RFA 8 comes to us on AXS TV at 10pm EST Live from Milwaukee with some late changes coming in the final minutes The main event was set to be WEC and UFC vet Jeff Curran taking on Anthony Pettis’ little brother Sergio (7-0) for the inaugural RFA 125-pound title, but he had to drop out due to ‘personal reasons’ even after famously stating that he would retire if Sergio beat him. There is no word on Curran retiring after backing out of the fight. In his place, Dillard Pegg (5-1) brings his relatively heavy hands to upset Milwaukee’s son in Pettis. Pegg has five knockouts on his resume, but Pettis at 19-years-old is a veritable beast. He’s looked great developing under the watchful eye of Duke Roufus and co. and his hometown will be firmly in his corner. This is Pettis’ fight to lose, but Pegg has the tools for an upset. In the co-main, we have a featherweight title fight between the champion Jared Downing (9-1) vs. Team Alpha Male newcomer Lance Palmer (6-0). Coming from Team Alpha Male, you know Palmer’s strengths will be good conditioning, decent striking and great wrestling. That team has been on a roll since Duane Ludwig took over as a coach, and we’ll see if their momentum can carry over to the new guy. Downing last fought on November 30th, 2012, winning his belt in a unanimous decision at RFA 5. He’s a tough kid who finds a way to win, and usually has superior cardio than his opponent. Palmer fought lance month, winning via a first round guillotine that Uriah Faber probably taught him, and he’s split — 3 subs and 3 decisions. This fight will be close as hell. Bantamweights are up next, with Pedro Munhoz (7-0) standing across the cage from Mitch Jackson (19-3). Munhoz is a Black House product, training with the Nogueira brothers, and the host of other top talent the gym works with (Feijao, Machida, Anderson Silva, etc). In other words, he’ll be well prepared for his fight tonight. Mitch Jackson has the edge in experience, with triple the fights of Munhoz, and has 13 submission wins. Munhoz is a great offensive grappler as well, which could mean this will be a sloppy brawl, in which case, Munhoz has an advantage. At welterweight, Mike Rhodes (4-1) will fight Benjamin Smith (6-1). Both of these guys are still green, with Rhodes coming off a first round rear naked choke loss to Brandon Thatch at RFA 7, and Smith last fighting in April and winning over Travis McCullough with a slick brabo choke. Smith is on a three fight winning streak, and has pretty solid ring IQ. With that said, Rhodes is the better athlete and has a deeper gas tank.
