Lightweights
Roosevelt Roberts (8-0) vs. Vinc Pichel (11-2)Advertisement
Roberts seems to be on the shortlist of UFC President Dana White-approved fighters, which is a bit odd. He is a talented prospect, but he does not seem to be in the usual mold of promotional favorites. The UFC typically gets behind knockout artists, but Roberts instead uses his noodly frame to get into the clinch and hunt for submissions. Admittedly, Roberts manages to pull off some impressive techniques -- his standing guillotine choke of Darrell Horcher in his UFC debut was a thing of beauty -- but he is also still a bit one-dimensional and reliant on his physical gifts. His last fight, just two months ago against Thomas Gifford, shed light on this reality. Faced with an opponent of a similar size, it turned into an ugly slog for Roberts. Even so, an ugly win is still a win, so it is onward and upward for Roberts, who gets both a quick turnaround and stiff opponent in California’s Pichel.
Pichel is nothing if not resilient. Coming off of Season 15 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Pichel’s debut was memorable for all the wrong reasons, as Rustam Khabilov won the fight by suplexing Pichel directly onto his head. After missing an entire year, 2014 saw Pichel go on a bit of a run with wins over Garett Whiteley and Anthony Njokuani, but then came a string of injuries. It took three years for Pichel to return to the Octagon, and to his credit, he picked up about where he left off, racking up two more wins before a loss to surging prospect Gregor Gillespie. That was over a year ago, and naturally, Pichel is coming off of yet another layoff, this time due to a back injury suffered in a motorcycle accident. When he actually fights, Pichel is one of the more underrated fighters in a deep division, but it has been disappointing to see long absences derail what could have been a fun career as a high-level gatekeeper.
Roberts is a prospect to watch, but this feels like too much too soon. During his long layoff, Pichel transitioned from more of a well-rounded grinder to a potshotting striker, so it is hard to see where Roberts has the advantage in this one. Pichel can probably win it on the feet, and the Gifford fight already showed that Roberts’ clinch work becomes much less effective against someone of the same size. Maybe Pichel’s injuries have finally caught up to him or maybe this is a fight where Roberts’ game suddenly clicks at a new level, but this feels like a bout where “The Predator” will come in with his usual plan, face some resistance and not have much of a fallback. The pick is Pichel via decision.
Next Fight » Dober vs. Reyes
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