Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Horwich at UFN 18 in April

by Scott Haber on Jan 9, 2009 4:15 PM EST

MMA Mania reports on a middleweight clash between Matt "Suave" Horwich and Richardo "Big Dog" Almeida at UFC Fight Night 18, rumored to be held April 1st in Nashville, TN:

Ricardo Almeida (9-3) will return to action against former IFL middleweight champion Matt Horwich (23-11-1) at UFC Fight Night 18 in Nashville, Tenn., on April 1.

This fight was originally scheduled to take place at UFC 90 in October, but Almeida pulled out with an injury and was replaced by Dan Miller who defeated Horwich via unanimous decision in Horwich's UFC debut.

Horwich, a slick submission artist training out of Team Quest, spent most of his career in the now-defunct IFL, compiling a 7-4 record in that organization. Eighteen of his twenty-two career victories have come via submission, but he will be facing a highly experienced and more skilled grappler in Almeida.

Almeida, a former Renzo Gracie prodigy who now runs his own Brazilian jiu-jitsu academy in New Jersey, is a 9-year veteran of the sport, having competed in Pancrase, Pride and the early years of the UFC. He returned to the UFC after a four-year absence from competition in February 2008, submitting Alaskan Rob Yundt at UFC 81, but then suffered a split decision loss to Patrick Cote at UFC 86 in a match that gave Cote a title shot at Anderson Silva as the winner.

UFN 18 has not yet been officially announced, but is expected to serve as a lead-in to the debut of The Ultimate Fighter Season 9: US vs. UK.

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.

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This is a really good match for free TV.

"BJ on the BE" - Kierkegaard

by Brett Jones on Jan 9, 2009 8:25 AM EST reply actions

Good matchmaking, and personally I really hope Horwich wins. I don’t like rooting against Big Dog, but Horwich is just too much fun.

by Rundownloser on Jan 9, 2009 10:08 AM EST reply actions

Great

Match. Really really excited about this.

by "Mr. NC-17" on Jan 9, 2009 10:40 AM EST reply actions

Now I’m actually excited to go to this.

by Simco on Jan 9, 2009 1:08 PM EST reply actions

good fight for almieda. but horwich might be my least favorite fighter eva. everytime i watched him in the ifl he did nothing.

by pmac06340 on Jan 9, 2009 1:37 PM EST reply actions

If three submissions and two KO’s count as nothing then there must be few fighters who you like.

by Simco on Jan 9, 2009 1:41 PM EST up reply actions

i don’t have high hopes for this fight

two bjj specialist probably means its gonna be standing up or a stale mate on the mat… and their striking is well….

by dbcb on Jan 9, 2009 2:16 PM EST reply actions

Almeida didn’t do to bad striking with Cote.

"My job is a decision-making job, and as a result, I make a lot of decisions." --George W. Bush, The Decider, Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 3, 2007

by lovingmma25 on Jan 9, 2009 2:48 PM EST up reply actions

Exactly

Almeida’s striking is greatly improved. His striking looked good against a guy that is supposed to be one of the best strikers in the sport.

Eliot Marshall: Bader won. Like I said in the episode, I'm not going to make any excuses. It's my job to be able to deal with when somebody's doing that. It's not his job to change up his tactics.

http://eliotmarshall.com/

by BJJDenver on Jan 9, 2009 4:04 PM EST up reply actions

It seems a lot of people are content judging these fighters off of stereotypes without actually taking the time to watch their fights.

by Simco on Jan 9, 2009 4:20 PM EST up reply actions

the cote almeida fight was a bore fest

by dbcb on Jan 9, 2009 4:30 PM EST up reply actions

That much is true.

Strangely, it appeared Almeida was willing to exchange with Cote to an extent, but Cote wanted no part of him on the ground and didn’t outstrike him when given the opportunity.

Eliot Marshall: Bader won. Like I said in the episode, I'm not going to make any excuses. It's my job to be able to deal with when somebody's doing that. It's not his job to change up his tactics.

http://eliotmarshall.com/

by BJJDenver on Jan 9, 2009 4:39 PM EST up reply actions

Which is why I totally disagreed with the decision. But that’s neither here nor there.

"My job is a decision-making job, and as a result, I make a lot of decisions." --George W. Bush, The Decider, Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 3, 2007

by lovingmma25 on Jan 9, 2009 5:07 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

Me to, I just thought perhaps my pro-Ricardo bias was pushing my decision. Choi’d.

Eliot Marshall: Bader won. Like I said in the episode, I'm not going to make any excuses. It's my job to be able to deal with when somebody's doing that. It's not his job to change up his tactics.

http://eliotmarshall.com/

by BJJDenver on Jan 9, 2009 5:21 PM EST up reply actions

I am hoping that Ricardo Almeida will be fighting Anderson Silva sometime this year.

"My job is a decision-making job, and as a result, I make a lot of decisions." --George W. Bush, The Decider, Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 3, 2007

by lovingmma25 on Jan 9, 2009 5:08 PM EST reply actions

Also, damn it, let’s see Almeida vs Marquardt 2!

Eliot Marshall: Bader won. Like I said in the episode, I'm not going to make any excuses. It's my job to be able to deal with when somebody's doing that. It's not his job to change up his tactics.

http://eliotmarshall.com/

by BJJDenver on Jan 9, 2009 5:21 PM EST up reply actions

Agreed…if they’re still not going to give Marquardt a top contender, I’d rather see him rematch Almeida and have Gouveia fight Horwich instead of vice-versa.

by Scott Haber on Jan 9, 2009 5:46 PM EST up reply actions