10 reasons to watch UFC Fight Night 102, including heavyweights set to separate hype from reality

from MMA Junkie on Dec 08, 2016
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It’s not often that the UFC presents events on back-to-back nights, and it’s even rarer that those events are within driving distance of each other, but that’s the case this week.

Things kick off on Friday in Albany, N.Y. at Times Union Center with UFC Fight Night 102 before moving about 400 miles (600 km) to the west for Saturday’s UFC 206.

UFC Fight Night 102 features two heavyweight bouts at the top of the card.

In the main event, Derrick Lewis, who is on a four-fight winning streak, looks to make it five in a row against Shamil Abdurakhimov, who with a win, could shake up the heavyweight rankings.

In the co-main event, the still developing but powerful Francis Ngannou faces Anthony Hamilton in a matchup that marks the first time in four UFC fights that Ngannou meets an opponent with any UFC experience.

The entire UFC Fight Night 102 card streams on UFC Fight Pass.

Here are 10 reasons to watch the event.

1. Avoid those waters

It’s hard to believe, but this is Lewis’ 10th fight since debuting in the UFC with a first round TKO victory over Jack May in the opening fight of UFC on FOX 11 in April 2014.

Now ranked No. 11 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings, Lewis has carved out a nice place for himself in the heavyweight division and the hearts and minds of fight fans.

In his last fight, Lewis defeated Roy Nelson by split decision; it was the first time in Lewis’ UFC run that he went the distance, and there were some signs that his cardio is not the best. That may be something to watch when Lewis (16-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) faces Abdurakhimov (17-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC), a fighter who has gone the distance in his last two contests and fights in a style that’s intended to take his opponents into deep waters.

If Lewis has designs on a top-10 opponent in the near future, he’ll want to get in and out of Albany as quickly as possible.

2. Knowing is half the battle

When Lewis’ opponent for this card was announced, Lewis asked the same question as many others: Who?

Following his win over Nelson, one would have thought Lewis would have been matched up against an opponent somewhere, anywhere, in the heavyweight rankings.

Anyway, Abdurakhimov debuted with the UFC in April 2015, falling to Timothy Johnson by first-round TKO. He followed that loss with decision wins over Anthony Hamilton and Walt Harris.

Abdurakhimov has been a slow starter in his UFC fights, and even when he gets going, he doesn’t venture out of the slow lane often, happy to work at a measured pace from distance. He does work well in the clinch, but his ground game, at least from his back, has shown weakness.

So, there you are. Now when you watch this fight with your friends and they ask who this dude is, you can impress them by at least knowing a little something about him.

And while Lewis did joke about Abdurakhimov’s little-known name, he made sure to point out that he’s taking the fight seriously.

3. Check the gauges

Ngannou is a more recent addition to the UFC heavyweight roster than Lewis, but he, too, has made some noise in the division, ringing up three stoppage wins in three UFC appearances. Ngannou gets the toughest test of his career in Albany, facing Anthony Hamilton, who has been fighting as a pro longer than Ngannou has been training in MMA.

Hamilton (15-5 MMA, 3-3 UFC) has a wrestling background. Expect him to attempt to use that base to gauge how developed Ngannou (8-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is as a mixed martial artist after just a few years.

This matchup is a good one for all to see how high expectations should be for Ngannou, who enters the fight as an honorable mention in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings.

Anthony Hamilton

4. Need to see more

Corey Anderson had a 5-1 record in the octagon heading into his UFC 198 fight against Mauricio Rua, a fight that looked custom made to give Anderson the opportunity to put a win over a big name opponent on his record.

Instead, Anderson got knocked down twice and dropped a split decision to the former light heavyweight champ. It was also the fourth straight time Anderson went the distance.

After the fight, Anderson told MMAjunkie Radio that once he watched the contest, he felt the judges had robbed him of a deserved victory.

Anderson’s opponent in Albany, Sean O'Connell is on a two-fight losing streak, most recently dropping a decision to Steve Bosse in a “Fight of the Night” bonus-winning slugfest. If Anderson (8-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) hopes to improve from an honorable mention in the division rankings, he needs to impress against O’Connell (17-8 MMA, 2-4 UFC), who is fighting out his UFC contract.

5. More than just a friend

With eight UFC fights to his name, Gian Villante is still best known as the best friend and training partner of former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman. That’s not a terrible thing, but you know he would rather be known as UFC light heavyweight contender Gian Villante.

Villante has had his shining moments in the octagon, winning two “Fight of the Night” bonuses and knocking out Anthony Perosh at UFC 193. However, he’s also had moments where he’s shown a suspect gas tank and an affinity to drop his defenses at inopportune times.

The matchup against Saparbek Safarov, who makes his UFC debut in Albany, plays to Villante’s (14-7 MMA, 4-3 UFC) strengths. The unbeaten and aggressive Safarov (8-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) has only left the first round once, and he’s never made it to the third stanza, finishing six fights by knockout and two by submission.

Gian Villante

6. Strawweights looking to make their mark

Ashley Yoder gets a quick turnaround for her UFC debut, coming in on the strength of a second-round armbar submission win over Amber Brown at Invicta FC 20 on Nov. 18.

Yoder (5-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), a Team Quest fighter, has a good ground game, but her opponent, Justine Kish (5-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is more well-rounded with high-level striking as well as a strong ground game.

Kish won her UFC debut, defeating Nina Ansaroff at UFC 195 by unanimous decision, displaying a very aggressive style and showing little concern for Ansaroff’s striking.

Style-wise this strawweight fight could be a sleeper pick for “Fight of the Night.”

7. No, the other Camozzi

Brian Camozzi, the younger brother of UFC veteran Chris Camozzi, makes his UFC debut in Albany, replacing Charlie Ward against Randy Brown in a welterweight contest.

Camozzi joins the promotion after capturing the RFA welterweight title in his last bout, defeating Nick Barnes via first-round guillotine choke technical submission. The win was Camozzi’s (7-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) fifth straight stoppage victory.

The buzzword on Brown (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) is potential, something he recently said he knows will only carry him so far.

“I’ve got to put it together and come out here and show the world what I can actually do in the gym,” Brown said after his win over Erick Montano in September.

8. Back to middleweight

Andrew Sanchez, winner of Season 23 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” gets a tough test in his second UFC fight when he faces veteran middleweight Trevor Smith at UFC Fight Night 102.

Smith is on the first two-fight winning streak of his UFC career, beating Dan Miller and Joe Giglotti in his last two fights.

Sanchez used takedowns and short strikes to overwhelm Khalil Rountree at The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale. Before “TUF,” Sanchez had never gone the distance in victory, winning five fights by knockout and two by submission.

If Sanchez (8-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) can control the pace against Smith (14-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC) and display the kind of violent striking he did when he bloodied John Poppie to claim the RFA middleweight title in August 2015, he could become a very popular fighter very quickly.

Andrew Sanchez

9. Welcome back

In August 2015, Frankie Perez TKOd Sam Stout in 54 seconds, collecting a “Performance of the Night” bonus and moving his MMA record to 10-2. And then he retired in the cage at age 26, much to the chagrin of his coach, Mark Henry, who wondered on MMAjunkie Radio what could have been for the still developing Perez.

Henry should get an answer to his question in Albany when Perez (10-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) makes his return to the cage, facing another young up-and-coming lightweight in Marc Diakiese (10-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who scored a second-round TKO win over Lukasz Sajewski in his UFC debut.

Frankie Perez

10. Looking to continue the streak

Juliana Lima’s only losses in the UFC have come to current UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk and former champ Carla Esparza. The flipside to that is that Lima’s only UFC wins have been against fighters making their debut with the promotion.

At UFC Fight Night 102, Lima, a strong jiu-jitsu player with good ground and pound, gets another UFC first-timer when she faces J.J. Aldrich. Aldrich joins the UFC on the strength of a three-fight winning streak, most recently beating Lynn Alvarez in November at Invicta 20.

Lima (8-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC), ranked No. 15 at strawweight will be a tough test for Aldrich (4-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), but this fight is a huge opportunity for the young fighter to make a huge impression.