Jay Primetown gives his thoughts on each of the fighters who competed at UFC 188 in Mexico City, Mexico and updates his letter grades on each. Jay gives his letter grades for each fighter on TheMMA-Analysis podcast which can be found on MMAOddsbreaker.com Gabriel Benitez vs. Clay Collard Benitez: Best performance we’ve seen from Benitez inside the octagon. Easily outstruck a good boxer with faster hands and excellent use of leg kicks. Nice job landing to the body. Needs to improve takedown defense. Upgraded from D to C- Collard: Just a disappointing performance overall. Showed real holes in the standup. Still he’s a durable fighter and does not give. That alone means he’ll have a lengthy career in the octagon. Not sure if this was just a letdown fight or something more. Grade remains C- Augusto Montano vs. Cathal Pendred Montano: Altitiude seemed to effect him. Was afraid to engage with Pendred for fear of takedown. Showed nothing to excite me about his prospects moving forward. Downgraded from C- to D+ Pendred: Striking defense improved a bit and was capable of dragging Montano into a fight he was comfortable with. Grade remains D+ Johnny Case vs. Francisco Trevino Case: Really nice balance of accurate striking and takedowns into grappling. Looked great until the eye poke. Fought through that adversity to win a clear decision. Grade remains C Trevino: Outside of being durable with a good chin, very little to write home about for Trevino. Downgraded from D+ to D Alejandro Perez vs. Patrick Williams Perez: Fight didn’t last long to see any offense from him. Took a punch and his opponent quickly synched in a choke. Grade remains D Williams: Has real power for a bantamweight and the power guillotine won me over. Question marks still remain on cardio, but this was a big win to show he has something to offer in the UFC. Upgraded from D- to D+ Drew Dober vs. Efrain Escudero Dober: Like the fight that preceded this one, it didn’t last long enough to make much lasting impressions. Grade remains D+ Escudero: Quick finish with a very nice choke. Has had a nice run of late in the UFC, but still limited overall. Upgraded from D+ to C- Chico Camus vs. Henry Cejudo Camus: Did better than most expected against Cejudo, but was still outstruck and pushed against the cage repeatedly. Takedown defense was excellent in the loss. Upgraded from C+ to B Cejudo: Had a difficult weight cut, but was still able to outstrike a fighter with quick hands. Needs more variety in his striking to show he can compete with Demetrious Johnson. Grade remains A- Angela Hill vs. Tecia Torres Hill: Big time size for the weight class, but really needs to work on her defensive wrestling. If she can force opponents into prolonged stand up exchanges, she could do well. Still very raw. Grade remains C- Torres: Significantly undersized against her opponent, but still held her own. Wrestling is decent, but submissions are a concern. Clear top 10 in the division, just think physical limitations cap her ceiling. Grade remains B Yair Rodriguez vs. Charles Rosa Rodriguez: Improved significantly since the TUF Finale. Striking is fluid with a lot of variety. Excellent athlete that also showed a great ability to synch in a triangle. Appears to have the highest ceiling of the fighters from the first season of TUF Latin America. Upgraded from D+ to C Rosa: Crafty submission game, but striking ability is a real black mark. He will struggle to improve beyond currently level unless he’s able to compete on the feet. Grade remains C- Kelvin Gastelum vs. Nate Marquardt Gastelum: Looked a few levels above Nate Marquardt. Hand speed and foot speed were the key differences in this fight. Dominant performance from Gastelum. Grade remains B Marquardt: Just can’t compete at this level of MMA anymore. Speed is a big problem as it looks like Marquardt is stuck in quick sand. It’s time that Marquardt sits down and thinks about his future. Downgraded from C+ to C Eddie Alvarez vs. Gilbert Melendez Alvarez: Overcame adversity from getting his eye shut by a Melendez elbow. It really seemed like he wanted it more. Simple as that. Upgraded from B+ to A- Melendez: Great start to the fight, but really seemed to struggle with conditioning as fight wore on. Surprised by his inability to change to another gear. Grade remains A- Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum Velasquez: Whether it was ring rust, altitude, wear and tear or a combination of all three, Velasquez did not have an answer for Werdum’s striking. He was beaten convincingly. Downgraded from A+ to A Werdum: Improvements in striking technique from training with Rafael Cordiero are clear. Had a great game plan that he stuck to and thus was able to win the championship. If this fight took place at sea level, I’m not convinced it would of played out the same way. Upgraded from A- to A
