UFC on FOX 10 Date: January 25, 2014 Arena: United Center City: Chicago, IL Bantamweight bout: Junior Hernandez (+265) vs Hugo “Wolverine” Viana (-325) Fight Breakdown: The UFC on FOX 10 preliminary card on FOX Sports 1 features a bantamweight match-up between a pair of strikers coming off first round defeats, when Miletich Fighting System’s Junior Hernandez takes on TUF: Brazil season one’s Hugo “Wolverine” Viana. Hernandez is the underdog heading into this bout at +265 ($100 to win $265), with Viana being the favorite at -325 ($325 to win $100) at Several Bookmakerss. JUNIOR HERNANDEZ (13-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) is coming off of a first round submission loss at the hands of Lucas Martins nearly five months ago. The young Brazilian hurt him on the feet, and then secured a choke, putting Hernandez to sleep. Hernandez made a mistake by waving/signaling Martins to “come in” and while he was using his hands to make the gesture, Martins took advantage of the open opportunity by rocking him with a punch. (If anybody could make a gif of that, please send it to me! It was pretty funny.) Hernandez is a striker who loves to stand and trade. He loves to brawl, and generally has good striking defense, but that was not the case in his Octagon debut, and I think part of that was due to jitters. He loves to use his knees, especially when he gets in on a good clinch. He is strong against the cage, and mixes it up well on the feet. Ramiro has good boxing and puts together some fantastic combinations. The Miletich Fighting Systems product works nice kicks and he has power in his hands, as was evident by his knockout of recent UFC signee Drew Dober. The Iowa native has a good set of punches, including a lead left, and an overhand right that sort of comes across the shoulder instead of around it. He also works a nice counter left hook, and has a solid uppercut, which he sometimes leads with. He has a decent ground game to compliment his stand up. His takedowns are average but his transitions are nice. He has good submissions, as well as good submission defense, although he was unable to stop Martins from sinking the choke in. That was because he was rocked by punches, though, and did not realize he was in a choke until it was too late. Hernandez works nice leg locks, and often uses them to escape from the bottom position, when taken down by his opponents, as his takedown defense is not very good. Hernandez is looking to put some wins together, and make a name for himself in the UFC. HUGO “WOLVERINE” VIANA (7-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) is set to make his fourth appearance inside the Octagon, coming off a first round TKO loss at the hands of Team Alpha Male’s TJ Dillashaw. It was the first time he tasted defeat in his professional mixed martial arts career. Having learned from the loss, he is now ready to build another winning streak. Though he was just stopped by strikes in his last outing, Viana generally has good striking defense. He is a talented striker who is technical on the feet. He has a very wide stance, which is a direct result of his Taekwondo background, in which he is a black belt. The Brazilian has heavy legs and uses them to deliver effective and powerful leg kicks. He does not often go for high kicks, perhaps because he generally tends to be at a height disadvantage against his opponents. He likes to use his hands to set up his kicks, and really loves to use his knees. He also has a nice crescent kick he likes to throw, though he does not often find success in landing it. The Brazilian circles well on the feet, and is a decent counter-striker. He has a solid and effective right hook, left hook, right hook combo, which he likes to use. He also has a strong lead left hook, and a powerful overhand right, which he used to knockout Reuben Duran, after hurting him with it a couple of times. It is also worth mentioning that he closes the distance really well with said right hand. Viana is dangerous with his hands, even though his knockout of Deuran is the only stoppage victory in his eight professional fights. If Lucas Martins was able to hurt Hernandez, I would not be remotely surprised if Viana did just the same. While he is technical on the feet, “Wolverine” is also very explosive. He is an aggressive fighter, but he is also very patient. He has great defensive grappling skills, as he is hard to take down. And when taken down, even harder to keep down. Coming off his first career loss, I expect the emotional and motivated Brazilian to have his conditioning in check for a three round affair, should the fight go the distance. Fight Prediction: I think Viana, while being the smaller fighter, is going to find success on the feet against Hernandez. He has power in his hands and is capable of getting a knockout here, so I feel like Hernandez may be extra cautious in this fight, making me slightly favor the odds of Viana just outstriking him for three rounds. Though, if I saw value in the Viana by T/KO prop, I will consider making a play on it. Gabe’s Pick: Hugo “Wolverine” Viana by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27). Gabe’s Recommended Play: Hugo Viana (-325) parlayed with Eddie Wineland (-310) for -138 3.5u to win 2.55u
