Jay Primetown gives his thoughts on each of the fighters who competed at UFC Fight Night 110 in Auckland, New Zealand. Jay gives his letter grades for each fighter on TheMMA-Analysis podcast which can be found on MMAOddsBreaker.com.
JJ Aldrich vs. Chan Mi Jeon Aldrich: In a fairly close fight, Aldrich did the better of landing strikes to the head to win a decision on the scorecards. Grade remains D+ Jeon: She landed 92 significant strikes in this bout, but none of them were fight altering. It was a decent UFC debut, but not nearly enough to earn a victory. Debut grade is D Kiichi Kunimoto vs. Zak Ottow
Kunimoto: He had an excellent round three, but he gave away the first two rounds. Given that he was a large underdog it wasn’t a bad performance, just not enough to get the win. Grade remains D+ Ottow: He started well in this fight getting the better of the striking. He had a poor round three but did enough to earn the win. Grade remains C- Ashkan Mokhtarian vs. John Moraga Mokhtarian: He never got comfortable in this fight. He was taken down in all three rounds and had nothing to offer off his back. Debut grade is D Moraga: A strong overall performance from the former Arizona State freestyle wrestler. He countered well on the feet and easily out grappled his opponent. Look for Moraga to face a Top 15 opponent in his next bout. Upgraded from C- to C Luke Jumeau vs. Dominique Steele Jumeau: He defended takedowns well in the final two rounds and was able to land some good punches to earn a decision win. Upgraded from D- to D Steele: He landed no major strikes on the feet and didn’t do a good enough job of forcing the fight to the ground. I expect Steele will be cut from the UFC with this loss. Downgraded from C- to D Damien Brown vs. Vinc Pichel Brown: He started off well, but he got clipped moving and that was the end of him. A first-round knockout loss is one that could see him cut from the promotion. Downgraded from D to D- Pichel: It took him a few minutes to get rid of the cobwebs, but he landed a great counter punch and was able to finish. Let’s see if he can get back into the cage quickly and get a run going. Upgraded from D+ to C- Mizuto Hirota vs. Alex Volkanovski Hirota: He had no success in this fight getting fights into dominant situations. He was beat in each facet of the game. Grade remains D+ Volkanovski: He dominated this fight from start to finish, landing punches and securing takedowns throughout to earn a decision victory. Grade remains C- Tim Elliott vs. Ben Nguyen Elliott: He never got his bearings in this fight, as he was put on his back early and put himself in a difficult submission situation which required him to tap. Downgraded from B+ to B- Nguyen: He stunned fight fans by jumping on the former title challenger early in this bout and securing a choke to give him the biggest win of his career. Upgraded from C+ to B- Ion Cutelaba vs. Henrique da Silva Cutelaba: He dropped his opponent early and finished with ground-and-pound for a quick win and decisive victory. It was a great response returning off his first UFC loss. Upgraded from D+ to C- Da Silva: He was hurt early and unable to recover. With three straight losses in the UFC, I expect him to be cut from the promotion after this defeat. Downgraded from D to D- Dan Hooker vs. Ross Pearson Hooker: He did a nice job of targeting the lead leg and keeping Pearson at distance with his jab. However, it was a counter knee that he landed when Pearson pressed forward that ended the fight. Upgraded from D+ to C- Pearson: He struggled to land consistently due to the length discrepancy in this fight. He had some success in round two, but he jumped inside one time too many as he was floored by Hooker with a thunderous knee. Pearson has now lost four straight fights. It’s difficult to see him getting another chance in the UFC. Downgraded from C to D+ Derek Brunson vs. Dan Kelly Brunson: He started off with a more calculated approach in this fight, and all it took was the first left hand he threw to land to get him the victory. Grade remains B Kelly: Speed and power are the two things he struggles with the most. In Brunson, he was facing an opponent who holds both of those. A tough loss for Kelly at 39 years old. This could be a tough fight to return from. Downgraded from C to C- Mark Hunt vs. Derrick Lewis Hunt: He did a good job of keeping Lewis on the fence and not allowing him to land with regularity. Hunt took advantage of a tired Lewis and earned a knockout win in the fourth round. Upgraded from B- to B Lewis: He simply tried to land one knockout punch throughout as opposed to landing any combinations. He got tired in round three and had little to offer beyond that. Grade remains B-
