The UFC has been busy announcing new bouts for its upcoming ESPN Fight Night cards later this spring, and the UFC Greenville card is no exception. Below are my thoughts on the new fights added to the event.
Dan Ige vs. Kevin Aguilar, UFC Fight Night 154
An intriguing featherweight fight between Dan Ige and Kevin Aguilar is on tap for UFC Fight Night 154, taking place June 22 at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. ESPN broke the news. Ige (11-2) is 3-1 in the UFC and is riding a three-fight win streak at the moment that including a vicious first-round submission win over Danny Henry in his last outing. Aguilar (17-1) is riding a nine-fight win streak at the moment which includes a 2-0 record in the UFC with decision wins over Rick Glenn and Enrique Barzola. Both guys are excellent young fighters at 145lbs, but given the way Ige has been finishing his fights I would expect him to open as the favorite, though I think very highly of Aguilar.
Randy Brown vs. Bryan Barberena, UFC Fight Night 154
Welterweights Randy Brown and Bryan Barberena are set to throw down at UFC Fight Night 154 in a potential “Fight of the Night.” Brown (10-3) is 4-3 in the UFC and hasn’t fought since a brutal KO loss to Niko Price last July. Barberena (14-6) is 5-4 in the UFC and most recently was knocked out by Vicente Luque in what was one of the best fights of 2019 so far. With both guys coming off of bad KO losses this isn’t an easy one to call, but given Barberena’s body of work inside the Octagon he should be slightly favored here even though it seems like he’s always the underdog every time he fights.
Andre Ewell vs. Anderson dos Santos, UFC Fight Night 154
Bantamweights Andre Ewell and Anderson dos Santos will also meet at UFC Fight Night 154. Nolan King of BJPenn.com broke the news. Ewell (14-5) won a split decision over Renan Barao in his UFC debut but was submitted by Nathaniel Wood his last time out, snapping his five-fight win streak in the process. Dos Santos (20-7) lost his UFC debut to Nad Narimani which snapped a three-fight win streak. Ewell is the younger, better fighter, and should be favored here.
Luis Pena vs. Matt Wiman, UFC Fight Night 154
A lightweight bout between Luis Pena and Matt Wiman has also been set for UFC Fight Night 154. Pena (6-1) is 2-1 in the UFC and is coming off of a unanimous decision win over Steven Peterson in an all-fated move to featherweight. Pena missed weight in that matchup, and although he got the win, felt that moving back up to lightweight was the right move for him as he’s clearly too big for 145lbs. Wiman (16-7) is 10-5 overall in the UFC but hasn’t fought since a 2014 decision win over Isaac Vallie-Flagg. Let’s just say it’s surprising he was still on the UFC roster. Though Wiman has had plenty of success in the Octagon over the years, the fact he hasn’t fought in five years makes him an auto-fade, and I expect Pena to be a sizeable favorite to win this fight.
