One to Watch: Jordan Mein vs. Emil Meek | FIGHTLAND

Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC

UFC 206 has lots to contend with. Still lurking in the shadow of Conor McGregor’s exploits at UFC 205—the UFC’s debut New York City show at Madison Square Garden—this Saturday’s event also has to contend with a Fight Night card the night before in Albany, New York.

As a result, the people in attendance at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre will bear witness to one of this year’s best sleeper cards to have seemingly slipped under the radar. We may not be seeing Daniel Cormier defend his title against Anthony Johnson, but that now means we get five rounds of Anthony Pettis vs. Max Holloway—even if it is for a faux interim title (for Max Holloway, and not Pettis, who missed weight)—as the event headliner.

There are some fantastic fights on this card. Donald Cerrone vs. Matt Brown is a sure-fire barnburner. A featherweight clash between Cub Swanson and Doo Ho Choi will also provide plenty of action, while Tim Kennedy makes his long-awaited return against Kelvin Gastelum.

However, the fight that encapsulates the feeling around UFC 206—a fight which has perhaps been overlooked due to the big names littering the card from top to bottom—is the welterweight scrap between the returning Jordan Mein and Norway’s thunderous Viking Emil “Valhalla” Meek.

This contest is the main card opener—and what a way to kick off proceedings. Canadian Mein is certainly a tough introduction to the UFC’s Octagon for newcomer Meek. While he has only just turned 27-years-old, Mein is an impressively experienced 39-pro fight veteran. Not surprising, given he made his professional MMA debut at the tender age of 16.

By the age of 22, Mein had fought big names in Jason High, Josh Burkman, Marius Zaromskis, and Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos—beating the latter three. Under the combined Strikeforce and UFC banners, Mein is 5-3; having beat grizzled veterans such as Mike Pyle and Dan Miller in addition to the aforementioned Cyborg. The record may not be overly impressive, but those three losses have come against some serious top-level opposition—including current UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in a disputed split decision and TKO losses to Matt Brown and Thiago Alves after having the better of the early exchanges. Mein is no joke.

Following the Alves loss, Mein unexpectedly announced his retirement in 2015, but those retirement plans were soon downgraded to a brief hiatus when Mein announced his return to the sport to welcome the battle axe-wielding Meek to the biggest show of all.

“I feel excited to compete again,” Mein said on the media day as reported by the Edmonton Sun. “It [retirement] just happened and I think I kind of got really overwhelmed with everything [personal matters]. I didn’t feel like fighting was something I wanted to do anymore. I think I needed to take that break and I did. Now, I feel much better and have mental clarity.”

Eagerly anticipating his return to the sport, Mein had this to say of his Norwegian counterpart: “He looks like a crazy Viking. It excites me fighting guys like that, who look all crazy. It’s like, ‘OK, this could be interesting. Let’s see where it goes.’”

Meek announced his presence in the sport by handily beating Rousimar Palhares in a shock KO victory to win the Venator welterweight title. At the time, the Brazilian was deemed to be an unstoppable force of nature, MMA’s equivalent of a heel-hooking boogeyman, following his various submission-related transgressions over the past few years. But, as Palhares dived for Meek’s leg as many predicted he would, Meek rained down a series of punches and brutal elbow strikes to call it a night.

Saturday night is a long time coming for Meek. Valhalla was set to make his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 93 in Hamburg, Germany, against fellow promotional newcomer Jessin Ayari. But, Meek pulled himself off the card after voluntarily disclosing some medical treatment he received prior to signing with the UFC that could have conflicted with USADA as a precaution. Despite being a hard decision to make, it proved wise as Meek did not encounter any form of suspension and now has a bigger fight as a result. In front of the vocal travelling sect of Meek’s “Valhalla Army,” Meek will finally make his UFC bow.

Despite facing Palhares in his last outing, Meek tells us he feels Mein is an even tougher proposition. “Jordan Mein is a big threat," Meek said. "He has so much experience in this sport and he's been fighting top, top guys for a long time. He's got around 40 fights and is only a year younger than me, so he's definitely got the experience advantage and it would be stupid not to respect him for that. He is a real tough guy and he is one of the best in the welterweight division. I would say he is the best unranked welterweight fighter in the world and I think he's only unranked because of the break he took away from the sport.

"He returned and had an unfortunate loss to Thiago Alves in his latest fight, where he was totally dominating his opponent in the first round and then lost after taking a nasty kick to the body in the second round. Mein would probably win against Alves eight out of 10 times if he faced him again. Mein's last two losses have come against really tough guys like Tyron Woodley in a decision and Matt Brown by TKO after almost finishing him in the first round. Mein has only ever lost to the top, top guys he's been put up against and he is very underrated. He doesn't make a lot of noise or post much on social media so I feel he flies under the radar, but he's a really fucking tough guy.

"In MMA, your next fight is always your biggest and most important one. Palhares was a huge step up for me and it launched me into this UFC world, while opening a lot of people's eyes. Of course, Palhares was a huge fight, but Jordan Mein is a totally different fighter. Palhares a strong, stocky little guy who wants to rip your leg off. Mein is a taller, more technical fighter. Mein probably doesn't even feel nervous ahead of a fight at this point as he's been in there so many times before. It's a huge step up in competition for me and it will be a whole different world for me to fight in front of 20,000 people in Toronto. He's done it before, I haven't. Fighting wise, he's a talented, technical striker. I'm also a striker, but I'm a stronger guy with better cardio and hopefully a harder head! This will be a tough fight for us both.

"Actually, I would say this is a much harder fight than the Palhares fight and if I win, I feel I have a case to enter the top 15 of the UFC welterweight rankings. That's why I am here—I am here to fight the top guys. It's a huge risk for me to fight Mein with all his experience, but I will never regret taking a risk. I took one against Palhares and look how that worked out for me. Beating Mein would take me to the next level and I'm not afraid of taking a chance. I want to be a legend of the sport in Norway."

Meek is a powerful puncher and has proven to have effective wrestling skills and solid clinchwork. Mein is the more technical of the two, but that’s to be expected given nearly 30 fights-worth of extra in-cage experience. In reality, the pair both like to duke it out on the feet and they both have solid numbers for knockouts.

It’s a trial by fire for Valhalla—but that’s what a Viking would want. Make sure this is your One to Watch this weekend.

Check out these related stories:

Emil Meek Is Looking to Put Norwegian MMA on the Map at UFC 206

Norway Finds Its Star: An Interview with Emil 'Valhalla' Meek