beat are no longer with the organization, while his three losses have come to fighters still under the UFC banner.
Remember, this is the same guy who got knocked silly by Paulo Thiago before being choked unconscious, and lost a clear decision to Dan Hardy (of a recent four-fight losing streak in the UFC). Swick was a mid-tier welterweight when guys like Hardy were recipients of title shots. Now that the list of challengers reads names like Condit, Diaz, Kampmann and Hendricks, his hopes of being a force in the division have long since passed.
While he could very well beat DaMarques Johnson (as I have picked him to), and even go on a bit of a run in the division given the bloated UFC rosters we see these days (even Anthony Perosh had a three-fight win streak in the UFC) that doesn’t mean he can compete with the guys in the top ten at 170 pounds.
Wakabayashi: Swick will regain his previous form
The question of whether Swick can return to the fighter he was before his two-year rest from injury and illness is a little bit deceiving. I do believe that he can come back to the fighter that he was before, I just don’t think that fighter was ever really a top ten welterweight contender. He is a very accomplished fighter, don’t get me wrong, but he has lost every big fight he has been in, including his last two before his break. He can beat the likes of Josh Burkman, Marcus Davis and Ben Saunders, but not the Chris Lebens, Yushin Okamis, Dan Hardys or Paulo Thiagos of the MMA world.
Now Swick gets to return, with a tough fight against TUF veteran DaMarques Johnson, a fighter who is coming off a loss to John Maguire in April. DaMarques is a tricky, athletic fighter and has fought six times since Swick last entered the cage. Ring rust may be a large factor and Johnson should pounce on Swick as soon as possible.
Swick will regain his form as the fight goes on and the more fights he can be in he will get back to the fast and fairly dangerous fighter we saw before.
Brad Taschuk is a freelance writer and blogger for tazmma.wordpress.com.
Dwight Wakabayashi is a featured columnist for BleacherReport.com and a writer/analyst for MMACanada.net.
