Jay Primetown gives his thoughts on each of the fighters who competed at UFC Fight Night 74 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Jay gives his letter grades for each fighter on TheMMA-Analysis podcast which can be found on MMAOddsbreaker.com. Misha Cirkunov vs. Daniel Jolly Cirkunov: Relatively young for this division at 28 years of age. He’s a good athlete with a solid grappling game. Daniel Jolly had nothing to offer and Cirkunov was able to steamroll him. It will be interesting to see how he does when he’s forced into a standup fight, but he’s definitely one of the better prospects in the division. Debut grade is C- Jolly: Took this fight on short notice and didn’t look the part of a fighter who’d be able to compete in the UFC. Difficulty stopping takedowns and little submission off his back. Debut grade is F Shane Campbell vs. Elias Silverio Campbell: Competitive fight which he won by being the more active fighter. He has flaws, but his kickboxing makes him fun to watch and dangerous even against more talented opponents. Grade remains C- Silverio: At one point he looked like a decent prospect, but conditioning and lack of power in his strikes has really stunted his growth as a fighter. He’s probably one fight away from being cut by the UFC. Downgraded from C to C- Chris Beal vs. Chris Kelades Beal: A fighter that should be competing at bantamweight; not flyweight. The weight cut really drains him and makes it difficult for him to win fights that go to the scorecards. Grade remains D+ Kelades: Not the most talented fighter, but he does have a knack for performing better as a fight progresses. That alone may keep him in the UFC for the foreseeable future. Downgraded from C- to D+ Nikita Krylov vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima Krylov: One of the youngest fighters in the division, Krylov has made strides to make himself better. He’s won four of his last five inside the UFC and is deserving of a much better opponent. Upgraded from D+ to C- Lima: Head scratching fight for de Lima. Gassed out early on attempting guillotine chokes and losing position on the ground in the process. At 30 years old, one has to wonder if this is his ceiling in MMA. Downgraded from C- to D+ Felipe Arantes vs. Yves Jabouin Arantes: Wrestling is a real issue for him, but showed excellent submission grappling against Yves Jabouin. He’s an interesting fighter and a decent gatekeeper in the bantamweight division. Grade remains C Jabouin: As he ages, his striking his devolved, but his wrestling has gotten much better. With that said, he’s in a division where youth and athleticism are very important. The end is near for Jabouin in the UFC. Downgraded from C to D+ Frankie Perez vs. Sam Stout Perez: Beautiful right hand as Stout moved in landed cleanly and knocked his opponent right off his feet, and then he surprisingly retired in his post-fight interview. In his last ever MMA bout, Perez goes out on top with a knockout win. Hard to top that. Final grade is D+ Stout: At 31 years old, Stout has been through countless wars and his chin appears gone. Stout simply isn’t the fighter he used to be and I believe it’s time that he considers walking away from the sport. Downgraded from D+ to D Valerie Letourneau vs. Maryna Moroz Letourneau: She’s now won three straight in the UFC and holds a split decision loss to title contender Claudia Gadelha. Letourneau is a decent technical striker who is better than most people give her credit for. Grade remains C Moroz: Her boxing looks really fluid, but she faced a solid veteran in Letourneau who was able to take advantage of her shortcomings. This loss will do more good than bad for the young Moroz as she looks to move up in the UFC rankings. Downgraded from C to C- Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Tony Sims Aubin-Mercier: Did what he does best; ragdolls opponents controlling them on the ground. The problem for OAM is in situations when he cannot get his opponent to the ground. Upgraded from C- to C Sims: He has very good hands, but has little ability to use them when he’s on the back. Grade remains D+ Chad Laprise vs. Francisco Trinaldo Laprise: An absolutely shocking performance. He had looked so good in previous fights, but Trinaldo was able to get him to the ground and beat him up there. Have to wonder how Laprise handles his first career loss. Downgraded from C+ to C Trinaldo: Winner of four straight fights, this was in fact Trinaldo’s best win inside the octagon dominating the undefeated Canadian. He’s really surprised me his last couple fights and may have a late career run left in him. Upgraded from C- to C Josh Burkman vs. Patrick Cote Burkman: It took 40 professional fights for Josh Burkman to be knocked out by an opponent. His return to the UFC from WSOF has been a total dud. Downgraded from C to C- Cote: Winner of five of his last six bouts, he’s done a great job developing his ground game to add to his solid striking and iron chin. Knocking out Josh Burkman is a real accomplishment and definitely gets him noticed on my radar. Upgraded from C to C+ Neil Magny vs. Erick Silva Magny: One of his best performances inside the Octagon facing a dangerous opponent. He was able to survive on the ground against a good grappler and confused Silva on the feet with his excellent size and reach. Grade remains C+ Silva: The Brazilian has been through some really tough fights and in the lead up to this fight it seemed like he was not in as good of physical condition as he had been in previous years. The aggression Silva’s had in his wins wasn’t there in this bout either. Magny presents a unique physical matchup, but this performance was disappointing to say the least. Downgraded from B- to C+ Max Holloway vs. Charles Oliveira Holloway: Hard to gauge much from this fight given it’s short and unconventional ending. He’s proven in recent fights that he’s a top 5-10 fighter, but needs to face the division’s best to show if he’s championship material. Grade remains A- Oliveira: While I think he’s a skilled fighter with some of the most creative grappling techniques in the sport, this isn’t the first time he’s had a weird injury inside the octagon. It makes me think that he’s pretty brittle and will struggle with the physicality of some of the division’s top fighters. Grade remains B+
