A pair of new UFC bouts have been announced for upcoming cards during the fall/winter session, and here they are along with my thoughts on each.
Cezar Ferreira vs. Tom Breese, UFC Fight Night 140
A middleweight bout between Cezar Ferreira and Tom Breese will take place at UFC Fight Night 140, which goes down Saturday, November 17 at Estadio Luna Park in Buenos Aries, Argentina. Combate first reported the fight. Ferreira (13-6) is an impressive 9-4 in the UFC overall and he won TUF Brazil 1. At the beginning of his UFC career he suffered a string of KO losses but he has really improved his game in the last few years. He has currently won five of his last six bouts and in his last fight he picked up an impressive submission win over Karl Roberson. Breese (11-1) is 4-1 overall in the UFC and in his last fight he knocked out Dan Kelly in his most impressive performance to date. Breese had taken a two-year layoff prior to the Kelly fight due to injuries and bad weight cuts, but now back at middleweight he looks like he’s here to stay.
This is a tough one to call as both guys have been impressive in the UFC, but I still don’t trust Ferreira’s chin and going up against a guy with a lot of power like Breese probably isn’t a great matchup for him. I’m expecting a competitive line but I favor Breese to get the job done in this fight.
Paul Craig vs. Jim Crute, UFC Fight Night 142
A light heavyweight matchup between Scotland’s Paul Craig and Australia’s Jim Crute has been officially added to UFC Fight Night 142, which is set to take place Saturday, December 1 at Adelaide Entertainment Center in Adelaide, Australia. The UFC announced the bout on its social media, making it the first fight officially announced for this card, though Wilson Reis vs. Ben Nguyen and Kai-Kara France vs. Ashkan Mokhtarian have been reported by other media outlets.
Craig (10-2) has a 2-2 record in the UFC, but it could easily be 1-3 and he’s lucky to still be on the roster right now. In his last fight, he was losing nearly the entire contest against Magomed Ankalaev before pulling off a miracle triangle choke with one second left in the fight for the latest submission win in UFC history. Prior to that, Craig had been knocked out by Khalil Rountree and Tyson Pedro after a submission win over Henrique da Silva in his UFC debut. Crute (8-0) is one of the top light heavyweight prospects in the UFC right now. The 22-year-old Aussie picked up a knockout win over Chris Birchler on Dana White’s Contender Series to get signed to the UFC. He is a big, strong light heavyweight and could be someone who challenges for the top-10 of the division in short order.
Although Craig has more UFC experience, I have to believe Crute will be a sizeable favorite in this fight considering his age, undefeated record, and Craig’s poor performances in his last couple of bouts.
