I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the UFC is starting to build it’s flyweight division in earnest and now has a full twenty 125 lb. fighters signed to their ranks. The bad news is that fans will have to wait a bit longer to see the two newest signees square off.
MMAJunkie announced on August 20th that the UFC had signed Dustin Ortiz and Justin Scoggins as a last minute addition to their UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann 2 card later this month. However, later that same day, the MMAJunkie also learned that the UFC had been forced to scrap the bout. No news as to why yet, or whether it will affect the signing of either fighter, but reports indicate that at least one of the two will be making his promotional debut soon.
For a brief look at these two prospects: Dustin Ortiz is a fairly seasoned prospect fighting out of Roufus Sport on the flyweight circuit. After three years as a professional he’s run up a 11-2 record competing for Strikeforce, Tachi Palace Fights, and RFA. The biggest fight of his career so far was against Ian McCall under TPF, where he dropped a unanimous decision to the top ranked flyweight.
As a fighter Ortiz is definitely still developing. His athleticism is on par with any of the top fighters in the division, but his striking and ground game are a work in process. In some ways he reminds me of Melvin Guillard in that there’s obviously a lot of talent there, but he sometimes takes foolish risks.
Justin Scoggins in countrast to Ortiz is something of an unknown. At only 21 with a 7-0 record, he’s yet to fight either a well known opponent or on a high profile card. His past opponents have a combined record of 16-29. He has a background in amateur kickboxing and watching his recent fight against Jacob Hebeisen the first thing that comes to mind is Stephen Thompson.
Scoggins fights out of a low karate-esque stance and throws a lot of side kicks. His boxing and sprawl both appear solid, but somewhat flawed. Given his level of competition, minor liabilities in lower level fight could easily translate to huge liabilities at the highest level. He started training out of a fairly unknown camp, but apparently has moved American Top Team recently.
No word at the moment if this fight will simply be rescheduled or if both fights will even remain with the promotion. Stay tuned for more news, fight announcements, and technical breakdowns as UFC Fight Night 27 approaches.
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- Watch Miesha Tate live on Google Hangout today at 4PM Eastern/1 Pacific
- UFC ref Steve Mazzagatti talks Brock Lesnar, Dana White, being hated
- Report: Tara LaRosa not getting UFC contract after TUF 18, fighting in Pancrase September 29th
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