Another striker vs. grappler matchup has been booked for an upcoming fight night card. The UFC has added a lightweight matchup between KJ Noons and Yan Cabral to UFC Fight Night 67, which takes place May 30 at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. The lineup for this fight card hasn’t been revealed yet, but it’s likely this fight is going to be a part of the evening’s preliminary card, although it could go to the main card depending on what other matchups are announced for this event. Noons is coming off of a No Contest against Daron Cruickshank at the TUF 20 Finale in a fight where he poked Cruickshank in the eye and the fight was forced to be halted. That fight was in December, and what I find strange is that Cruickshank has actually already fought since then while Noons has taken an extended break. Either way, look for Noons to bounce back from that disappointing NC with a win over Cabral. Sitting at 2-1, 1 NC in the UFC with wins over Sam Stout and George Sotiropoulos with his only loss coming to top-ranked Donald Cerrone, Noons has been very solid overall since coming over from Strikeforce and a win over Cabral would continue to up his stock at 155lbs. As for Cabral, he’s 2-1 in the UFC with wins over Naoyuki Kotani and David Mitchell with his lone loss coming to Zak Cummings. The grappler has looked very solid on the ground during his UFC career thus far, but his striking is completely untested for the most part and that’s why the UFC is matching him up with a striker. The promotion had tried to book Cabral against Mairbeck Taisumov at UFC on FOX 14 earlier this year, but Cabral pulled out with an injury. He got kind of lucky there because Taisumov likely would have knocked him out in brutal fashion, but he’s not out of the woodwork yet with Noons, who brutally KOed Stout a year ago. As for the betting line, I expect it to be pretty tight for this one with a lean towards Cabral, who will have homefield advantage for this fight. That doesn’t mean he’ll win, but it’s certainly an advantage, especially if the fight goes the full three rounds and it’s close. With Carlos Condit vs. Thiago Alves and Julianna Lima vs. Jessica Penne also on this card, UFC Fight Night 67 is starting to shape up like a solid card and I’m looking forward to seeing what other bouts the UFC adds to this event.
