Jay Primetown gives his thoughts on each of the fighters who competed at UFN 76 in Dublin, Ireland. Jay gives his letter grades for each fighter on TheMMA-Analysis podcast which can be found on MMAOddsbreaker.com Bubba Bush vs. Gareth McLellan Bush: His wrestling game is strong, but his biggest problem is he can’t hold a solid pace for long. Cardio is critical to success in MMA and Bush struggles significantly in that regard. After a solid first round, he was breathing heavily. That was the beginning of the end for Bush as he was dominated in the final two rounds losing by stoppage in the final seconds of round three. Downgraded from D+ to D- McLellan: Not the most skilled fighter, but he knew how to take advantage of a tired fighter. This win should be enough to get McLellan a couple more fights inside the octagon. Upgraded from F to D- Darren Elkins vs. Robert Whiteford Elkins: Classic Darren Elkins fight. Once he’s able to get his opponent to the mat, he’s relentless in continuing with ground and pound and working for additional takedowns. The pace he’s able to fight at was the difference in this fight as he wore Whiteford out. Grade remains C+ Whiteford: His wrestling simply was not up to Elkins’ level. Whiteford struggled to defend takedowns and was placed on his back way too often in this fight. He’s not a bad fighter, but this fight showed his limitations. Grade remains C- Tom Breese vs. Cathal Pendred Breese: Fantastic performance. He did an excellent job establishing distance and striking from range. He has great hands and is able to strike with accuracy. He’s certainly a fighter I have an eye on moving forward. Upgraded from C- to C Pendred: His striking actually looked better than it has in previous fights. His problem on Saturday was that Breese is a much higher level boxer. When Pendred is able to get into a grinding type of fight, he’s able to succeed. When he’s forced into a striking exchange, he will have problems. Grade remains D+ Scott Askham vs. Krzysztof Jotko Askham: He’s a decent fighter with some variety in his stand-up, but speed and ability to defend takedowns were major differences in this fight. Askham just doesn’t have an aspect of MMA he realy excels at. It’s tough to beat good fighters without excelling in any area. Grade remains C- Jotko: He really showed some versatility in this fight. He scored takedowns in a few different ways. He was able to counter well on the feet and fought at a decent pace. Jotko is a solid fighter who will be a tough out for most fighters in the division. Upgraded from C- to C Ericka Almeida vs. Aisling Daly Almeida: She was placed in a tough fight and held her own on the feet, but once the fight went to the ground, she wasn’t able to do enough to win rounds. She appears to have a slick submission game, but will need more than that to stick around in the UFC. Grade remains D+ Daly: Buoyed by the home crowd in Dublin, Daly was relentless in her pursuit to win this fight. Due to a couple of timely takedowns and non-stop action on the feet, Daly deservedly got her hand raised. Grade remains C+ Mikael Lebout vs. Steven Ray Lebout: He’s now survived 15 minutes with both Sergio Moraes and Steven Ray and was competitive in both contests. His problem is he doesn’t pack much power in his hands and doesn’t have much of a ground game either. It will be difficult to win in the UFC without those tools in his skill set. Grade remains D Ray: He did enough to win the fight behind accurate boxing and landing well with his left hand. I was hoping he’d be more decisive in his victory, but that wasn’t in the cards. He’ll have a lengthy career in the UFC, but will likely be brought along slowly. Grade remains C- Jon Delos Reyes vs. Neil Seery Delos Reyes: His athleticism and wrestling are credible and he seemed to have a real advantage in those areas. His reckless style is fun to watch, but that’s where smart opponents can take advantage. I do think he has potential, but probably needs to switch camps in order to really improve. Upgraded from D to D+ Seery: His technical striking was much better than delos Reyes, but ultimately what won this fight for Seery was his opponent’s wild approach. It gave Seery the opportunity to lock in an arm in guillotine and get the submission win. Upgraded from D+ to C- Nicolas Dalby vs. Darren Till Dalby: He struggled early in the fight, but he was able to really turn it on late to get a 10-8 third round to earn a majority draw from two of the judges. Grade remains C- Till: He did very well early on, but popped his shoulder midway through the fight and barely held on to the final bell. A rematch here would make the most sense. Grade remains C- Reza Madadi vs. Norman Parke Madadi: His striking took a couple rounds to warm up. Before he knew it, he was down two rounds before a competitive final round. Madadi is a tough customer and should look better in his next outing. Grade remains C- Parke: I was impressed with the variety he showed in his striking, but he lacks finishing ability. He will need to beat opponents with a grinding style. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it certainly limits his ceiling. Grade remains C- Paddy Holohan vs. Louis Smolka Holohan: He went out full throttle and his inability to finish early was eventually going to cost him as he ran out of gas. Tough fight for Holohan to lose in his hometown. Downgraded from C to C- Smolka: He once again had problems defending takedowns, but weathered the storm from Holohan. He turned it on in the second round when Holohan ran out of steam. Finishing his opponent in front of a hostile crowd is a solid win and worthy of a step up in competition. Grade remains C
