UFC Fight Night 28 comes to us this Wednesday Belo Horizonte, Brazil for the third UFC event in 8 days. It’s been a wild ride, but we aren’t done yet. Unfortunately, a string of injuries has left the undercard somewhat thin, with only 1 Facebook fight and 4 prelim fights that will be broadcast along with the Main Card on FOX Sports 1. Brazilian featherweights are up first, as Felipe Arantes (15-4-1-2) fights for the fifth time in the UFC and the fifth time in Brazil as he takes on Jungle Fight vet and promotional newcomer Edimilison Souza (13-3). Souza is a knockout artist, with 12 of his wins coming via (T)KO, but he isn’t very good on the ground, where he’s lost all three of his fights via submission. Currently, Souza is on a seven fight winning streak, but Arantes is a major step up in competition compared to what he’s used to. In the UFC over his last five fights, Arantes is 2-1-1 against decent local competition, and his best win was over Godofredo Castro with some nasty elbows at UFC on Fuel TV: Nogueira vs. Werdum. Arantes is now a UFC vet despite only fighting in his home country, so he knows how it feels to be under the bright lights, and he knows how to win under them too. He may drag Souza down to the mat and into deep waters where Souza is most uncomfortable. At middleweight, Joao Zeferino (13-5) will meet the undefeated Brazilian Elias Silverio (8-0). This will be Zeferino’s second time in the Octagon, his first being in a loss to Rafael Natal at UFC on FX 8: Rockhold vs. Belfort. Zeferino got little time to prepare for that fight, as he was called up on short notice to take on Natal after a host of opponents dropped out with injury, and it showed. Silverio is the Jungle Fight welterweight champion and he himself is now coming in on short notice to replace Zeferino’s original opponent Kenny Robertson. Silverio is a young, brash fighter who has had a tough time finishing fights in his career, but he’s only seen one of his five decision wins be a ‘split’. Both of these men will want to get a win under the UFC banner, but Zeferino has the better all-around skills and a full training camp. Not to mention that he’s significantly bigger than Silverio who is moving up fifteen pounds in weight to fight Zeferino. Bantamweight Brazilian Lucas Martins (13-1) will bring his 9 KO wins into the Octagon after an impressive KO of Jeremy Larsen at UFC on FX 8 to follow up a loss to Edson Barboza in his debut (if you have to lose, lose to championship material) and now he will face the United State’s Ramiro Hernandez (13-4) who will be making his UFC debut. Lucas Martins is a monster in the making, while we don’t know much about Ramiro Hernandez. Hernandez has decent hands and decent grappling, including an OK sprawl, but it will be a tough order to make your UFC debut in Brazil against a tough up and comer in his home country. At 170 pounds, welterweights Poland’s Keith Wisniewski (28-14-1) and Ivan Jorge (24-3) will have the same plot as so many on this undercard as Jorge comes in on short notice to replace yet another injured fighter. Jorge is all about his smothering top game, while Wisniewski, although very experienced, hasn’t looked great in his second stint in the UFC. He has little head movement and you would think this Pole would install a screen door on a submarine if they let him (I had to throw in a Polish joke because I’m polish). Wisniewski has had two bad losses to the likes of Josh Neer and Chris Clements, and hasn’t fought in over 17 months. That doesn’t bode well when fighting a guy who is trying to prove something in his UFC debut. Jorge has thirteen submission wins and could be trouble for quite a few welterweights. The lone Facebook fight is a welterweight match, with Yuri Villefort (6-2) looking to prove that he belongs in the UFC after dropping his last two across Strikeforce and then against ex-UFC fighter Nah-Shon Burrell, His opponent is Sean Spencer (9-2) a Bellator and Legacy Fighting vet who was called up on – you guessed it – short notice to fight Rafael Natal at UFC on FOX 6. Villefort is only 22-years-old and at one point was one of the brightest prospects in MMA before taking two years off, but this ATT member still has a great overall game and is respectable standing and on the ground. Spencer seems to succumb to good BJJ, but he is a dynamic and gutsy fighter that won’t make it easy for anyone. He just needs to stay out of Villefort’s submissions.
