UFC 201 is upon us and there are three bouts that stand out as potential destructive affairs.
The obvious one that stands out the most is the main event between welterweight champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler and challenger Tyron Woodley.
Lawler is a throwback fighter, every fight fan’s dream. He only has one mission: destroy the person standing opposite him in the octagon. My Fightful Podcast co-host Sean Ross Sapp made it clear to our viewers that Robbie’s motis operandi is to take people’s souls, and I wholeheartedly concur. There is something about Lawler’s fearless pride that is awe inspiring. He will do anything and everything to punish his opponent’s for having a certain sense of bravado to even dare to sign on the dotted line. It’s as if Lawler is insulted that they even think they have the confidence to truly fight him. And the closer it gets to fight time, his meter of disgust and level of disdain rises exponentially. We all know upsets happen in MMA, but lately, if you plan on beating Robbie Lawler, you better bring your lunch pail, kitchen sink, crowbar and sledgehammer.While Woodley has more than enough skill emerge victorious, there’s a very good chance it will happen by giving up some blood. Likely a lot of blood. And some serious time-off to recover every inch of his body.
Then there’s Matt Brown, who despite having won only one of his last four bouts, brings a certain level of pain and suffering to the cage that bears a certain resemblance to Lawler’s. “The Immortal” will be taking on Jake Ellenberger at UFC 201, and it doesn’t appear as if things are looking good for “The Juggernaut”. Jake has only won one fight in the past three years, a span of six bouts, with that lone victory over Josh Koscheck in February of 2015. At age 31, you would think he still has one year to go prior to reaching that mythical number of 32, regarded by some as the end of a Mixed Martial Artist’s peak. But with 41 bouts on his resume, there is a lot of mileage on that body. Things don’t operate like they used to.Ellenberger still has the power, he just doesn’t have the speed he once had. Speed equals power and that ability he had of pulling the trigger has slowed down somewhat. And if he doesn’t want his UFC career to come to an end, here’s hoping he can beat Brown to the punch.Unfortunately, I don’t believe he will be able to.
The same may be said about Bantamweight Erik Perez, who will be taking on Francisco Rivera.There is nothing nice about Cisco Rivera … nothing. This guy only has one intention, and that’s to ensure that every mouthpiece can be be broken.While his record over the past five bouts has been anything but stellar, his fists have been awesome. He’s one of those guys that makes me stop what I’m doing, every time he steps into the cage.He may not be everyone’s favorite fighter, but rest assured, when he steps into that cage, something crazy is going to happen. Often times, it’s a never ending array of violence.The one thing Perez has in his back pocket though, is his submission skills. I believe he’s the better ground fighter in this match-up and if he plays it smart, can likely score one over Rivera. But if he decides to stand and bang with his opponent, I don’t like his chances.
Oh … and I know that I mentioned that just three bouts stood out as candidates for serious destruction. I may have misspoke. The co-main event between Rose Namajunas and Karolina Kowalkiewicz will likely be a mess as well. Especially considering Rose has every intention of breaking Kowalkiewicz, early and often.
Saturday night cannot come soon enough.
By Showdown Joe Ferraro
