Sherdog Preview: UFC 70 Undercard
Apr 20, 2007
As you might expect the Nation's Collide undercard is populated
with a decidedly local flavor.
The night will open with Paul Taylor, a British kickboxer and boxer with a 7-1-0 (1 NC) record, taking on Brazilian striker Edilberto "Crocota" de Oliveria.
The "Bahia Crocodile" trains with the current UFC middleweight
Champion Anderson Silva,
former PRIDE heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo
Nogueira (Pictures) and is student of Master Luiz
Dorea. "Crocota" sports an 8-0-1 record in MMA.
Equally talented, Paul "Relentless" Taylor was 2003 Cage Rage middleweight champion and the 2000 WPKC world kickboxing champion. He's also the only man to stop Zelg Galesic (Pictures) with strikes. The Croatian striker went on a terror after that, stopping his next five opponents and Taylor finished him in the third after suffering a badly broken arm in the opening round.
Junior Assuncao and David Lee (Pictures) face off. Assuncao is a Capoeira devotee and a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu training out of Unit 2 Fitness with his brother Rafael. Lee is a purple belt in BJJ training with Brazilian Top Team black belt Ze Marcello and is also a combat submission wrestling instructor under former Shooto light heavyweight champion Erik Paulson.
Both fighters are submission specialists with comparable records and ironically both come off rear-naked choke loses to wrestlers (Assuncao to Kurt Pellegrino (Pictures) and Lee to Tyson Griffin (Pictures)). It should be a fast-paced ground battle with another homegrown product getting the win.
Lee has never gone the distance as a pro and is of the "submit or be submitted" mindset. I see Lee putting on a show for his fans and stopping Assuncao with a well-applied choke.
Two undefeated fighters make their Octagon debuts in our next preliminary bout. Donald Matthew Grice was an accomplished high school wrestler in Norman, Oklahoma before earning a scholarship to wrestle at Oklahoma State University.
His adversary, Terry Etim, has stopped all but one of his opponents by submission. Etim flew to Brazil to prepare for his UFC debut and trained with Luta Livre legend and Shooto veteran Marcio "Cromado" Barbosa and the Renevacao Fight Team. Etim's trainer and Muay Thai coach Colin Heron has total confidence in his fighter and felt a UFC debut at home was a huge plus.
Grice has fought many of his battles in Oklahoma or in neighboring states. That invisible edge will be gone Saturday night and it will have taken refuge in the corner of Etim. I hesitate to give yet another bout to the Brits, but they seem to have the stronger representation on the first UFC card fought in England in five years.
Also on the docket, a focused young German fighter is pitted against a crafty Frenchman with plenty of experience. Jess Liaudin (Pictures) is the head coach at Pancrase London where he trains with Ashleigh Grimshaw (Pictures) and Dean Jones. He's one of the more experienced European fighters on the undercard with a record of 10-8, including bouts against Paul Taylor and Shonie Carter (Pictures).
Denis Siver is Germany's face in MMA and hopes to make Deutschland proud at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester on Saturday night.
Siver's "finish them at all costs" style has awarded him a record of 10-3 with just two bouts lasting to the final bell. This could be one of the faster paced prelims and if Siver, Russian by birth, maintains the frenetic pace he's known for, we should see him finishing Liaudin on the highlights.
The final preliminary match may hold the most interest to fans outside the U.K., as Alessio Sakara (Pictures) returns to the Octagon for a fifth time to face Canadian Victor Valimaki (Pictures).
Sakara, a Muay Thai, boxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu stylist, has become something of a fan favorite but he's had a hard time getting positive results in the octagon. The Italian has a record of 6-2 (5 KO) in boxing and brings fierce hands to the MMA light heavyweight division.
After an impressive run fighting around the world he entered the UFC. Sakara was kicked in the groin in his debut during a fight he likely would've won. Then the striker was pitted against grapplers in consecutive bouts and found himself on the canvas more often than he liked.
In his fourth UFC bout Sakara faced a fighter that looked to be the perfect opponent to showcase his devastating punching power. The problem was Andrew McFedries had quality hands of his own and stopped "Legionarius" with strikes in the opening round. Now Sakara looks to impress and stay afloat in the UFC against a fighter coming off a loss in his UFC debut.
Valimaki is the MFC light heavyweight champion and carries a record of 9-3 in MMA. He trains with UFC veteran Jason "The Athlete" Mac Donald in Canada and with Sniper Shootwrestling. Valimaki left the sport of MMA for several years before entering the Octagon on a 4-0 run after defeating veteran Vernon White at the Elite Fighting Championship event.
"The Matrix" faced David Heath (Pictures) last December in an un-televised UFC Fight Night bout and went the distance, with Heath taking a split decision.
Sakara and Valimaki now face off to get someone's career back on track in one of most competitive divisions in the UFC. It is safe to say that "Legionarius" will be looking to stand and trade and "The Matrix" will likely indulge him. Where Alessio may run into trouble is on the ground -- again.
Training with Jason MacDonald (Pictures), Victor's ground skills will be as good if not better Sakara's. It would be nice to see Valimaki indulge him in a stand-up display, but we know he won't sacrifice the match to do so. It may come down to how good Sakara's takedown defense has matured.
Lister, a grappling wizard, made it look easy. This bout should go down differently but as stated previously, glaring weaknesses get exposed immediately at this level of competition.
I like what Sakara brings to the fight game, including the story behind his nickname (his ancestors were said to be Roman legionnaires), but that doesn't mean a whole lot when the cage door slams shut. Valimaki appears to bring the more balanced attack and if there's been no maturation for Sakara, Valimaki will even his UFC record via submission and we may not see "Legionarius" back in the Octagon for some time.
The night will open with Paul Taylor, a British kickboxer and boxer with a 7-1-0 (1 NC) record, taking on Brazilian striker Edilberto "Crocota" de Oliveria.
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Equally talented, Paul "Relentless" Taylor was 2003 Cage Rage middleweight champion and the 2000 WPKC world kickboxing champion. He's also the only man to stop Zelg Galesic (Pictures) with strikes. The Croatian striker went on a terror after that, stopping his next five opponents and Taylor finished him in the third after suffering a badly broken arm in the opening round.
This could be an entertaining scrap with both fighters motivated to
perform well. "Crocota" has a lot to live up to and his unorthodox
striking will be tested by the hometown boy. Though not known for
his ground game, Taylor brings a balanced attack and huge heart.
With the crowd at the M.E.N. Arena behind him he should impress in
his UFC debut.
Junior Assuncao and David Lee (Pictures) face off. Assuncao is a Capoeira devotee and a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu training out of Unit 2 Fitness with his brother Rafael. Lee is a purple belt in BJJ training with Brazilian Top Team black belt Ze Marcello and is also a combat submission wrestling instructor under former Shooto light heavyweight champion Erik Paulson.
Both fighters are submission specialists with comparable records and ironically both come off rear-naked choke loses to wrestlers (Assuncao to Kurt Pellegrino (Pictures) and Lee to Tyson Griffin (Pictures)). It should be a fast-paced ground battle with another homegrown product getting the win.
Lee has never gone the distance as a pro and is of the "submit or be submitted" mindset. I see Lee putting on a show for his fans and stopping Assuncao with a well-applied choke.
Two undefeated fighters make their Octagon debuts in our next preliminary bout. Donald Matthew Grice was an accomplished high school wrestler in Norman, Oklahoma before earning a scholarship to wrestle at Oklahoma State University.
His adversary, Terry Etim, has stopped all but one of his opponents by submission. Etim flew to Brazil to prepare for his UFC debut and trained with Luta Livre legend and Shooto veteran Marcio "Cromado" Barbosa and the Renevacao Fight Team. Etim's trainer and Muay Thai coach Colin Heron has total confidence in his fighter and felt a UFC debut at home was a huge plus.
Grice has fought many of his battles in Oklahoma or in neighboring states. That invisible edge will be gone Saturday night and it will have taken refuge in the corner of Etim. I hesitate to give yet another bout to the Brits, but they seem to have the stronger representation on the first UFC card fought in England in five years.
Also on the docket, a focused young German fighter is pitted against a crafty Frenchman with plenty of experience. Jess Liaudin (Pictures) is the head coach at Pancrase London where he trains with Ashleigh Grimshaw (Pictures) and Dean Jones. He's one of the more experienced European fighters on the undercard with a record of 10-8, including bouts against Paul Taylor and Shonie Carter (Pictures).
Denis Siver is Germany's face in MMA and hopes to make Deutschland proud at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester on Saturday night.
Siver's "finish them at all costs" style has awarded him a record of 10-3 with just two bouts lasting to the final bell. This could be one of the faster paced prelims and if Siver, Russian by birth, maintains the frenetic pace he's known for, we should see him finishing Liaudin on the highlights.
The final preliminary match may hold the most interest to fans outside the U.K., as Alessio Sakara (Pictures) returns to the Octagon for a fifth time to face Canadian Victor Valimaki (Pictures).
Sakara, a Muay Thai, boxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu stylist, has become something of a fan favorite but he's had a hard time getting positive results in the octagon. The Italian has a record of 6-2 (5 KO) in boxing and brings fierce hands to the MMA light heavyweight division.
After an impressive run fighting around the world he entered the UFC. Sakara was kicked in the groin in his debut during a fight he likely would've won. Then the striker was pitted against grapplers in consecutive bouts and found himself on the canvas more often than he liked.
In his fourth UFC bout Sakara faced a fighter that looked to be the perfect opponent to showcase his devastating punching power. The problem was Andrew McFedries had quality hands of his own and stopped "Legionarius" with strikes in the opening round. Now Sakara looks to impress and stay afloat in the UFC against a fighter coming off a loss in his UFC debut.
Valimaki is the MFC light heavyweight champion and carries a record of 9-3 in MMA. He trains with UFC veteran Jason "The Athlete" Mac Donald in Canada and with Sniper Shootwrestling. Valimaki left the sport of MMA for several years before entering the Octagon on a 4-0 run after defeating veteran Vernon White at the Elite Fighting Championship event.
"The Matrix" faced David Heath (Pictures) last December in an un-televised UFC Fight Night bout and went the distance, with Heath taking a split decision.
Sakara and Valimaki now face off to get someone's career back on track in one of most competitive divisions in the UFC. It is safe to say that "Legionarius" will be looking to stand and trade and "The Matrix" will likely indulge him. Where Alessio may run into trouble is on the ground -- again.
Training with Jason MacDonald (Pictures), Victor's ground skills will be as good if not better Sakara's. It would be nice to see Valimaki indulge him in a stand-up display, but we know he won't sacrifice the match to do so. It may come down to how good Sakara's takedown defense has matured.
Lister, a grappling wizard, made it look easy. This bout should go down differently but as stated previously, glaring weaknesses get exposed immediately at this level of competition.
I like what Sakara brings to the fight game, including the story behind his nickname (his ancestors were said to be Roman legionnaires), but that doesn't mean a whole lot when the cage door slams shut. Valimaki appears to bring the more balanced attack and if there's been no maturation for Sakara, Valimaki will even his UFC record via submission and we may not see "Legionarius" back in the Octagon for some time.
