UFC Fight Night: Teixeira vs. St Preux - Idiot's Guide Preview to the FS2/Fight Pass Prelims

Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Superior fighters to the main card get buried on the UFN 73 undercard this August 8, 2015 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Line Up

Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 2)

Middleweight Uriah Hall vs. Oluwale Bamgbose
Women’s Bantamweight Sara McMann vs. Amanda Nunes
Flyweight Dustin Ortiz vs. Willie Gates
Bantamweight Frankie Saenz vs. Sirwan Kakai

Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)

Light Heavyweight Chris Dempsey vs. Jonathan Wilson
Bantamweight Marlon Vera vs. Roman Salazar
Lightweight Anthony Christodoulou vs. Scott Holtzman

The Odds

Oluwale Bamgbose +280 Uriah Hall -340
Amanda Nunes +200 Sara McMann -240
Dustin Ortiz -440 Willie Gates +350
Frankie Saenz -150 Sirwan Kakai +130
Chris Dempsey +150 Jonathan Wilson -170
Marlon Vera -125 Roman Salazar +105
Anthony Christodoulou +525 Scott Holtzman -750

The Rundown

Middleweight Uriah Hall vs. Oluwale Bamgbose

Here’s the Bamgbose.

With a name that looks like a stereo manufactured by porn directors, Bamgbose will have Mike Goldberg calling the action for six different fighters in one bout by night’s end.

As you can see, the Class One MMA product is as high octane as he sounds. His mechanics are somewhat awkward. He likes to stay low and wing massive hooking shots, but he’s not a Chris Leben like brawler on the feet. He’s much more versatile, but unfortunately not a very counterpoint to Hall’s more methodical violence. Of course, Hall is coming off a loss to Rafael Natal, so it’s not exactly a stretch to imagine him losing to a 27 year old unknown with knockout power. Hall is basically a poor man’s version of Gegard Mousasi; two fighters who lack the urgency to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. But he’s polished enough to avoid Bamgbose’s brawling. Expect this to look like a more eccentric version of the Hall vs. Howard fight.

Women’s Bantamweight Sara McMann vs. Amanda Nunes

Man. Seriously, Zuffa? I realize the TV producers have a level of influence over which matchups are televised, and which are not, but this feels borderline treasonous. Why the outrage on my end?

For starters, I think McMann is terrific. Some have argued that her loss to Miesha Tate was disappointing. If you’re being shortsighted, yeah it is. McMann recently fought for the title while Tate was coming off a really bizarre, and underwhelming win over Rin Nakai.

But McMann has only been a pro for four years. Rousey and Tate are two of the very best at bantamweight. Moreover, McMann showed flashes of legitimate efficiency against Rousey, who she stiffened up more than once, taking advantage of Rousey’s lack of head movement. None of this means I think McMann can beat her in a rematch, or that she hasn’t peaked. Only that Sara’s trajectory is a little different, and she has a style that no one else can replicate when judged in the context of countering Rousey’s brilliance.

Anyway, she has a tough test this weekend against Nunes, who is fresh off a March win over Baszler. But there’s no reason to think McMann can’t duplicate much of what Zingano accomplished against Nunes. While Cat had trouble early, Zingano has a tendency to outwork herself in scrambles. McMann follows a more streamlined gameplan, and is every bit the powerhouse.

Flyweight Dustin Ortiz vs. Willie Gates

Ortiz was last seen being a bit of a nuisance for Joseph Benavidez last November. It’s been awhile since he’s been in the cage, but the Roufusport product has always been a capable, and competent gatekeeper. His crazy grappling war with Justin Scoggins was one of the better grapple-centric bouts in recent years too.

He’s taking on Willie Gates, coming off a win over Darrell Montague this past July, which feels like ages ago given the UFC’s schedule. Gates is a solid, lanky striker who switches his leg kicks effortlessly, and chambers a wild but piercing left hook. He’s a versatile striker in general, but he’s not one dimensional. Gates’ biggest problem is getting too eager. He’ll wade in with strikes a little too quickly which allows fighters to more readily put him on his back. Ortiz will be quick to take advantage as well. Tough, if not a flat out bad matchup for Gates. Not only can Ortiz grapple effectively, but he’s tough as nails and won’t easily be intimidating by Gates’ combinations.

Bantamweight Frankie Saenz vs. Sirwan Kakai

Saenz had what was undoubtedly the biggest win of his career versus Iuri Alcatnara this past February. Granted, at this point, we’re used to Alcantara fighting without his strengths, but it’s a solid win regardless. And Alcantara is a threat even at his strategy worst.

Kakai didn’t make the TUF cut, but he’s a solid fighter with crisp skills. Kind of reminds me of a better Tom Niinimaki; well rounded skills, and a no nonsense demeanor. Kakai has a strong one-two that’s thrown with expert economy. He knows when to punctuate his boxing with other methods of attack. Problem is he’s less effective moving backwards. His grappling is good, but Saenz should be able to back him up and keep him contained with his Arizona State wrestling pedigree. It’s not like Kakai is lethal at range anyway. This fight should be fairly back and forth though. I don’t think one should take as much stock into his win over Alcantara as you might assume, despite the fact that it’s still a solid win. I just think part of it was the clash of styles. Kakai presents a different challenge, but one Saenz will overcome all the same.

Light Heavyweight Chris Dempsey vs. Jonathan Wilson

As you can plainly see in this fight, Jonathan “Johnny Bravo” Wilson hasn’t had much to challenge him.

I mean, it’s not his fault obviously. Wilson’s a decent fighter once you get over the aggressively mediocre opposition. He has decent power in his punches, but he can be fairly calculated, and owns some subtle but highly effective head movement. He’s also capable of mixing it up.

His opponent is the guy no one on the BE staff gave a chance against Eddie Gordon. I would have been there with them if I could have been bothered to care about that fight. Wait…wasn’t I supposed to? Kind of tells you everything you need to know when you can’t even remember your own predictions/previews. Dempsey is an OK fighter. He’s durable, and well rounded, and sometimes that’s all you need in the right matchups. Wilson doesn’t have the same hiccups as Gordon, but he also doesn’t own the same arsenal, so it’s entirely possible Dempsey pulls off another undercard upset. I see this fight being fairly ugly, with lots of clinching, and tugging. Neither guy exudes explosiveness so this fight is at least where it belongs.

Bantamweight Marlon Vera vs. Roman Salazar

At 22 years of age, I like the potential that “Chito” shows. With his wiry frame, he’s good at throwing front kicks and keeping a wide base when striking. I’m a little surprised by the odds though. Salazar is a strong fighter capable of some fairly stifling top control. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where Vera simply outlasts him and somehow starts beating him up on the feet, or would be if Salazar wasn’t prone to absences on the feet. Vera’s takedown defense still needs work, so I favor Roman here.

Lightweight Anthony Christodoulou vs. Scott Holtzman

Crazy odds in this one. Then again if you’ve seen Holtzman in action, you kind of understand why.

He’s got incredibly clean, well chambered punches he can throw into defensive seams effortlessly. With a variety of strikes, he reminds me a little of Paul Felder, minus the “spinning shit”; two older guys who look great on the feet at their best. “Hot sauce” indeed. On a side note, credit for a creativity, but I’m not really feeling the relevance. It’s like nicknaming a fighter “Tabasco”, or “Artichoke”.

Anyway, Christodoulou made his debut in a tough bout with Taisumov. His gameplan is straight forward; fight like hell for the takedown and work a competent grappling game. Unfortunately he’s not particularly strong, or much of an athlete in general so it’s hard to imagine him overcoming such a deficit against an athletic wildebeest like Holtzman.