10 reasons to watch UFC Fight Night 106 with Belfort-Gastelum and Means-Oliveira redux

from MMA Junkie on Mar 10, 2017
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Reluctant middleweight Kelvin Gastelum gets a big opportunity to move up the rankings on Saturday when he faces Vitor Belfort in the main event of UFC Fight Night 106.

Gastelum’s history of coming in over the welterweight limit came to a head in November when he didn’t even step on the scale for a scheduled fight against Donald Cerrone. At the time, it was reported Gastelum was nearly 10 pounds over the 171-pound non-title limit. It was the third time Gastelum missed weight as a UFC fighter and led to UFC President Dana White proclaiming Gastelum’s time at welterweight was at an end.

Gastelum’s next fight was a middleweight bout against Tim Kennedy, a fight he won by third-round TKO. At UFC Fight Night 106, he looks to make it two straight middleweight wins.

In the co-main event, former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio Rua attempts to earn his first three-fight winning streak in three years against Gian Villante, who has been pining for the matchup for several years.

UFC Fight Night 106 takes place at Centro de Formacao Olimpica do Nordeste in Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil, with an FS1-televised card that follows early prelims on UFC Fight Pass. Here are 10 reasons to watch the event.

1. This could turn into something

Despite spending most of his UFC career at welterweight, or at least in the vicinity of welterweight, three of Gastelum’s biggest victories have come at middleweight: his victory over Uriah Hall to win “The Ultimate Fighter,”; his TKO of Nate Marquardt; and most recently, his TKO of Kennedy. Now No. 15 at 185 pounds in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweightrankings, Gastelum hopes to top those achievements by knocking out No. 9-ranked Belfort.

After defeating Kennedy, Gastelum (13-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) said he expected to return to welterweight, but if he beats Belfort (25-13 MMA, 14-9 UFC) it would be a surprise to see him reject another middleweight fight, especially considering he would likely earn a shot at a top-ranked opponent.

As for Belfort, after more than 20 years in the game, he’s fighting for relevance. A loss to Gastelum would put his record in his past five fights at 1-4.

2. Who has two thumbs and loves getting punched in the face?

Villante has his work cut out for him heading into UFC Fight Night 106. Not only is he taking on “Shogun” (24-10 MMA, 8-8 UFC), but he’s also doing so in the No. 15 Rua’s home country of Brazil. But don’t think Villante (16-7 MMA, 5-4 UFC) isn’t looking forward to the matchup.

“They did a smart one, the UFC, making us fight each other. Because I just think both of us love war, love getting punched in the face and punching other people in the face,” Villante told MMAjunkie. “I know I’m going to go in there and probably come home with a couple of black eyes, but I don’t mind that. I think that’s the great part about it, the beauty of it. It’s going to be a fun, fun fight.”

Both of these men can get things done on the feet, but Villante has shown a suspect gas tank in the past. If he has issues with cardio in the fight, Rua could find himself with a third consecutive victory, something he hasn’t accomplished since winning four straight in 2006-07.

3. On the brink

Edson Barboza is on the cusp of a breakthrough. With unanimous decision wins over former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis and former Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez in his past two outings, the No. 6 Barboza is one win away from mixing it up with the top five competitors at 155 pounds. The man who stands between Barboza and that goal is No. 10 Beneil Dariush, who is also on a two-fight winning streak, defeating James Vick and Rashid Magomedov in his most recent two outings.

Barboza (18-4, 12-4 UFC) might be the better-known of the two thanks to his ferocious kicks, but Dariush (14-2, 8-2 UFC) is a sneaky talent who could pull off the upset.

4. Things are moving at flyweight

What you have here is a rarity: a top-ranked flyweight who has yet to face champion Demetrious Johnson. That fighter, No. 5 Jussier Formiga, is unlikely to get a shot at the winner of the recently announced Johnson vs. No. 6 Wilson Reis title fight. However, If Formiga does get the better of No. 14 Ray Borg in Brazil, he could find himself in a rematch with No. 2 Joseph Benavidez, or facing the winner of the recently announced bout between No. 3 Henry Cejudo and No. 9 Sergio Pettis.

Borg (10-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) now needs to beat Formiga (19-4 MMA, 5-3 UFC) after beating but the scale earlier today. Borg missed weight in two of his past three flyweight fights, but came in on target today.

5. Unfinished business

Tim Means and Alex Oliveira give it another go after their first fight was waved off just 3:33 into the first round due to illegal knees from Means.

That fight was shaping up to be a high-paced striking battle before the illegal strikes, and in the lead-up to the rematch, both Means (26-7-1 MMA, 8-4 UFC) and Oliveira (16-3-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC) promised to pick up where they left off.

“I expect to put him down in front of his friends and family,” Means told MMAjunkie.

“To the fans: Don’t miss our rematch. As soon as the bell rings, it’s going to be a beatdown,” Oliveira said.

6. Backing up the talk

Since debuting with the UFC in 2014, Kevin Lee has been an outspoken proponent of Kevin Lee. Lee gets the opportunity to back up his talk at UFC Fight Night 106 against rankings honorable mention selection Francisco Trinaldo.

Expect these two to get after it on the feet, but if things get too hairy for Lee, don’t be surprised if he goes to his wrestling base to get the fight to the mat, where he has shown good ground striking ability as well as solid submission skills.

If Lee (14-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) gets the win over Trinaldo (21-4 MMA, 11-3 UFC), expect him to put the top ranked 155-pound fighters on notice during his post-fight interview.

7. Don’t do that striking thing

Sergio Moraes

There are a couple of fights on the card that could give jiu-jitsu heads their fix, but the welterweight bout between Sergio Moraes and Davi Ramos is the one to keep an eye on.

Moraes (11-2-1 MMA, 5-1-1 UFC) is a multiple time jiu-jitsu world champion, and Ramos (6-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) won the 2015 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Fighting Championship.

As with any fight between two highly skilled grapplers, the fear is that they will decide to turn the fight into a kickboxing match. But with these two squaring off in their home country, we can hope they decide to give the fans the ground battle they desire.

8. Might be time for a new game plan

Joe Soto

Joe Soto began his UFC career on a rough run, losing his first three fights. He’s turned things around lately, putting the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt he earned from David Terrell to good use by submitting his past two opponents.

If Soto (17-5 MMA, 2-3 UFC) plans on using that game plan in Brazil, he might find himself in trouble. His opponent, Rani Yahya, an honorable mention pick in the bantamweight rankings, is what you would call a specialist on the ground. Yahya (23-8 MMA, 8-2 UFC) has won 17 fights by submission and has not been on the losing side of a tapout since October 2006, when Gesias Cavalcante stopped him with a guillotine choke.

This fight is a good test to see if Soto is up to facing the top 135-pound fighters.

9. Northern light

We’ll find out how well-rounded 24-year-old Jeremy Kennedy is when he faces Rony Jason. Kennedy made his UFC debut in August and took a unanimous decision over Alessandro Ricci at lightweight.

Kennedy is unbeaten as a pro, and he’s getting some hype as the next big thing to come out of Canada. He controlled the majority of the fight against Ricci, showing good takedown skills and the ability to control his opponent in the clinch.

We’re likely to get a glimpse of Kennedy’s (9-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) ground game since the 32-year-old Jason (14-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC) has racked up the majority of his wins by way of submission.

10. Keep an eye on the gas gauge

Garreth McLellan

Unbeaten middleweight prospect Paulo Henrique Costa makes his official UFC debut in Fortaleza. Costa (8-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is unbeaten as a pro with eight first-round stoppages. He’s an aggressive fighter who has a lot of power behind his punches, but there is some concern about his cardio, and that’s something his opponent, Garreth McLellan (13-5 MMA, 1-3 UFC), will likely look to exploit.

Costa was a cast member on “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3.” During his stint on the show, he dropped a split decision to Marcio Alexandre Jr. Costa faded badly as that fight progressed, and by the third round he was clearly running on vapors. With none of his fights since then going more than five minutes, it’s hard to tell if his gas tank has improved.