Preview: UFC 185 ‘Pettis vs. dos Anjos’

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LIGHTWEIGHTS

Ross Pearson (16-8, 8-5 UFC) vs. Sam Stout (20-10-1, 9-9 UFC): A pair of veteran lightweight strikers will do battle in the preliminary card headliner in what looks to be a solid fight. Stout is coming to the end of a long and entertaining career, going 3-4 in his last seven with no wins over current UFC competitors, while Pearson is still in his prime despite a knockout loss to Al Iaquinta in November. The Englishman is an excellent boxer with solid power in his hands. He excels at using his jab to draw out a response, slipping or rolling and then coming back with strong counters in the pocket. He also throws sneaky kicks and has good-enough takedown defense to ensure that he can work his preferred striking game. Canada’s Stout remains mostly a striker, with a strong left hook, decent low kicks and a solid jab, but he can no longer take the kinds of shots he used to and has stagnated from a skills perspective. The pick is Pearson by knockout in the first round.

MIDDLEWEIGHTS

Elias Theodorou (10-0, 2-0 UFC) vs. Roger Narvaez (7-1, 1-1 UFC): Theodorou, the winner of “The Ultimate Fighter Nations,” looks to extend his UFC winning streak to three against Narvaez, who took a split decision from Luke Barnatt in November. Theodorou is athletic, powerful and fights with a real mean streak that belies his good looks and a preference for knees and elbows in the clinch. He can also strike a bit at range, wrestles well and drops bombs from top position. Narvaez is a big, rangy middleweight with a sharp straight left and a nice kicking repertoire. He is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and grapples fairly well but lacks much in the way of wrestling acumen. I expect Theodorou to push the pace, get on the inside, punish the durable Narvaez with knees and eventually take him down and finish on the ground. The pick is Theodorou by knockout in the third round.

LIGHTWEIGHTS

Daron Cruickshank (16-5, 6-3 UFC) vs. Beneil Dariush (9-1, 3-1 UFC): Cruickshank and Dariush meet in a fun matchup of rising lightweights. K.J. Noons repeatedly poked Cruickshank in the eye in his last outing, but prior to that, he had taken three of four, with the sole loss coming to Jorge Masvidal. Meanwhile, Dariush is riding a two-fight winning streak over Tony Martin and Carlos Diego Ferreira. Cruickshank boasts a unique combination of flashy striking with an emphasis on powerful kicks and a strong wrestling base: a next-generation sprawl-and-brawler with power and athleticism, to boot. Dariush is well-rounded, with clean shot and clinch takedowns and a reasonably potent southpaw muay Thai arsenal, but the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt does his best work from top position. Cruickshank is and should be the favorite, but Dariush has made consistent improvements from fight to fight, and I like him here. The pick is Dariush by submission in the second round.

HEAVYWEIGHTS

Jared Rosholt (11-2, 3-1 UFC) vs. Josh Copeland (9-1, 0-1 UFC): Two heavyweights looking for rebound wins meet in a fairly interesting matchup. Rosholt, a three-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State University, won his first three UFC outings but was viciously knocked out by Alexey Oleinik in November. Copeland, the former Resurrection Fighting Alliance heavyweight champion, compiled an undefeated record before dropping his UFC debut against Dagestani kickboxer Ruslan Magomedov. As his pedigree suggests, Rosholt is still mostly a wrestler -- and a pretty good one, with a tendency to grind away from top position and the clinch. He has drastically improved his striking repertoire but remains hittable and is not the most durable fighter. Copeland is a mechanically and technically sound puncher but struggles to reach his opponent, given his lack of height. It would not surprise me if Copeland put heavy leather on Rosholt, but it seems more likely that the wrestler works his takedown game. The pick is Rosholt by decision.

FLYWEIGHTS

Sergio Pettis (12-1, 3-1 UFC) vs. Ryan Benoit (7-3, 0-1 UFC): Pettis, the 21-year-old brother of lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, makes his first attempt to drop to 125 pounds in the UFC against another youthful flyweight in Benoit. Pettis has rebounded from a late submission loss to Alex Caceres with consecutive decisions over Yaotzin Meza and Matt Hobar, while Benoit dropped his Octagon debut to Josh Sampo. Aside from the fact that both prefer to strike at range, Pettis fights nothing like his brother. He likes the counter game and works behind a sharp 1-2 mixed in with sneaky, well-timed high kicks, and he wrestles and grapples well enough to stay out of trouble. Benoit is an awesome athlete and a skilled muay Thai practitioner with big power in his shots, particularly his left hook, and he scrambles nicely on the ground. This could be a barnburner of a striking match, but if Pettis uses all his skills, he should take it handily. The pick is Pettis by submission in the second round; I think he will drop Benoit with a shot and jump on a rear-naked choke or guillotine to finish.

LIGHTWEIGHTS

Jake Lindsey (9-2, 0-2 UFC) vs. Joseph Duffy (12-1, 0-0 UFC): Irishman Duffy, the last man to defeat Connor McGregor, makes his long-awaited UFC debut against Lindsey, who dropped his first two fights in the promotion to Jon Tuck and Olivier Aubin-Mercier. Lindsey is a powerful if defensively suspect striker, but the heart of his game is in the clinch, where he utilizes nice trips and a strong arsenal of knees, uppercuts and elbows. Duffy, a former professional boxer, is well-rounded and dangerous in every phase. He is difficult to hit cleanly and possesses excellent timing and sense of the range, with a fondness for his straight right and a stepping counter knee as his opponents duck into the pocket. Unless Duffy gets drawn into a brawl, he should be better everywhere, and I expect him to start methodically and then turn it up late in the fight. The pick is Duffy by submission in the third round.

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHTS

Larissa Pacheco (10-1, 0-1 UFC) vs. Germaine de Randamie (4-3, 1-1 UFC): This should be an intriguing matchup of women’s bantamweights with some upside. Pacheco, who is only 20 years old, dropped her UFC debut to Jessica Andrade but finished each of her first 10 fights in impressive fashion. De Randamie has split her UFC appearances, taking a decision from Julie Kedzie and eating a whole bunch of elbows from Amanda Nunes. The Brazilian Pacheco is a dynamic killer of a fighter who slings leather in the pocket like she means it, drops barrages of knees in the clinch and can finish quickly on the mat. De Randamie, a native of the Netherlands, is a sprawl-and-brawler with nice punch-kick combinations at range and a controlling game in the clinch. Pacheco is the favorite, and I think that she will be able to impose her quick pace and bombing style on her way to a decision.



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