The HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro plays host to UFC 163 this weekend, and the under card has a few recognizable names and Brazilian stars to lead into the main card. In the FX main event is BJJ ace Vinny Magalhaes (10-6) who is fresh off an extremely disappointing loss to Phil Davis earlier in the year, facing Anthony Perosh (13-7) who was last seen being knocked out by Ryan Jimmo in 7 seconds at UFC 149. If you look at Perosh’s resume, you would see an accomplished grappler with good ADCC credentials, and even a few medals. This means little for Perosh against a talent like Magalhaes, however. Vinny is arguably one of the best BJJ practitioners in the world right now, and has developed a decent stand up game in his time as the M-1 light heavyweight champion. Vinny is currently 1-3 in the UFC, and hasn’t really been able to do much outside of a brilliant armbar submission at UFC 152 to Igor Prokrajac. If the fight stays standing, Perosh has somewhat of an edge, but on the ground it’s all Magalhaes. Perosh has finished all but two of his fights in the first round, and oddly enough, between the two men, they’ve never won a decision. Bantamweight women fight for the first time in Brazil as Invicta’s Amanda Nunes (7-3) makes her UFC debut against fellow stand up fighter Sheila Gaff (10-5-1). This should be an awesome fight, and if the Brazilian crowd gets the ladies’ adrenaline pumping, we could see a rather awesome brawl. In their combined 17 wins, there are 12 knockouts, and both of these women are known for going for the finish. Nunes holds the slight edge in the grappling department, but the 23-year-old Gaff isn’t as lost on the ground as he UFC 159 loss against Sarah McMann made her look, The German Tank still wants to keep the fight standing at all times, even if the 25-year-old Brazilian native Nunes really isn’t all that great on the ground either. These ladies have never seen the judges scorecards in a victory, so expect this to be a a contender for fight of the night, as both will want to test the other’s chin. Welterweights are up next, as Sergio Moraes (7-2) is finally shaking off his TUF: Brazil loss to Cezar Mutante, and hopes to make it two wins in a row against Neil Magny (8-1) who fights out of Chicago under Miguel Torres. Moraes is a BJJ demigod, and has a host of medals and trophies from the Mundials to ADCC. Magny turned some heads on TUF 16, and won his first UFC fight against Jon Manley in an up and down affair at UFC 157. Moraes is amazing on the ground, but seems lost standing up, so Magny will be looking to stuff the takedowns to pick apart the ground specialist on the feet. Moraes has 6 submission wins to his name, while Magny has only lost one fight, via submission. Opening the FX prelims is flyweight contender Ian McCall (11-4-1), who has no doubt been on one of the most frustrating series of matches in recent memory. In his his 18 months in the UFC, he’s gone 0-2-1 and was seconds from defeating Mighty Mouse Johnson in the inaugural flyweight tournament, only seconds away from a possible stoppage victory had he not showboated to the crowd. He lost to Mighty Mouse in their rematch, then to perennial contender Joseph Benavidez at UFC 156 again by decision. His opponent is Iliarde Santos (27-7-1), a former featherweight who is making his 125 pound debut. Santos last faced Yuri Alcantara on short notice, but lost via strikes in the first round. Now, he hopes to get back on track against the improving, but still winless in the UFC, McCall. Santos is a good fighter, but he hasn’t been able to get a solid win over anyone of note, and McCall is just plain better than him. McCall is constantly getting barely edged out by his opponents, and he may have what it takes to put Santos away, but that may be underestimating the Brazilian native, who has 12 knockouts.
