UFC on FX 5 Preview / Daniel Kendrick

Another week of solid fights and we’re “treated” to another free card. Looks like the Halloween “treats” are coming early this year.

Facebook Prelims

Getting the action fired up, Aaron Simpson and Mike Pierce go heads up to climb the ladder in the welterweight division. Both are of impressive wrestling pedigrees, though Simpson’s is the more outstanding of the two having come out of the highly regarded Arizona State program as well as being a 4th place finisher at the 2004 Olympic Trials. Each man is also coming in off of unanimous decision wins this past summer, but each also possesses KO power. Simpson is making the transition to a new weight class having previously fought at middleweight so the change in pace could need some adjusting. Pierce will likely try to exploit Simpson’s possible lack of speed in the smaller weight class both standing and on the mat. If and when Pierce makes the adjustment, the power and strength factor will likely play a major role. Pierce has also had difficulty in losses to other world class wrestlers such as Josh Koscheck and Johny Hendrix. Setting the pace early as going to be paramount for Pierce if he wants to neutralize the advantages Simpson will be bringing.

High level wrestling vs. high level BJJ is the wrapsheet of the second Facebook prelim. Marcus Levesseur is only the second NCAA college wrestler to finish his collegiate career undefeated alongside Cael Sanderson, having won 3 division 3 national titles along with a plethora of freestyle and greco roman titles. Carlo Ptater owns wins over UFC standouts Spencer Fisher, Melvin Guillard, and Carlos Condit. 16 of his wins are also submission victories which has been somewhat of a hole in the game of his opponent having dropped his last outing via submission defeat. Both Levesseur and Prater bring a world of experience into the fight so this likely is going into deep waters.

Fuel Prelims

You might get tired just watching fights in the flyweight division with the pace these guys keep. Darren Uyenoyama and Phil Harris is an interesting matchup you’re not likely to see everyday, being a jiu jitsu fighter vs. judokan matchup. The platitudes of former achievement definitely err on the side of Uyenoyama having accrued world titles in submission grappling tournaments and also being the owner of a Ralph Gracie BJJ black belt. He’s also coming off an impressive win over former Pride star “Kid” Yamamoto. Harris’ victories have come primarily by submission so he won’t be out of his element, but the level of submission grappler is definitely on another level for him.

Following accordingly with the card up to this point, Bart Palaszewski and Diego Nunes bring a world of professsional experience into their encounter Friday night. Bart Palaszewski has the invaluable experience that only comes with being in fights having been a pro right out of high school. Nunes will be the more polished of the two being a former Brazilian Muay Thai champion and former teammate to UFC featherweight champ, Jose Aldo. Each man has KO and submission wins, though each has more of their victories via KO. Palaszewski would likely be best served by implementing a grinding takedown strategy and ground attack. Though his standing instincts will likely kick in when Nunes attacks, trying to stand with a guy with the standing pedigree of Nunes wouldn’t be the wisest option.

In keeping with the consistency of closely skillset matchups, former division 1 wrestling standouts Jacob Volkmann and former Oklahoma State standout, Shane Roller lock horns to find out who’s pedigree prevails to take the next step up the lightweight totum pole. Possibly to create a little bad blood publicity, Volkmann has gone on record as saying the prestigious wrestling program of Okla. State doesn’t work hard and that his Univ. of Minnesota background will break Roller. Highly doubtful in that regard, but Volkmann is the owner of 6 submission victories and Roller has displayed definite chinks in his stellar wrestling pedigree not transitioning as well into MMA wrestling as his OSU stablemates, Johny Hendrix and Mark Munoz have. However, Roller does possess the edge in power striking where, between 2 high pedigree wrestlers, it can make a big difference in the outcome. The likelihood that Volkmann will break a high level wrestler’s spirit, like Roller’s, with hard work is slim to none…and “Slim’s” on vacation. The probability that Roller will dictate the outcome with more proficient striking is much more pertinent to the end result.

Yet another battle of crafty veterans is the M.O. of the next installment of  Friday night’s card. Dennis Hallman is as close to a relic as your going to get in an opponent, but the number of rounds and who’s who of opponents is completely invaluable, especially when you consider that he’s the proud owner of 2, yes that’s TWO, submission wins over UFC hall of famer, Matt Hughes, which took a combined 37 seconds. Along with that, Hallman has won 7 of his last 9 outings. Thiago Tavares also brings in a wrap sheet of opponents who are a who’s who of MMA and has a versatile package of judo, Muay Thai, and jiu jitsu that commonly accompanies Brazilian fighters. Having been a bit more active as of late is highly probable to work in Tavares’ favor, especially considering that he’s coming off of wins against stellar veterans Sam Stout and Spencer Fisher, but a seasoned veteran like Hallman is never to be counted out with the level of experience being carried into the cage.

In the long line of TUF standouts, Michael Johnson is not only a TUF 12 finalist, but he holds a big win over TUF 13 champion, Tony Ferguson, in his most previous fight back in May. He’ll hold a slight edge in athleticism and KO finishing percentage, though not by much, over his Friday night  adversary, Danny Castillo. You don’t earn the nickname “Last Call” for no reason. Case in point: 9 of Castillo’s 14 wins have come by submission or KO. Wrestling pedigree is considerable on both ends, though Johnson will likely hold the edge in that department, as well. Submission prowess swings in Castillo’s favor, though finishing Johnson via tapout isn’t a secure Vegas betting scenario.

Veteran dream matchups are the continuation and punctuation of the Fuel prelims with perpetual lightweight contender, Jeremy Stephens taking on crafty veteran wildcard, Yves Edwards. There should be no lack in standup action, as both men are fond of putting opponents to sleep, but if it goes to the mat, each is also proficient in securing submission finishes, as well. Stephens recent level of opposition is the higher caliber between the two having dropped his last outing against top lightweight contender Donald Cerrone and a closely contested split decision against former WEC lightweight champion, Anthony Pettis before that. Edwards recent record, however, is nothing to scoff at, being as that he’s won 4 of his last 6 and is always a threat having won double digit victories by both KO and submission in his storied career.

Main Card on FOX

Vast experience is the continuing theme with the vast experience of Josh Neer pitted against TUF 13 alumnist, Justin Edwards. Having 22 career victories by KO and 7 by KO, including noteable wins over UFC vets Anthony Macias and Forrest Petz, albeit non UFC bouts, gives Neer a significant edge in experience, though the younger blood of the TUF 13 alumnist will compose a combination of youth plus experience equation to solve for Neer.  Despite a lengthier career, which many times spells the ending of an old model, Neer is 8-2 as of late. Edwards danger comes in the form of submissions having won 6 of his 8 pro wins by submission. Generally, against a seasoned veteran, submissions are highly unlikely unless one of the 2 combatants is of the most stellar of submission grappling pedigrees which is not the case here so if a finish is concievable, it’s more likely to happen via KO/TKO. Otherwise it’s going to be a high drama affair that’s left in the hands of those at cageside.

Blink and you’ll….miss the fighters lap around the cage. That’s about the pace of the flyweight division. TUF 14 winner John Dodson ventures down to the UFC’s newest weight class division to stake his claim for the flyweight title. Submission practitioning will undoubtebly be the front line defense for Jussier Formiga, especially being as that half of his professional wins have come via tapout. Locking it in is a whole different matter with the standard pace of the UFC’s newest lightning fast division. Still, given the strengths of Jussier on paper, BJJ is the most applicable strength given the wrestling and striking advantage Dodson carries into Friday night’s showdown. The “any given Sunday” factor certainly figures in as always, but to increase his odds, Formiga would be most aptly served in attempting to either subtly or otherwise, implementing a ground strategy on Dodson.

Removed and relocated from the UFC 151 fiasco, welterweight division title frontrunner Jake Ellenberger goes “all in” against former GSP challenger and returning welterweight competitor, Jay Hieron. Both encapsulate the “grappler turned striker” style with Hieron actually owning a victory over Ellenberger back in 2006 in the IFL.Hieron has also never been submitted, though that may not be of very high consideration since Ellenberger’s been on a KO tirade as of late with the exception of his recent setback against continual threshold contender, Martin Kampmann. Hieron is on an impressive 11 of 12 fight win streak, but with a package that includes smothering wrestling, stellar takedown defense, and dynamite power in both hands, it’s hard to single out an area where the fight can go that will alter the favorable odds for Hieron. As the old adage goes, “styles make fights,” so don’t count anyone out with the “what if” factor in mind, but…..

Fans want to see fights get finished and capping off a main event with big boys throwing heavy leather is the perfect way to appease that desire. Travis Browne has 9 KO/TKO finishes of his 13 professional wins, most notably over heavyweight standout, Stefan Struve while “Bigfoot” Silva is (not surprisingly) a BJJ black belt with 11 KO/TKO finishes, one in which he dethroned former P4P kingpin, Fedor Emelianenko. Despite thrashing “The Last Emporer,” Silva is in need of a “W” in the worst way having been blitzed by Daniel Cormier and crushed by Cain Velasquez in his 2 previous appearences. Meanwhile, Browne is looking like one of the heavyweight division’s hopefulls being as that he’s sporting a virtually undefeated record and has big KO power in both hands. Height and overall size generally are in favor of the big Brazilian, but Browne looms at an impressive 6’7″ so that factor is null and void for the mythical “Bigfoot” this time around. Being the proud owner of a BJJ black belt might be a logical fallback against his heavy handed opponent this time around if he wants to avoid a third straight visit from the Sandman.

UFC live on FOX can be viewed Friday, October 5th starting with the 2 intiating bouts airing on Facebook at 4pm/1pm ET/PT and continuing with the next 3 hours of preliminaries airing on Fuel TV and FOX Deportes at 5pm/2pm ET/PT. Watch the main card of UFC on FOX beginning at 8pm ET/PT on FX and Fox Deportes. Post fight show will be aired courtesy of Fuel TV beginning at 11pm ET.