Jay Primetown gives his thoughts on each of the fighters who competed at UFC Fight Night 69 in Berlin, Germany 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 Taylor Lapilus vs. Ulta Sasaki Lapilus: Very clean performance. Showed improvements in his takedown defense allowing him to display his well-timed striking combinations. Still green, but plenty of time given age to make improvements. Upgraded from D+ to C- Sasaki: Stock is really turning sour on the Japanese fighter. Sure, he has a crafty grappling game, but lost on the feet and chin is poor. Downgraded from C- to D+ Piotr Hallmann vs. Magomed Mustafaev Hallmann: Solid grinder, that is tough fight for up and coming fighters in the division. Doesn’t have the striking to get to the next level. Grade remains C. Mustafaev: Offensive variety and power impressed me. Very talented in that regard. Needs to improve takedown defense, but has the tools to be a top 15 fighter in the division in the not so distant future. Mustafaev Full grade (Before Fight / After Fight): Offensive Striking: C / B- Striking Defense: C / C Knockout Power: C / B- Athleticism/Speed: C+ / C+ Footwork: C / C Chin: C+ / C+ Offensive Wrestling: C+ / C Takedown Defense: C- / D+ Submissions: B- / C+ Conditioning: C / C Intangibles: C+ / B- Overall Grade: C / C+ Scott Askham vs. Antonio Dos Santos Askham: Big uppercut and finish from the Englishman. Interesting prospect at middleweight, but too willing to stand on the cage. Needs to change this mentality. Grade remains C- Dos Santos: Imposing fighter when pushing forward, but question marks about chin and cardio make me believe he’s about at his peak in the sport. Downgraded from C- to D+ Niklas Backstrom vs. Noad Lahat Backstrom: Striking defense is a real issue. Has huge size advantage over his opponents, but does a terrible job defending on the feet. Grappling is solid, but stand up has become a liability. Downgraded from C to C- Lahat: Has definitely improved since he debuted in the UFC. Improvements in his boxing combined with his quality jiu jitsu should have him stick in the promotion for quite some time. Upgraded from D+ to C- Arnold Allen vs. Alan Omer Omer: Had a solid fight up until giving up his neck. His striking was solid and better yet his grappling looked significantly improved. Has talent, but hasn’t been able to put it all together yet. Grade remains C- Allen: Needs to put on some additional muscle in this weight class to compete, but he’s young, resilient, and game for anything. Allen Full grade (Before Fight / After Fight): Offensive Striking: C- / C- Striking Defense: D / D+ Knockout Power: C- / C- Athleticism/Speed: C+ / C+ Footwork: C+ / C Chin: C- / C Offensive Wrestling: C+ / C- Takedown Defense: D+ / D+ Submissions: D / C- Conditioning: C+ / C Intangibles: C- / C- Overall Grade: C- / C- Alan Patrick vs. Mairbek Taisumov Patrick: Striking technique is all flash with no fundamentals. Inability to score takedowns is a real issue for him moving forward. Head scratching performance. Downgraded from C to C- Taisumov: Powerful, accurate striker that gave Alan Patrick all sorts of problems. I was luke warm on this guy, but now a believer. Upgraded from C- to C+ Makwan Amirkhani vs. Masio Fullen Amirkhani: It’s tough to really know too much given his limited time in the cage and terrible opponents, but he has shown that he can finish fights. Plus, he just has an “It” factor. Look for him to get a main card fight on a future European card. Grade remains D+ Fullen: This fight proved that he doesn’t belong in the UFC. Wrestling and grappling just not good enough to compete with caliber of fighters in the world’s top MMA promotion. Downgraded from D- to F Nick Hein vs. Lukasz Sajewski Hein: Has really begun to put in some quality performances in the UFC. Cardio has improved, boxing technique is up to par, and judo game is better than average. Still have doubts of how he’ll handle the more rangy strikers in the division. Grade remains C- Sajewski: Came into this fight with a decent amount of hype, but really showed no tools to make me believe he has a good future in the UFC. He’s durable, but that’s really it. Debuts at D Steve Kennedy vs. Peter Sobotta Sobotta: Easy victory for the German. Did what he should of done against one of the worst welterweights on the roster. Grade remains D+ Kennedy: Fed to the German to give the home country fighter a victory. Kennedy simply doesn’t have the skill-set to belong in the UFC. Kennedy Full grade (Before Fight/After Fight): Offensive Striking: C- / D+ Striking Defense: D- / D- Knockout Power: D+ / D+ Athleticism/Speed: D / D- Footwork: D / D Chin: D+ / D+ Offensive Wrestling: D+ / D Takedown Defense: D- / F Submissions: C- / D Conditioning: D+ / D+ Intangibles: D / D- Overall Grade: D- / F Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Dennis Siver Kawajiri: Relentless grappling will continue to see him be a tough out in this division. Should be used as a gatekeeper. Grade remains C+ Siver: Age and lack of striking speed continues to be a problem for Siver. He’s already hit his peak. Novelty fights are all that’s left for him at this point. Grade remains C+ Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Jessica Penne Jedrzejczyk: Striking was once again on point. Takedown defense was strong; Penne presented her with a few more challenges, but it was still one-way traffic. Would really like to see the rematch against Claudia Gadelha. Grade remains A Penne: Presented the champion with a few more looks than Carla Esparza was able to muster, but had no answers on the feet and unable to put Jedrzejczyk on her back. Once Penne got elbowed across her nose in Round two, it was only a matter of time before the ref stepped in to stop the bout. Grade remains B
