Jay Primetown gives his thoughts on each of the fighters who competed at UFC Fight Night 109 in Stockholm, Sweden. Jay gives his letter grades for each fighter on TheMMA-Analysis podcast which can be found on MMAOddsBreaker.com.
Damir Hadzovic vs. Marcin Held Hadzovic: He showed some good striking skills early in this fight but was put on his back in the first two rounds and had little to offer to get back to his feet. At the start of the third round, Hadzovic was down two rounds with nothing to lose and landed a flush knee when Held shot in for a takedown. The knee crumpled Held and gave Hadzovic his first victory in the UFC. Grade remains C-
Held: The first 10 minutes of this fight were smooth sailing, but he shot in for a takedown one time too many and it cost him. Held has gone 0-3 in the UFC and is likely going to be cut with the defeat. A very disappointing stint in the UFC considering how well he did in Bellator. Grade remains C-
Jessin Ayari vs. Darren Till Ayari: He just couldn’t stay within range enough to land the punches necessary to win this fight on volume. He took the brunt of the damage in this fight and was hurt multiple times in this bout. Grade remains D Till: His footwork and ability to land precise one punch counters is at a high level. He had Ayari hurt multiple times and was unable to finish him. His accuracy is what could potentially lead him up the rankings, but he will need to improve his conditioning if he has any shot to be a Top 15 welterweight. Grade remains C- Nico Musoke vs. Bojan Velickovic Musoke: He landed the bigger power shots and even got the better of the grappling in the first two rounds, but coming off a two-year layoff, he was tired in the third round, and all it took was one clean shot in the final minute to put him away. A tough loss for Musoke, who was less than 30 seconds away from a decision. Grade remains C
Velickovic: His consistent pace throughout the fight caused difficulty for Musoke. This was a great opportunity for Velickovic taking on a fighter off a long layoff. He likely needed a finish in the end, but he did his job and knocked out his Swedish opponent in the final minute to earn the biggest win of his career. Grade remains C- Reza Madadi vs. Joaquim Silva Madadi: He did well to secure takedowns in the first round and the early part of the third round, but the reason he lost this fight was he lost the scrambles late in the fight which allowed Silva to get top control and really make his mark late in round three. A tough loss for Madadi in what he says is his final MMA bout. Final grade is C-
Silva: He struggled to defend takedowns, but his conditioning was very good and he did an excellent job of landing shots to the body to slow down his opponent for the biggest win of his career. Silva is not a future champion, but he’s a fighter who can compete in the UFC and prove a solid gatekeeper to the middle of the division. Grade remains C-
Chris Camozzi vs. Trevor Smith
Camozzi: A complete no-show of a performance from Camozzi, who was content to fight off his back and lose a decision. I think this is the last time we see Camozzi in the UFC. Downgraded from D+ to D
Smith:
Stasiak: Considering how big of an underdog he was in this fight, Stasiak acquitted himself quite well landing some spinning strikes and having no fear of going toe to toe with Munhoz. Upgraded from D to C- Jack Hermansson vs. Alex Nicholson Hermansson: A quick takedown and advance of position and Hermansson had Nicholson in bad shape. He trapped his opponent on the ground and landed ground-and-pound until the ref jumped in to stop the fight. A quick win and one that can easily get him back into the Octagon this summer if he so chooses. Grade remains C-
Nicholson: He never got going in this fight. Before he could blink, he was on his back with new announcers. This was a go back to the drawing board type performance. Grade remains D+ Oliver Enkamp vs. Nordine Taleb Enkamp: His spinning attack has potential for success in the UFC, but he needs to add some muscle and become more physical, or he will be taken to the mat and controlled by the better fighters in the division. Upgraded from D to D+
Taleb: Not his most dominant performance, but he did what he needed to do taking very little damage. Grade remains C
Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Omari Akhmedov Alhassan: He landed the best strikes of the fight but never anything that was able to put Akhmedov away. His defensive wrestling is a huge weakness and opponents will look to exploit it in all of his fights moving forward. Grade remains D+ Akhmedov: His toughness was critical in this fight, as he had to survive some power shots to ultimately wait until Alhassan got tired, and he was able to secure takedowns to win the fight. Grade remains D+ Ben Saunders vs. Peter Sobotta Saunders: He had no answer for Sobotta’s jab. He was dropped multiple times in this fight and never showed anything that truly troubled his opponent. Damage is really taking its toll on the American welterweight, and it’s hard to see him doing well in any fight moving forward in the UFC. Downgraded from C- to D+ Sobotta: An excellent all-around performance by Sobotta, as his striking was on point throughout the fight. He hurt his hand in this bout, but once he returns, he still has room to move up in the welterweight division. Upgraded from C- to C Misha Cirkunov vs. Volkan Oezdemir Cirkunov: He seemed to have Oezdemir on the backfoot but took one punch behind the ear, and that was it. It was quick, but decisive. Downgraded from C+ to C
Oezdemir: He’s now earned back-to-back victories over Ovince St. Preux and the aforementioned Cirkunov. This was a quick finish, and one that really puts him in a position to be one fight away from fighting for a championship. Upgraded from D+ to C+
Alexander Gustafsson vs. Glover Teixeira Gustafsson: After a near year-long layoff, Gustafsson returned to the cage and put in an excellent performance. It was a technical performance in which he found a hole in Teixeira’s defense with well-timed uppercuts. With Anthony Johnson now retired, Gustafsson is clearly the third-best light heavyweight and deserving of another shot at Daniel Cormier or Jon Jones. Grade remains A Teixeira: He got himself into a dogfight with an excellent fighter, but it simply wasn’t good enough. He didn’t have the technical striking skill set to match Gustafsson. Teixeira is the clear fourth-best fighter in the division, but he took a beating in this bout, and his age will be tough to overcome in order to challenge for the title ever again. Upgraded from B to B+
