A new feature to MMAOddsbreaker.com, Jay Primetown gives his thoughts on each of the fighters who competed at UFC Fight Night 66 and updates his letter grades on each. Nolan Ticman vs. Yao Zhikui Ticman: Too complacent; not enough volume to score regularly. Has potential, but needs to mix in wrestlng more to be effective. Grade remains D- Zhikui: Won a controversial decision. Pushes forward and is aggressive, but his skill level is not UFC caliber. Grade remains F Jon Delos Reyes vs. Roldan Sangcha-An Reyes: Earned himself a lot of fans with that performance. Action fighter capable of slugging it out or working in submissions. Showed variability in his submission game. Upgraded from D- to D Sangcha-An: Like Reyes, earned himself a lot of attention with one of the best fights of 2015. Showed a lot of variation in his striking, but many holes in his ground game and can be caught in submissions easily. Grade remains D- Ning Guangyou vs. Royston Wee Guangyou: Showed improvements in overall ability. Not just a grappler, capable striker with decent pop. Needs to improve cardio. Upgraded from F to D- Wee: One of the worst performances in a long time inside the Octagon. Missed weight, looked completely out of the fight. Should be cut from the promotion. Downgraded from D- to F Li Jingliang vs. Dhiego Lima Jingliang: First knockout win inside the Octagon. Did well to go for the finish after stunning Dhiego Lima. Upgraded from D to D+ Lima: Inability to take a punch is the real issue for Lima as he gets hurt by strikes before even having a chance to engage. Downgraded from D to D- Kajan Johnson vs. Zhang Lipeng Johnson: Fought not to lose. Showed good cage control, nothing dynamic to make one believe he’ll be able to rise up the weight class. Grade remains at D. Lipeng: Allowed himself to be controlled against the cage. Striking not good enough to force action. Disappointing performance. Downgraded from D to D- Tae Hyun Bang vs. Jon Tuck Bang: Relies too much on power punching. Too slow and deliberate on the feet. Poor takedown defense. Downgraded from D+ to D Tuck: More comfortable inside the cage. Mentally seems to be in the right place. Showed nice variety in his ability to mount offense against an opponent. Upgraded from D to D+ Mark Eddiva vs. Levan Makashvili Eddiva: Did well to get back to feet when taken down by Makashvili. Just doesn’t have power in his strikes to turn away his opponents. Decent technique, but his ability has plateaued. Grade remains D+ Makashvili: Inactivity on the feet a bit of a concern, but his grappling impressed me. Variation in takedown attempts with single leg, double leg, trip, and body takedowns. Need to see him against better competition to gauge where his ceiling is. Grade remains C Yui Chul Nam vs. Phillipe Nover Nam: Takedown defense a real issue. When able to get into dominant positions he does very well. Disappointing performance. Downgraded from C- to D+ Nover: Showed significant improvements in his wrestling. Ability to control first half of the fight. Cardio a concern and when put on back, has little ability to get back to his feet. Grade remains D+ Hyun Gyu Lim vs. Neil Magny Lim: Outside of being huge for the weight class with power in his hands, Lim really doesn’t offer much. Opponents have a clear path to victory now against him. Downgraded from C+ to C Magny: Continues to show improvements in his overall ability. Volume striker with cardio now adding in ability to finish opposition. Deserving of his top 15 ranking. Upgraded from C+ to B- Luke Barnatt vs. Mark Munoz Barnatt: Made improvements in his grappling and defending takedowns. Striking though is too slow and predictable. Opponents able to land before he can get his strikes off. Downgraded from C to C- Munoz: Got back to his roots working in wrestling and heavy ground and pound. In his final fight, Munoz finished his career with a win. Retired. No Grade. Gegard Mousasi vs. Costas Philippou Mousasi: Showed off his grappling ability. Dominant, yet uneventful performance. Proven he’s a clear top eight middleweight. Needs a win against someone ahead of him to get noticed in a top heavy division. Grade remains B+ Philippou: He’s very competitive in this division as a striker, but when forced into a grappling contests he has been unable hold his own. Stuck in the bottom tier of the top 15 and will likely be there for some time. Grade remains B- Frankie Edgar vs. Urijah Faber Edgar: Controlled the pace of the fight with superior footwork and volume. It was a typical Frankie Edgar performance where he showed he is one of the all-time great fighters at 155 pounds or lower. Deserving of another title shot at featherweight. Grade remains A+ Faber: Edgar’s output was simply too much for Faber to overcome. Faber was unable muster much offensive attack. It was a bad performance from Faber, just not good enough, but understandable considering his opponent. Grade remains A
