More fighters means more injuries which, in turn, means signing more fighters. Thus the cycle of UFC signings continues. The most recent of these is CFFC champion Jonavin Webb. Webb will be replacing Andreas Stahl at UFC Fight Night Adelaide on May 9th in Australia. He’ll be facing off against seasoned UFC vet Kyle Noke. Sherdog.com reported the signing and the fight replacement. So…
Who is Jonavin Webb?
The 25-year old American fighter enters the UFC with the CFFC welterweight strap around his waist and an undefeated record, but it’s not without some controversy. He defended his title last year against former Bellator welterweight champion Lyman Good, and while the fight ended in a no-contest due to eye poke in the 3rd round, even Webb himself admitted that he felt he lost the fight. On that note, Webb enters the UFC with an 8-0 (1 NC) record. He has a win over UFC vet Daniel Stittgen (probably his best to date) along with wins over a number of highly experienced regional journeymen. He trains out of Team Renzo Gracie Philly, alongside Emmanuel Walo and Paul Felder. Outside of MMA, Webb has a long background as an amateur wrestler and BJJ grappler.
What you should expect:
Webb is a really interesting prospect coming up the American scene as he’s a wrestler/grappler first and foremost. He’s obviously worked on developing his striking into his overall game, but is still mostly a kicker at range and only really uses his boxing to set up body locks and double leg takedowns. His wrestling is really solid and he uses a variety of techniques to get fights to the mats. Nicely, he has a pretty solid power double as well and does a great job setting it up from the overhand right. On the ground, Webb is a really dynamic positional scrambler. He does a great job staying busy with strikes and hunting for submissions, but keeps position well and rarely gives up the advantage while creating offense. It’s a great overall skillset which should carry him well in the UFC. He’s definitely going to struggle with good counter wrestlers, but he’s really early in his career and his striking should develop.
What this means for his debut:
Webb has just about the perfect UFC debut bout in front of him. Noke is a recognizable name and a tough fighter, but not so skilled in any one area that he should present a real problem for Webb. Webb is almost certainly the better wrestler and grappler (especially given how easily Noke gave up takedowns to Patrick Cote), and while Noke has some pop on his punches, he’s not a consistent enough striker to dominate there. I’m expecting Webb to get a big name win and look good in his UFC debut.
To get us better acquainted, here’s his CFFC 31 fight against Whitney Jean Francois:
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