UFC 102 Preview: The Prelims

Justin McCully vs. Mike Russow

The Breakdown: The UFC finally got the memo about the need for more heavyweights. Russow is one of three such competitors debuting on the undercard. McCully and his army of blood-curdling cornrows will take on the forgotten Pride Fighting Championships prospect. McCully has skated by in the UFC by out-wrestling strikers with the takedown defense of Meryl Streep. That is a luxury McCully will not enjoy against Russow, who is likely the better wrestler and certainly the more effective grappler. Unless McCully’s cornrows have some sort of Medusa effect he has kept secret, this looks like the end of his lay-and-pray reign.

The X Factor: Few expected McCully to stick around in the UFC; if nothing else, he has proven he can avoid danger and stay within his comfort zone. While Russow has shown the fundamentally superior wrestling game thus far, if McCully can find a flaw in his takedown defense, this fight takes on a whole new dimension. Russow has plenty of submissions to his name, which makes for a nice insurance policy, but getting the job done off his back with McCully clinging to him like a strait jacket is something for which he may not be ready.

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The Bottom Line: Russow has quietly amassed a seven-fight winning streak, and he has proven a far more evolved fighter than McCully, who has nothing to offer beyond top control against this level of competition. Russow will mercilessly capitalize on his advantages, as he soundly outwrestles McCully before putting him away with his favored north-south choke midway through the first round.