Jay Primetown gives his thoughts on each of the fighters who competed at UFC on Fox 26 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Jay gives his letter grades for each fighter on TheMMA-Analysis podcast which can be found on MMAOddsbreaker.com.
Jordan Mein vs. Erick Silva Mein: His best performance in quite some time as he fought with confidence and dominated Erick Silva all fifteen minutes in this bout. Let’s see if this win gives Mein confidence as he continues moving forward. Grade remains D+ Silva: He’s a complete shell of the fighter he was a few years ago. He wasn’t able to amount any offense in this bout and was put on his back in both the second and third rounds. With four losses in his last five bouts, it’s possible that this will be his last fight in the UFC. Downgraded from D+ to D Oluwale Bamgbose vs. Alessio Di Chirico Bamgbose: He tried fighting a more balanced pace in this fight so he wouldn’t tire out, but ultimately wasn’t able to land anything significant and was eventually dropped in the second round. Downgraded from D+ to D Di Chirico: He was very tentative in this bout and then one knee ended everything. It was a good win for the Italian over a much faster fighter. He’s now won two of his last three fights, but will need to a show more improvements if he’s going to be able to continue to collect wins in the UFC. Grade remains D John Makdessi vs. Abel Trujillo Makdessi: This was a classic Makdessi fight in which his striking accuracy and ability to avoid the big shots were the difference in him winning a fight. Grade remains C Trujillo: He was outclassed on the feet by a superior technical striker. He needed to grapple to have success in this bout, but he was unable to get the bout to the mat. Downgraded from C- to D+ Danny Roberts vs. Nordine Taleb Roberts: He took a head kick that dazed him and then a follow up punch that sent him to the mat. This is a tough loss for Roberts as he didn’t get a chance to show off his offensive skill set. Downgraded from C- to D+ Taleb: He’s now won three of his last four fights in the UFC. He’s absolutely made improvements to his striking and it has shown in his results. At 36 years of age, he hasn’t shown signs of slowing down. Grade remains C Galore Bofando vs. Chad Laprise Bofando: He’s fantastic on the feet with technique, power, and variety. On the mat, he’s a novice at best. We saw both elements in this bout and it was the latter that saw his demise. Downgraded from D+ to D Laprise: He did well to survive the early onslaught from Bofando. After that it was smooth sailing after a takedown on the mat. Laprise will struggle at welterweight, but did enough to get the win in this matchup. Grade remains D+ Julian Marquez vs. Darren Stewart Marquez: He’s not the most talented fighter, but he’s absolutely relentess and will fight for the win when beaten up, hurt, or even outclassed. He won this matchup and he’ll be fun to watch in the future. Grade remains C- Stewart: He had Marquez hurt multiple times in this fight, but just couldn’t put him away. It came back to haunt him as Marquez was able to take control once Stewart got tired and get the finish. Upgraded from D- to D Jan Blachowicz vs. Jared Cannonier Blachowicz: He had a very good gameplan in this bout maintaining distance and combining it with timely takedowns. This was a good win for Blachowicz and he should be lined up for a main card fight at UFC Fight Night in London in March. Grade remains C- Cannonier: A disappointing performance and some shortcomings really came out in this bout. He’s too reliant on quick bursts and he doesn’t have the length needed to land from the outside. On the ground, he’s generally outclassed. He certainly has speed and decent footwork, but is limited otherwise. Downgraded from C to D+ Misha Cirkunov vs. Glover Teixeira Cirkunov: From a talent stand point, he’s easily a top 10 light heavyweight perhaps even close to the top five, but once a fight doesn’t go his way there is little to no resistance. A disappointing close to a bout in which he looked good early. Grade remains C Teixeira: He looked a step slow in this bout, but ultimately got the fight to the ground and dominated Cirkunov there to earn a stoppage victory. He’s not the fighter he was two to three years ago, but he’s certainly still formidable in this weight class. Downgraded from B+ to B Mike Perry vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio Perry: He landed some heavy punches in this fight, but struggled with the length of his opponent. The late takedowns cost him an opportunity to win the third round and ultimately the fight. He has ability, but still needs to round out his skill set. Grade remains C Ponzinibbio: He certainly took some damage in this fight, but his technique pulled through as his varied striking and the takedowns gave him the victory. He’s earned his way to become a top 10 fighter in this division. Grade remains B- Josh Emmett vs. Ricardo Lamas Emmett: By far the biggest win of his career. He looked solid in the opening round, but being able to land a clean left hook that floored a fighter the caliber of Ricardo Lamas is a real accomplishment. Upgraded from C- to C+ Lamas: At 35 years of age and a stunning knockout loss like this, one has to wonder if this is the beginning of a steep decline for him. Downgraded from B+ to C+ Rafael dos Anjos vs. Robbie Lawler dos Anjos: A tremendous all-around performance by the Brazilian fighter. His work rate was fantastic and he really put out a varied striking attack that battered his opponent. With the win, dos Anjos is likely one win away from a title shot. Upgraded from B+ to A Lawler: Matched up with a fellow pressure fighter, he didn’t have the output to hurt his opponent. The leg kicks he absorbed really took their toll as he was unable to put much weight on his lead leg in the later rounds. Downgraded from A- to B+
