Normally the UFC does a solid job of ensuring that the most intriguing contest on Fight Pass is the featured contest. I’d say they dropped the ball this time. Not that I don’t see what they are doing. Danny Roberts and Mike Perry have youth on their side compared to Leonardo Santos and Adriano Martins. Plus, they prefer to stand and trade. But Santos and Martins are both fighting at a higher level than Roberts and Perry in addition to offering an intriguing ground battle. You might say that Santos and Martins is a contest only hardcore fans would enjoy, but isn’t Fight Pass for the hardcore fans anyway? Just saying.
The Fight Pass prelims starts at 6:30 PM ET/3:30 PM PT.
Danny Roberts (13-1) vs. Mike Perry (8-0), Welterweight
Interesting bit of matchmaking here as an ex-boxer meets an ex-con in the Fight Pass feature highlighting a pair of prospects.
Roberts not only represents the ex-boxer in this contest, but also represents the favorite of the crowd as an England native. He didn’t have a long boxing career, nor did he face anyone notable – he was 3-1 facing cans and fellow newcomers – though it has carried over to MMA as a solid base for him to build off of. He should be entering his prime at 29-years old with six years in the sport of MMA now.
Perry was arrested for burglary about six years ago after a troubled childhood. With stints of jail time and house arrest, Perry is currently on probation and will be until the middle of next year. Whether this makes you want to root for or against him, it’s nice to see MMA prove not only as an outlet, but offer a career to someone looking to get their life straightened out. He made his UFC debut on short notice against Hyun Gyu Lim and floored the hulking Korean multiple times before finishing him off in the first round.
Neither of these guys has a propensity for fighting on the ground. Roberts has shown poor takedown defense and though he has sound submissions off of his back, he’ll end up giving away rounds with his willingness to stay there for too long. Perry is an athletic specimen who can muscle opponents down with his sheer physical strength, but he doesn’t set up his takedowns nor does he use great technique. Perry is most likely to take the fight to the ground of the two, but don’t look for him to force the issue unless he is getting pieced up.
Roberts may not have a lot of power in his punches, but they do sting and he knows how to pour on the punishment nice and thick. A southpaw, Roberts likes to throw short combinations or pepper with a jab. Opponents have discovered that if they force him to grapple or clinch up early in the fight, his punches come much slower and sloppier. Roberts will then resort to a variety of kicks to the mid-level on down with a front kick being his weapon of choice.
Perry has the type of strength to cause matchup problems for Roberts, but he too prefers to fight from the outside. An absolute powerhouse, he throws with bad intentions with every punch… well, almost every punch. He showed some development of a jab in his UFC debut before he was able to begin landing his haymakers, indicating he is learning to pace himself and gain a better understanding of spacing. Perry tosses out the occasional leg kick as well, but it’s usually single power shots coming out of his end.
I’m not trying to take anything away from Perry’s win over Lim on short notice. It was impressive. But retrospect shows us that Lim was an excellent matchup for him due to his complete lack of defense coupled with Perry’s tough chin. Roberts’ knowledge of distance and footwork will make it much harder for Perry to land cleanly and Perry’s preference for staying in the pocket or outside plays right into Roberts’ hands. Perry could easily land a KO shot, though my money is on Roberts picking apart the youngster. Roberts via decision
Leonardo Santos (15-3-1) vs. Adriano Martins (28-7), Lightweight
Don’t let Santos apparent lack of fights fool you. These are two of the most experienced Brazilians on the roster and the winner is likely to earn an opportunity to fight a ranked opponent in their next contest.
Raise your hand if you thought Santos would still be undefeated in the UFC more than three years after taking the TUF Brazil 2 crown. Put your hands down you liars. Santos run has been improbable as he was one of the older contestants – if not the oldest – and it was unknown if he would be able to continue to improve. Being able to dedicate more time to his fighting career as opposed to being a BJJ coach has proven to be all the difference as Santos has never looked better despite his 36-years of age.
Martins isn’t exactly a spring chicken himself at 33 and actually has more in-cage time than Santos by a wide margin, almost two to one. Thus it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him slowing down before Santos does. I wouldn’t bank on that happening just yet as Martins appears to be in the midst of the best stretch of his career, taking a decision over Rustam Khabilov followed by a quick TKO win over Islam Makachev. What is working against his momentum is inactivity as this will be his first fight in over a year. Ouch.
The book on Martins is that he is a world-class grappler who prefers to stand and trade. Well… maybe world-class is taking it too far, but you get my drift. The reason is that he has picked up quite a bit of craft over the years on his feet and has serious power in his fists. The problem is that he requires someone to engage him, otherwise all you’re going to get is a staring contest as Martins is not going to lead the dance. He does leave unnecessary holes that experienced strikers can expose, though I wouldn’t say Santos qualifies under that category.
That isn’t to say that Santos is incapable of getting his shots in on the feet. At 6'0" with a 75" reach, Santos has made better use of his length with distance kicks and a developing jab. Those are used to score points more than do damage, though he did show the ability to counter effectively when Kevin Lee showed his striking zero respect and stayed in his range. Santos isn’t going to engage in a prolonged striking battle if he can help it, but he’s developed enough that he can do more than just survive in that environment.
What hurts Santos more than anything is his lack of wrestling. Again, he has shown improvement as he nailed Lee with a beautifully timed double-leg, but he doesn’t have the explosion or technical abilities to get the fight to the ground on command. Martins isn’t a wiz himself, though he makes up for it with his brute strength and athletic abilities to make him more effective in that area than Santos. What will really be intriguing is the ground war. Martins may not be at the world-class level, though few will dispute whether or not Santos is. A respected BJJ coach for Nova Uniao for many years, Santos is patient in looking for openings while maintaining control with smooth guard passes. Martins employs a more physical brand of BJJ – no surprise considering his physical makeup – that is more reliant on ground strikes to either loosen up the opposition or simply finish them off. What intrigues me the most is Martins top-heavy approach against Santos’ active guard.
Though Martins isn’t known for operating in the clinch, I feel a lot of that has to do with stylistic matchups as of late. He should be able to bully Santos in that area as Martins is too inactive to want to hang around on the outside with Santos and he probably doesn’t want to risk a ground war with the BJJ expert. It will probably be a close one due to Martins’ style, but I think he barely edges his fellow Brazilian. Martins via decision
Lukasz Sajewski (13-2) vs. Marc Diakiese (9-0), Lightweight
Originally scheduled to meet Reza Madadi, many feel young newcomer Diakiese is dodging a bullet with Madadi being forced to pull out with an eye injury while Sajewski replaces him.
Sajewski’s UFC stint hasn’t gone very well. Losing to Nick Hein in his debut, it also happened to be his first contest at lightweight after an undefeated career on the European regional scene at welterweight. His second contest wasn’t any easier as he faced BJJ phenom Gilbert Burns and succumbed to a submission within the first round. Diakiese feels like the first opponent that he actually stands a reasonable chance against.
Diakiese made a name for himself when he disposed of previously undefeated prospects Rick Selvarajah and Kane Mousah in a single minutes combined time, establishing himself as a prospect to watch. The youngster has shown skills in all areas of the sport, but his professional debut also came just three years ago. Whether or not he can become a contender is something that won’t be answered for quite a while.
This appears to be a pretty straightforward contest: Sajewski wants to take the fight to the ground while Diakiese wants to slug things out. This isn’t going to be an easy task for Sajewski as he isn’t an accomplished wrestler capable of taking the fight to the ground whenever he wishes. In fact, the Pole has yet to score a takedown in the UFC despite nearly 20 minutes of cage time. He did show a relentlessness on regionals in chaining together his takedown attempts that are more likely to find some sort of success against Diakiese as Diakiese’s wrestling hasn’t been tested by anyone of note. If Sajewski can ground the Englishman, he’s been aggressive hunting for subs with the armbar being his specialty.
For his part, Diakiese is capable of the occasional takedown himself, though he hasn’t shown the ability to keep the fight on the ground for an extended period of time. Where Diakiese really shines is in the standup. It’s way too soon to be comparing his right hand to Dan Henderson’s H-bomb, but no one can deny that he shown serious power in it. Hard kicks to all levels are another staple, though he tends to get reckless in that attack which could lead to Sajewski looking to grab ahold of his leg for a takedown.
What gives me pause in thinking Diakiese can run away with this is the improvement Sajewski showed in his striking against Burns. In addition to improved confidence, he was more aggressive and technical with his punches. What he doesn’t have is power. He can take a decision if he puts a high pace and mixes in his kicks, though that will be a tall order against the power of Diakiese. Because of that, look for Sajewski to keep most of the standing portion in the clinch against the fence where he can drop for his takedowns in a hurry while trying to wear out Diakiese.
If Sajewski was given a full camp to prepare for this contest, I might be willing to pick him for the upset over the hyped prospect. Alas, he’s getting the call on short notice. He’s a threat to give Diakiese problems on the ground provided he gets the fight to the ground, but that is no guarantee. More than likely Diakiese lands something hard on Sajewski who was rocked multiple times within a single round against Burns. Diakiese via TKO of RD1