This column highlights five past bouts from fighters competing on this weekend’s UFC on FOX 16. These fights represent some of the highest moments in the careers of their respective participants, and should serve to pique your interest heading into the event. 1. Jessica Eye vs. Zoila Frausto-Gurgel – Bellator 83 Upcoming Bout: Jessica Eye vs. Miesha Tate
Jessica Eye is by no means known as a submission artist. Against reigning Bellator strawweight champion Zoila Frausto-Gurgel, it was expected that Eye would have to keep things on the feet to have any chance at winning, and that’s what she did… kind of. Eye rocked Frausto in their first exchange and took a rear waistlock as her opponent tried to scramble up. From there she transitioned to a standing arm-triangle that put Frausto completely out inside a minute. It was incredibly impressive, especially given that the only other woman to submit Frausto was Eye’s opponent this weekend, Miesha Tate. Common sense would say that Eye needs to keep this fight on the fight if she wants to have a chance to win as well, but who knows.
2. Paul Felder vs. Craig Johnson – CFFC 38 Upcoming Bout: Paul Felder vs. Edson Barboza
Edson Barboza is the man most associated with the spinning wheel kick, as his knockout of Terry Etim will go down in lore as one of the greatest knockouts in all of combat sports history. Paul Felder has pulled off some pretty flashy KO’s of his own, including a spinning back fist of Danny Castillo in his second UFC outing. His finish of Craig Johnson may have been the most impressive of the lot, as he channeled his inner Barboza to deliver a perfect spinning wheel kick finish. Unfortunately Johnson only gets a 6/10 on the Etim scale of being knocked out, which doesn’t make the total package as good as the UFC 142 stoppage. Still, after watching the manner in which both of these men can put opponents away, there’s no way you can’t get excited for this one.
3. Takanori Gomi vs. Dokonjonosuke Mishima – Shooto Year-End Show 2002 Upcoming Bout: Takanori Gomi vs. Joe Lauzon
Believe it or not, Takanori Gomi was once considered a relatively boring top position grappler. Heading into this fight with Dokonjonosuke Mishima, he actually had more submission victories than TKO victories (including one over current top 10 UFC bantamweight Johnny Eduardo back in 1999). Somewhere along the way, something flipped in him though, and he became the wild, uncontrollable haymaker throwing monster that we know today. His first Shooto title defense against Mishima was a great indicator of what was to come, and hopefully what we get a chance to see on Saturday night, should Joe Lauzon oblige him on the feet.
4. Kenny Robertson vs. Lucio Linhares – Fight Festival 31 Upcoming Bout: Kenny Robertson vs. Ben Saunders
Speaking of unorthodox fighters, Kenny Robertson is on this card. Yes, Kenny Robertson of the ‘stump puller’ finish against Brock Jardine. As crazy as this may sound, that submission isn’t his craziest finish. That award goes to the fadeaway (damn near runaway) spinning backfist that he landed on Lucio Linhares over in Finland. Linhares probably would have been on his way back to the UFC with a win, but instead Robertson earned the call after just one bout outside of the organization since he was cut so prematurely. Now with a 3-fight win streak and a 4-2 record since his return to the UFC, Robertson has turned into one of the more entertaining grapplers at welterweight.
5. James Krause vs. Sean Wilson – Titan FC 20 Upcoming Bout: James Krause vs. Daron Cruickshank
It seems like confidence is a big thing for James Krause. When he has none, he gets completely outclassed by Jorge Masvidal and Donald Cerrone. Obviously those two are great fighters, and the majority of lightweights would lose to them, but Krause seems to bring a different approach than when he’s facing the Sean Wilsons of the world. When Krause knows he’s supposed to win, he seems to let things go a bit more, and it’s actually pretty fun to watch. Here he shows of his striking (of which his jab and front kick will be particularly important against Daron Cruickshank), and then switches off to his grappling, where he sets up and snatches a guillotine expertly. The talent is there with Krause, let’s just see what sort of mentality he brings to this fight.