UFC Fight Night 36 Date: February 15, 2014 Arena: Arena Jaragua City: Jaragua do Sul, Brazil Lightweight bout: Joe Proctor (-185) vs Cristiano Marcello (+160) Fight Breakdown: The UFC Fight Night 36 preliminary card on UFC Fight Pass will be headlined by a lightweight contest between a pair of veterans of season 15 of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). It will be a war that will likely result in a finish, when New England’s Joe Proctor takes on Brazil’s own Cristiano Marcello. Proctor is currently the favorite heading into this match-up at -185 ($185 to win $100), with Marcello being the underdog at +160 ($100 to win $160) at Several Bookmakerss. JOE PROCTOR (8-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) is set to make his third appearance inside the Octagon after a long layoff of 14 months. He last saw action in December of 2012 against Ramsey Nijem, losing a unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards. Proctor is a well-rounded mixed martial artist with decent cardio. He has good boxing and works his knees well. He caught Jeremy Larsen in his promotional debut, and followed him to the mat with punches to earn the TKO. Proctor is talented on the mat, as well, and possesses a solid submission game which he refines daily with teammate Joe Lauzon. I think his gameplan going into this bout should be to keep things on the feet, where he will hold a slight advantage. Over the course of three rounds, I think his takedown defense will hold up against the Brazilian, and he will eventually find the knockout. If he doesn’t finish the fight and it reaches the judges’ scorecards, I think he should take the nod, but the last time Marcello won his fight in Brazil, it was a fight I felt he had clearly lost. So the judges one thing Proctor needs to be very aware of. CRISTIANO MARCELLO (13-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) will be making his fourth UFC appearance with his back against the wall, as he is coming off a unanimous decision loss against Kazuki Tokudome nearly one year ago. He is a fourth degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has notable students such as UFC and Pride veterans Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva. Needless to say, he is incredibly talented on the mat. That said, he has not really tried implementing his ground game much in his three-fight Octagon career. He has been content to strike, and he has paid for it. His UFC record shows two losses, but it should be three. I believe he received a hometown decision against Reza Medadi. While you could argue that the fight was close, I don’t think you could make a case that Marcello deserved that nod. He displayed poor cardio on his time on TUF: Live (season 15), and even on the finale where he took on fellow cast-mate Sam Sicilia. He was doing okay against Sicilia until gassing in the second frame, and Sicilia eventually scored the knockout everyone watching at home saw coming. However, since that bout, he has shown improvement in his cardio, as he has gone the distance twice now without completely gassing. Marcello has shown to be more and more in love with his striking, and may have made improvements in that department during his year-long layoff. Fight Prediction: I think Marcello is going to be the same ol’ Marcello and be content to stand and trade with Proctor. He does not have a good chin, which could be bad news if he does indeed feel content to stand and trade, because Proctor hits hard. If Proctor does not finish Marcello, I think he will do enough to take the decision. But as I already mentioned – you can’t be sure with these judges. Gabe’s Pick: Joe Proctor by KO (uppercut, 3:10 round 3) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Joe Proctor (-185) parlayed with Ronaldo Souza (-470) and Charles Oliveira (-600) for +118 5u to win 5.9u
