UFC Fight Night 30 Date: September 4, 2013 Arena: Phones4u Arena City: Manchester, England Middleweight bout: Brad Scott (+245) vs Michael Kuiper (-290) Fight Breakdown: Kicking things off for the UFC Fight Night 30 preliminary card on Facebook will be a middleweight scrap between England’s own Brad Scott and Holland’s Michael Kuiper. Scott is the big underdog heading into this bout at +245 ($100 to win $245), while Kuiper is the favorite at -290 ($290 to win $100) at Several Bookmakerss. BRAD SCOTT (8-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) is making his second Octagon appearance, coming off a unanimous decision loss to Robert Whitaker at the The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Smashes finale, in a fight I personally scored for him 29-28. I felt he got unlucky and lost a hometown decision there. Following the loss, he moves up a weight class, back to middleweight, where he has fought throughout the majority of his professional mixed martial arts career. People don’t think it’s a smart move for him to be moving up a weight class after a loss, but perhaps the weight cut was taking a toll on him. You could see him tire in the third round of the Whitaker fight, and Scott is generally a well-conditioned athlete who does not tire. He uses his cardio as a weapon and grinds opponents out, so when you see him breathing hard, you know something is wrong. That said, a move up to 185 may be what is best for him, and come fight time tomorrow, we will know for sure. The 24-year old Brit has good boxing and wrestling skills. He is a real grinder; he uses his boxing to set-up his takedowns, and grinds out W’s, and all of his eight professional career wins have come inside the distance. Five of them by T/KO and three by submission. MICHAEL KUIPER (12-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) made his UFC debut against Rafael Natal at UFC 143, falling short and losing a unanimous decision. After receiving the first loss on his professional mixed martial arts career resume, he faced-off against the always tough Jared Hamman, knocking him out in the second round. He followed that impressive performance with a fight against Tom Lawlor. He was beating Lawlor and looked like he was on his way to an obvious 30-27, until Lawlor took advantage of a poorly timed takedown attempt and secured a guillotine choke to earn the tap. Kuiper should have won that fight, but came up short. He says he has learned from his mistakes, and has also moved training camps, but still remains in Europe. Kuiper has very heavy hands that could hurt any 185-er he puts his hands on. He is a solid grappler, owning a black belt in Judo and a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. However, he does not prefer to grapple, but prefers to keep the fight standing where he uses his vicious fists to do damage. He has a solid judo base and it benefits him in regards to keeping the fight standing, as he has good takedown defense. Kuiper generally has decent conditioning, so I don’t expect him to gas, but against a real grinder like Scott, you can never be sure. Fight Prediction: I think Scott will take punishment, but ultimately grind this one out. I see a good portion of this fight playing up against the cage, and some on the mat. I don’t expect Scott to box for too long, I expect him to start grinding right away. Gabe’s Pick: Brad Scott by Split Decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Brad Scott +255, Scott +3.5 +145, Scott by Dec +525, and keep an eye out for Scott by Split Dec at incredibly huge dog odds!
