UFC on FUEL TV 8: March 2, 2013 Saitama, Japan UFC Featherweight Contender Mizuto Hirota (-130) Profile: Former DEEP and Sengoku lightweight champion Mizuto Hirota (14-5-1) is best known to western audiences as the technicolor-haired man who had his arm broken by Shinya Aoki at Dynamite!! 2009. After an 18-month recovery, Hirota made his way back to the ring with two straight wins in the DEEP promotion until he headed stateside to fight in Strikeforce. In his first fight there, he faced Pat Healy, who used his wrestling to edge a resilient Hirota in earning a controversial decision that Strikeforce commentator Pat Miletich felt favored the hometown Healy. When the UFC bought Strikeforce, Hirota came along with them, and he is now set to make his UFC debut in his home country of Japan at UFC on FUEL TV 8. UFC Featherweight Contender Rani Yahya (-110) Profile: Longtime WEC vet Rani Yahya (17-7) is 2-1 in his UFC career with a win over former WEC champ Mike Brown and a loss to Chad Mendes. The 28-year-old Brazilian has a long resume of impressive feats accomplished in the grappling world, with wins in ADCC and the CBJJ Pan Ams. Going to the ground with this second-degree BJJ black belt is always a scary proposition, as 15 of his 17 wins have come via submission. Many of his opponents have been able to overcome the slick grappler though, with Yahya going just 4-4 in the WEC and losing to the best of the best in the featherweight division. It still remains to be seen if he can develop his fight game to become more well-rounded in the future. Opening UFC on FUEL TV 8 Odds Analysis: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened this fight as a near pick ’em. Yahya is a slight -130 favorite (bet $130 to win $100) while Hirota opened as a -110 underdog (bet $110 to win $100) at Several Bookmakers sportsbook. Yahya is just 2-3 in his past five bouts following a 15-4 start to his career, but two of those losses came against top contenders in Mendes and current flyweight star Joseph Benavidez. He submitted Josh Grispi in his last fight, but Grispi was just released by the organization. Yahya hopes to have learned his lessons from his days in the WEC and use the experience from his first three UFC bouts to his advantage. Hirota is the latest fighter to be crossing over from Strikeforce, and his inexperience against top-level opponents makes it difficult to predict how he will fare in the organization. He is coming off a loss to Healy many thought he should have won, and the only other big-name opponent he has faced resulted in a broken arm and loss to Aoki.
