Jay Primetown gives his thoughts on each of the fighters who competed at UFC 203 in Cleveland, Ohio. Jay gives his letter grades for each fighter on TheMMA-Analysis podcast which can be found on MMAOddsbreaker.com Yancy Medeiros vs. Sean Spencer Medeiros: A positive debut for Medeiros at welterweight. He did well to work in leg kicks and keep Spencer off guard. He landed the decisive blow in the second round flooring Spencer with a leg kick and following it with a submission. Good win for Medeiros. Upgraded from D+ to C- Spencer: He simply doesn’t have the striking power to really hurt his opponents. His ground game is really lacking when forced into those type of situations. Having lost three fights in a row it’s likely he will be cut from the UFC after this performance. Grade remains D+ Drew Dober vs. Jason Gonzalez Dober: Very good performance from Dober. He was aggressive utilizing a punching heavy technique. His hand speed was a lot faster than his opponent and it really showed in this bout. He looked very good tonight and it appears his move to Team Elevation is having real success. Upgraded from D+ to C- Gonzalez: Tall man defense was on full display in this bout. He had no answers for Dober’s hand speed and ability to move in and out. One he got clipped he didn’t offer much resistance. Tough to see him sticking around in the UFC. Downgraded from D+ to D- Nik Lentz vs. Michael McBride Lentz: Not his best performance as he was too hittable on the feet, but he went back to his bread and butter: grinding wrestling. Lentz was much better in the grappling exchanges and dominated his opponent throughout the fight to get the win. Grade remains C+ McBride: This was as bad as a matchup as there is on short notice. McBride had to face an excellent wrestler with a strong, suffocating attack. He was never going to win this fight and it’s difficult to assess too much given the circumstances. Grade remains D Caio Magalhaes vs. Brad Tavares Magalhaes: He pressed forward at times, but his striking lacked the accuracy to land anything significant. He wasn’t able to hold Tavares on the mat either and was simply outworked on the feet. Grade remains C- Tavares: He continues to have middling performances in the Octagon. He outworked his opponent, especially in the third round, but his inability to dominate and finish opponents is holding him back from moving up and getting the big fights. Grade remains C+ Bethe Correia vs. Jessica Eye Correia: She went into Eye’s hometown and brought the fight to her. It certainly was very close on paper and she snuck out a win buoyed by her ability at times to push Eye against the cage and control her. Grade remains C+ Eye: This matchup was tailor made to get her a victory, but she was once again too inactive on the feet. Disappointing performance from Eye not to take control of the cage and get a result. With her fourth straight loss in the UFC, she’ll very likely be cut from the promotion. Downgraded from C+ to C Jessica Andrade vs. Joanne Calderwood Andrade: In this fight, she showed additional elements to her game to make her a threat for the championship. Her power wrestling game is one of the best in the division. After some ground and pound, she transitioned well to her trademark guillotine which is one of the best in WMMA. Upgraded from B+ to A- Calderwood: Her striking was solid early on and she looked competitive with Andrade. However, once the fight went to the ground she had no answers for Andrade. As she tried to get to her feet, she left herself vulnerable to a choke. All three of her career losses; two professional and one on The Ultimate Fighter have come by submission. She’s a talented fighter, but there are still some major holes. Grade remains B- Urijah Faber vs. Jimmie Rivera Faber: He looked slow and old in this bout. He didn’t have the speed to match Rivera and really struggled trying to figure out Rivera in this bout. Downgraded from A- to B+ Rivera: Excellent game plan counterstriking Faber. His takedown defense was impressive again not giving Faber a chance to get into this fight. This victory certainly puts him in the title hunt. Upgraded from B to A- Mickey Gall vs. CM Punk Gall: He secured a takedown seconds into the fight and showed that he is a brown belt while his opponent is a novice on the mat. Tough to tell much from this performance with the exception of he did what he was expected to do. Upgraded from D- to D Punk: He lost every single second of this fight and looked like a fighter who had never fought professionally before. This was a mismatch. Debut grade is F– Travis Browne vs. Fabricio Werdum Browne: Hurt his finger early in the fight and had to fight one-handed for the remainder of the contest. Browne hasn’t been the same fighter that he was just a few years ago. Training in Glendale as opposed to Jackson’s is certainly a valid theory. Downgraded from B- to C+ Werdum: He looked a bit out of shape and didn’t have his fight. Still he offered much more variety than his opponent and landed at a much better clip to secure an easy win on the scorecards. His age and durability is a real issue at this point in his career. Downgraded from A to A- Stipe Miocic vs. Alistair Overeem Miocic: He felt the power of Overeem, but adjusted well and used his quickness and conditioning to overwhelm his opponent. Once he had Overeem on the ground, it was a matter of when, not if that he’d be able to finish the fight and retain the championship. Grade remains A Overeem: He had a couple chances to pour it on Miocic and look for the finish, but he was unable to do so. His chin is a real liability and one Miocic landed clean, Overeem was finished. I don’t see much left for him in the UFC after losing his chance at the championship. Grade remains B+
Updated Fighter Grades: Post-UFC 203
