Jay Primetown gives his thoughts on each of the fighters who competed at UFC Fight Night 84 in London, England. Jay gives his letter grades for each fighter on TheMMA-Analysis podcast which can be found on MMAOddsbreaker.com Martin Svensson vs. David Teymur Svensson: Despite a significant length advantage, he was unable to work in strikes from the outside and failed repeatedly to score takedowns. Once Teymur got warmed up, Svensson was quickly finished. Grade remains D- Teymur: Striking was crisp. He showed variety on the feet and put the cherry on top of the performance with a massive uppercut finish. His opponent’s level was poor, but Teymur is one to watch on future European cards. Upgraded from D to D+ Thibault Gouti vs. Teemu Packalen Gouti: Clipped with one of the first punches thrown and was unable to recover. Hard to gauge his prospects moving forward, but this was bad to say the least. Downgraded from D to D- Packalen: Quick finish by the Finnish fighter. He showed unexpected power in his hands and a killer instinct. It will be interesting to watch him moving forward as this was a much better performance than his debut. Upgraded from D to D+ Jarjis Danho vs. Daniel Omielanczuk Danho: He did okay in the opening round forcing Omielanczuk against the cage, but cardio failed badly on him. In the third round he was looking for a way out and took it after receiving a low blow. He lost the decision and I think the judges got it right. Downgraded from D to F Omielanczuk: He’s not good, but he showed a better gas tank than his opponent and a decent kicking game. Very few heavyweights in the organization he can beat, but a win’s a win. Grade remains D- Rustam Khabilov vs. Norman Parke Khabilov: Not active enough on the feet, but went back to his roots of grappling in key moments to win himself a pretty close fight. With that said, I need to lower his grade due to inactivity in the standup. The better fighters in the division will win with volume. Downgraded from B to B- Parke: He put on a decent pace having some success in the striking in the second round and back control in the third round. With that said, he had little answers for Khabilov in top control and offers no power on the feet to hurt his opponent. He’s got decent fundamentals, but lack of killer instinct really hurts his ceiling. Grade remains C- Kryzsztof Jotko vs. Brad Scott Jotko: Classic Jotko performance. Slow start, but gained steam as the fight went on outwork, out landing his opponent to get the win. Grade remains C Scott: Put significant pressure on his opponent early in the fight, but that came back to bite him as he ran out of energy and was soundly controlled in the second half of the fight. Grade remains D+ Arnold Allen vs. Yaotzin Meza Allen: Much more dominant performance for Allen in his second appearance in the octagon. He was able to score takedowns throughout the fight, won the striking exchanges, and nearly knocked out his opponent at the final bell. Allen is ready for a step up in competition. Grade remains C- Meza: Reality is he’s not UFC material. He has some wrestling ability, but offers little on the feet and simply isn’t a good enough athlete to compete at this level. Grade remains D- Scott Askham vs. Chris Dempsey Askham: His wrestling game needs to improve, but when given range, his kicks are accurate and lethal. Put Dempsey away with one of the cleanest kicks you will ever see. He’s a decent prospect in the middleweight division. Grade remains C- Dempsey: He’s a Division II All-American wrestler and when given opportunity, he can work in takedowns. However, his ability to defend and take a punch is at the bottom of the division. I don’t see him winning another fight in the UFC. Downgraded from D to F Davey Grant vs. Marlon Vera Grant: He made improvements to his stand-up and wrestling in his time away from the Octagon. He’s still very hittable on the feet and will struggle against any fighter with a semblance of power. Grade remains D+ Vera: His grappling is better than I thought. His striking leaves a lot to be desired and he will be outworked and outscored by most fighters on the feet. He’s too reliant on grappling for long term UFC success. Grade remains D- Makwan Amirkhani vs. Mike Wilkinson Amirkhani: Really impressed with his takedown attempts. He explodes in well and converts his attempts once he gets inside. He seemed to struggle with energy in the third round, but did more than enough in first two rounds to get the win. Upgraded from D+ to C- Wilkinson: He fought a solid pace, but his inability to stop takedowns gave him very little chance to win the fight. He needs to improve in that area to have future success in the UFC. Downgraded from C- to D+ Brad Pickett vs. Francisco Rivera Pickett: His chin held up and he scored some takedowns in the later part of the fight to win a split decision. He lack of size is an issue at bantamweight. Upgraded from C to C+ Rivera: Thought the judges scored this fight incorrectly. Rivera was far more effective on the feet landing the more accurate, powerful strikes. With that said, a fighter with Rivera’s power punching acumen should have put that fight away before the scorecards. Downgraded from B- to C+ Tom Breese vs. Keita Nakamura Breese: Certainly not his best performance, but it was good for him to face a skilled grappler and work his way out of tricky submission attempts. He will need to improve takedown defense to work his way into the top half of the weight class. Grade remains C Nakamura: Did better than many thought he would in this fight. He stayed out of trouble on the feet and threatened with submissions on the ground. His offensive wrestling was effective at multiple points in this bout. The fight was closer than the judges gave it credit for. Upgraded from D+ to C- Thales Leites vs. Gegard Mousasi Leites: Had no answer for Mousasi’s jab. Pulled guard to avoid damage. Pushed forward in the third round, but it was too little, too late. Grade remains B Mousasi: Simply too many tools in his chest for Leites. His jab was on point all fight. He could have even grappled with Leites, but wanted to play it safe. He battered his opponent to a clear decision. Deserves a top five fight next. Upgraded from B to B+ Michael Bisping vs. Anderson Silva Bisping: This was his Super Bowl. He went out there to get the trademark win of his career. He kept a fantastic pace, not allowing Silva much space. He was nearly finished at the end of the third round, but came out strong in the fourth round to do enough on the judges scorecards to win a decision. He’s not a better fighter than Silva, but he got the win on this night. Grade remains B Silva: He didn’t go for the kill when he had the chance. He allowed Bisping too much room to operate early in the fight. He hurt his opponent multiple times late in the fight, but was unable to earn the stoppage. I think he showed he’s the more talented fighter, despite dropping the decision. Grade remains B+
