Preview: UFC on ESPN 13 ‘Kattar vs. Ige’

Middleweights

Khamzat Chimaev (6-0, -335) vs. John Phillips (22-9, +275): His SBG Ireland ties at the height of Conor McGregor’s popularity surely helped, but good on Phillips for making it to the UFC. The Welshman has a clearly defined game, to say the least: He looks to throw power punches, and that is about it. As a result, it took Phillips four tries to get his first UFC win—Alen Amedovski decided to meet Phillips head-on and paid for it dearly—and he looks for win No. 2 against a newcomer and late replacement in Chimaev. Phillips is probably helped by the opponent change. While Chimaev is a prospect to watch, he is moving up a weight class and has the type of aggressive style that can charge right into a Phillips bomb. However, as long as he does not get sparked, Chimaev should be able to overwhelm Phillips in short order, particularly since the adopted Swede has the ability to take things to the mat, where Phillips has shown little ability to survive. The pick is Chimaev via first-round submission.

Featherweights

Ricardo Ramos (14-2, -170) vs. Lerone Murphy (8-0-1, +150): Early returns are good for Ramos’ move up to featherweight. Ramos enjoyed a successful bantamweight run, but it felt a bit disappointing. The Brazilian showed flashes of talent, but outside of a brutal knockout of Aiemann Zahabi, he never quite managed to put a huge stamp on his wins. However, that certainly was not the case once “Carcacinha” moved up to 145 pounds in November, as he quickly secured a submission win over Eduardo Garagorri without much trouble. He will look to follow it against England’s Murphy, who is still a bit hard to pin down as a prospect. Murphy has some obvious talent, but he was mostly untested heading into a late-notice UFC debut against Zubaira Tukhugov; he may not have deserved the eventual draw that he got on the scorecards, but “The Miracle” still acquitted himself well against a huge jump in competition. Tukhugov had little issue getting his takedown game going, and Ramos can cause a lot more trouble for Murphy if he can get the fight to the mat. Ramos could struggle early as he feels things out—his lack of striking defense remains a big concern—but the pick is for the Brazilian to earn a second-round submission.

Light Heavyweights

Modestas Bukauskas (10-2, -245) vs. Andreas Michailidis (12-3, +205): Debuting light heavyweights square off in this one. After a run as a Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder, Bukauskas will make some history here as the UFC’s first Lithuania-born male fighter. Bukauskas has his issues, as he is not much of a defensive wrestler and can be controlled for large swaths of time, but he is an interesting long-term prospect; he is obviously shoring up his weaknesses from fight to fight and has shown consistent knockout power. He will face Greece’s Michailidis, who steps in on late notice. Typically a middleweight, Michailidis is a bit of a strange fighter. He is willing to pursue an aggressive wrestling game at times, but he is mostly content to use a flashy range striking game that has been effective in moments. Neither man does much to fight a round-winning style, so this could be a tepid encounter until someone scores a finish. Michailidis should be able to dictate the terms of this fight if he looks to wrestle, and from there, it becomes a question of whether or not he can keep enough distance to stay out of trouble on the feet against his larger opponent. Michailidis by ugly decision is the pick, but Bukauskas is still the prospect with the brighter future.

Featherweights

Jared Gordon (15-4, -145) vs. Chris Fishgold (18-3-1, +125): This should be an enjoyable scrap in a huge prove-it spot for both fighters. Gordon looked poised for immediate success inside the Octagon; he has an inspirational story outside the cage as a recovered drug addict who has cheated death, and he has an aggressive fighting style built for absolute war. However, after winning his first two UFC bouts, things have gone sideways for “Flash.” He has brought the excitement but has not quite shown the durability to get away with his all-offense style, suffering three knockout losses in his last four bouts. The hope is that a move down to featherweight will help his situation. Gordon missed weight for his UFC debut at 145 pounds, but he had success in the division prior to his arrival. He will be welcomed by England’s Fishgold, another hyped prospect who has struggled inside the Octagon. The UFC immediately threw him into the deep end against Calvin Kattar for his debut, and he has had issues making his game translate in the two fights since. Fishgold managed to rely on his wrestling on the regional scene, and while it has not been a weakness at the UFC level, it also has not been a strength. Fishgold can still crack a bit, so he should be looking to take advantage of Gordon’s aggression. With that said, Gordon should be able to get his wrestling game going and wear out the Brit. The pick is Gordon via decision.

Women’s Flyweights

Diana Belbita (13-5, -165) vs. Liana Jojua (7-3, +145): Heading into her UFC debut, Georgia’s Jojua was unproven in a way that did not portend much future success, but she still had a disappointing performance. Sarah Moras seemed like a soft entry into the Octagon, but the Canadian stayed aggressive and shut down a lot of Jojua’s offense, at which point she began to crumble on route to a third-round stoppage. Meanwhile, Romania’s Belbita had the opposite problem, as she was both extremely willing and extremely unable to get much done in her UFC debut. Belbita’s pre-UFC resume was as thin as that of any recent signee—all her victories were sloppy affairs over what were essentially overwhelmed amateurs—which made it impressive that she lasted three rounds against Molly McCann in October. Of course, Belbita accomplished little as McCann essentially had her way the entire fight, but “The Warrior Princess” at least showed heart. There is a chance that Belbita’s aggression is enough to break Jojua, but she probably will not be effective enough to get things to that point. If nothing else, Jojua should be able to rely on her wrestling to slow things down and control the fight if it ever gets uncomfortable. The pick is Jojua via decision.

Bantamweights

Jack Shore (12-0, -650) vs. Aaron Phillips (12-3, +475): This should be a solid showcase fight for Shore, who continues to affirm himself as a bantamweight prospect worth watching. The Welshman took a slow route up the Cage Warriors ladder and looks better for it, having developed a well-rounded game. The main question for Shore—at least when it comes to becoming a true contender—is whether or not he has the baseline strength and athleticism to control his fights against better competition. To that end, his UFC debut against Nohelin Hernandez was impressive, as Shore managed to get his wrestling game going and score a third-round submission. He looks to follow that performance against a late replacement in Phillips. Louisiana’s Phillips returns to the Octagon after a forgettable campaign that lasted all of three months and resulted in two losses in 2014. “The Model” should be aggressive enough to keep this interesting, but he has struggled to keep his recent fights on the feet, so Shore should be able to get this to the mat and take over without much trouble. The pick is Shore via first-round submission.

Light Heavyweights

Kenneth Bergh (8-0, -150) vs. Jorge Gonzalez (16-5, +120): This fight was thrown together at the last minute, but at least Norway’s Bergh finally gets his chance with the UFC. Bergh tried to make it into the promotion twice before, but neither attempt went all that well. He was quickly submitted by Eric Spicely in an attempt to get into “The Ultimate Fighter 23” house, and a 2019 Dana White’s Contender Series bout against Antonio Trocoli was another quick loss before being overturned to a no contest. That put Bergh on the UFC’s radar for this opportunity, and he faces a fellow newcomer in Gonzalez. If you recall, Gonzalez’s first big opportunity was supposed to come against Bergh in 2018 on the Chuck Liddell-Tito Ortiz 3 pay-per-view, but that bout was scrapped days before the event. Even so, it all worked out for Gonzalez. He took a bout against Luke Barnatt shortly thereafter and scored a knockout for the biggest win of his career. This is not a particularly high-level fight and neither man has a deep resume, which makes this difficult to call. Bergh is an aggressive wrestler and submission artist but offers little else, and given how his bouts against Spicely and Trocoli went, it is hard to imagine him having much success while trying to move up the UFC ladder. However, nothing Gonzalez presents suggests he will be able to stop Bergh once he gets going, so it becomes a matter of trying to score the knockout before Bergh can get this against the fence or on the mat. The pick is Bergh via first-round submission.