10 reasons to watch UFC Fight Night 108 with big opportunities galore in 'Music City'

from MMA Junkie on Apr 21, 2017
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There are no title fights at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 108. No immediate title contenders will emerge from the event. There might not even be much movement in the rankings when it comes to a close. But that doesn’t mean the fights are inconsequential.

Opportunity is the thing we should focus on – as in, the opportunity for some less established fighters to make a mark against veteran opponents. That situation presents itself in a number of fights, up to and including the main event, in which longtime WEC/UFC competitor Cub Swanson meets relative UFC newcomer Artem Lobov.

In the co-main event, Diego Sanchez, Season 1 middleweight winner of “The Ultimate Fighter,” faces Al Iaquinta, the runnerup on “TUF 15.”

UFC Fight Night 108 features a six-fight main card on FS1 following prelims on FS2 and UFC Fight Pass from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

Here are 10 reasons to watch the event.

1. Yes, it’s a weird one.

In one of the strangest main events in recent UFC history, the promotion has booked Swanson, the No. 6 featherweight in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA featherweight rankings, against the unranked and largely unheralded Lobov.

Swanson (24-7 MMA, 9-3 UFC) has rung up nine fight-night bonus awards during his tenure with the WEC/UFC and is coming off a performance that put him in the running for 2016’s “Fight of the Year.” Lobov (13-12-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) is best known for being the friend and training partner of lightweight champion Conor McGregor.

This is a fight Swanson is expected to win, and that’s exactly why it’s a dangerous matchup. If Swanson loses to Lobov, he’ll drop in the rankings, and the title fight that has eluded him throughout his career will likely be forever out of reach.

2. Making up for lost time

The last time we saw Iaquinta was in April 2015, when he won his fourth straight fight with a split decision victory over Jorge Masvidal. One scratched fight, one injury and one contract dispute later, Iaquinta returns to the octagon against Sanchez, who is coming off a win over Marcin Held.

Iaquinta is a big favorite in the bout, but there are some things to be concerned about when it comes to the lightweight rankings honorable mention selection. The biggest question concerns his attitude and mindset. There’s a chance Iaquinta (12-3-1 MMA, 7-2 UFC), who never got the improved contract he wanted from the UFC, could be over-aggressive and reckless looking to make a statement against Sanchez (27-9 MMA, 16-9 UFC), putting his winning streak at risk. On the other hand, if Iaquinta is the same fighter he was before his break, he should pick up where he left off – with a win.

3. Areas of concern

Ovince Saint Preux

A year ago, Ovince Saint Preux was walking to the octagon to face Jon Jones for the interim UFC light heavyweight title. Saint Preux didn’t win one round of that fight, but he did go the distance with Jones, who was returning from an absence of 15 months due to legal troubles.

Saint Preux followed that loss with two additional defeats. In fact, his record since August 2015 is 1-4. Despite his recent slump, Saint Preux is ranked No. 10 in the division.

The knock against Saint Preux is that his MMA talent has yet to catch up to his raw physical ability, and with 29 professional fights to his name, it doesn’t seem like it will. That shouldn’t be Saint Preux’s (19-10 MMA, 7-5 UFC) big concern in Nashville. He has more immediate worries, namely defeating the very aggressive Marcos Rogerio de Lima, who enters the contest with the shortest average fight time in UFC history at 2:10 per fight. De Lima (15-4-1 MMA, 4-2 UFC) has not left the first round in his past six fights, going 4-2 in those bouts.

4. Bantamweight firepower

Eddie Wineland

In 2014 former WEC bantamweight champion Eddie Wineland was sitting around with his jaw wired shut contemplating if his career was at its end. Wineland eventually decided he still had a few years left in the tank, and since then he’s gone 2-1 with knockout wins in his most recent two fights.

Now ranked No. 14 in the bantamweight division, Wineland faces former flyweight title challenger John Dodson in what should be a contender for “Fight of the Night.”

The fight comes down to the speed of Dodson (18-8 MMA, 7-3 UFC) vs. the power of Wineland (23-11-1 MMA, 5-5 UFC), very much like Dodson’s most recent fight, a split-decision loss to John Lineker. Dodson employed an elusive game plan in that fight, and even though he landed more strikes than Lineker, that style cost him on the judge’s scorecards, on which he dropped a split decision. Expect a retooled game plan from Dodson in the matchup, and that could mean fireworks for fight fans.

5. One of them is wrong

Stevie Ray and Joe Lauzon don’t see eye to eye when it comes to their lightweight matchup.

Lauzon, a veteran of 23 UFC fights, knows his run as a high-level competitor might be drawing to a close soon, but he doesn’t think that time is now.

“At some point it’s going to catch up to me,” Lauzon told MMAjunkie. “At 32, I don’t feel like I’m slowing down.”

Ray disagrees (20-6 MMA, 4-1 UFC) with Lauzon’s (27-12 MMA, 14-9 UFC) self-assessment.

“I feel like he’s got the same drive and the same motivation … You’ve got to kind of look at the results, look at his last few performances,” Ray told MMAjunkie. “They haven’t maybe been the best.”

And the beauty of MMA is they will settle that debate in the cage.

6. Against the wall, again

Every time it looks like Jake Ellenberger is on his way out of the UFC, he comes up big. In 2015, it was his “Performance of the Night” bonus-winning submission of Josh Koscheck that ended Ellenberger’s three-fight losing streak. In 2016, Ellenberger TKOd Matt Brown, ending a two-fight skid. Now 2-6 in his past eight fights, Ellenberger once again has his back against the wall.

Ellenberger (31-12 MMA, 10-8 UFC) doesn’t have an easy go in the fight, matching up against the aggressive and heavy-handed Mike Perry (9-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC), who before dropping a decision to Alan Jouban in December, had won his first nine fights by way of knockout.

7. Turn it up

Sam Alvey

Fans could be in for a long 15 minutes when middleweights Sam Alvey and Thales Leites meet. Alvey is a dangerous striker, but his style is almost entirely built around counterpunches. If his opponent doesn’t engage, Alvey has a tendency to get frustrated instead of upping his offensive output.

Against Leites, who attempted just 14 strikes in his most recent fight, a decision loss to Krzysztof Jotko, Alvey might need to change that approach. A victory over Leites (26-7 MMA, 11-6 UFC), a former title challenger who is currently ranked No. 14 in the division, would give Alvey five straight wins, but that breakthrough won’t come if he doesn’t up his aggression if needed.

8. It’s test time

Brandon Moreno

Brandon Moreno is a fighter to keep an eye on in the flyweight division. Debuting with the promotion in October, he stopped Louis Smolka in stunning fashion, submitting Smolka with a “Performance of the Night” bonus-winning guillotine choke. He followed that with a split-decision win over Ryan Benoit.

Now ranked No. 13, Moreno (13-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC) gets a step up in competition, facing No. 12 Dustin Ortiz. Since joining the UFC in 2103, Ortiz (16-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) has gone the distance against some of the best flyweights in UFC history, including John Moraga, Joseph Benavidez, Wilson Reis and Jussier Formiga. Ortiz lost each of those fights by decision.

Ortiz will test Moreno’s wrestling and cardio. If the younger fighter can get a win here, expect his next fight to be against a top-10 opponent.

9. Reverse the trend

Jessica Penne

Jessica Penne has taken a beating in her past two fights, losing by TKO to both strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Jessica Andrade. Penne was severely outstruck in each of those contests, and she could be fighting for her UFC life against Danielle Taylor, who is coming off a split-decision win over Seo Hee Ham.

Taylor (8-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) is much shorter than Penne (12-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) and has a significant reach disadvantage, but she makes up for those things by moving in and out quickly when she throws her hands, which do pack some power.

If Penne, who has not fought for more than 10 months, is the least bit tentative early on, Taylor could leave Nashville with a surprise victory.

10. This could lead to something big

Cindy Dandois, a judo black belt, has spent most of her career at featherweight, winning her last three fights by stoppage, including a triangle choke submission victory over current Invicta FC champion Megan Anderson. At UFC Fight Night 108, she faces Alexis Davis in a bantamweight matchup.

Davis, a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, is looking to get back in the win column following a submission defeat to Sara McMann in December. That fight was Davis’ first in more than a year, having taken an extended leave from the sport to give birth to her first child.

With Davis (17-7 MMA, 4-2 UFC) currently ranked No. 11 in the division, Dandois (8-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) has more to gain here. If she looks impressive against Davis, a former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger, Dandois could be a fighter the promotion could throw into the women’s featherweight division, maybe even eventually giving her the shot at Cristiane Justino which she missed out on with Invicta.