UFC on Fuel TV 7 - Preview

UFC on Fuel TV 7 - Preview

February 16th at Wembley Arena, London

A 12 fight card with a good few UK fighters to keep the crowd happy.

The first six fights listed below will all be available to view live on facebook.

Prelims (on facebook)

Bout 1: Flyweight: Ulysses Gomez (9-3-0) USA vs Phil Harris (21-10-0-1) England

Gomez and Harris are both already in a position of fighting for their UFC lives as they are coming off of debut UFC losses. Gomez was KO'ed in just 3:46 of Round 1. Harris lasted longer but was still submitted at 3:38 of Round 2. Both these fighters will have to put on a real good showing. They both show that the UFC is a real step up no matter how successful you have been in 'lesser' organisations.

Bout 2: Bantanweight: Vaughan Lee (12-8-1) England vs Montonobu Tezuka (19-5-4) Japan

Lee is a ten year veteren of the pro MMA game and finally made the UFC in late 2011. He has had three UFC bous and stands at 1-2 so he has not made a big statement yet.

Tezuka is a Pancrase and Deep veteren who made an interesting UFC debut losing a split decision to Alex Caceres.

Bout 3: Middleweight Stanislav Nedkov (12-0-0-1) Bulgaria vs Tom Watson (15-5-0) England

Nedkov is a beast who stepped into the UFC cage for the first time with a first round TKO of Luiz Cane. His next fight was against Thiago Silva and he lost in the third round via arm triangle choke. However the result was overturned to a No Contest as Silva had a failed a pre-fight drug test.

Watson did not storm the UFC losing his first bout via split decision to Brad Tavares back in September 2012. If Watson wants a UFC career this is a fight that he must win. Nedkov will I think be a step too far.

Bout 4: Featherweight: Josh Grispi (14-4-0) USA vs Andy Ogle (8-2-0) England

Grispi must count himself very lucky to be in this bout after a straight three fight losing streak since joining the UFC from WEC. Ogle has lost his one and only UFC bout via a split decision against Akira Corassani this really is a must win bout it's a close to a gimmie as the UFC can give. That's not to say that Grispi is not good enough, but the UFC don't often put a 3-0 fighter into a bout unless they are looking to make room on their roster. I predict whichever fighter loses this bout gets shown the door,

Bout 5: Lightweight: Paul Sass (13-1) England vs Danny Castillo (14-5-0) USA

Sass is 3-1 in the UFC and is a real submission expert so it was with some shock that he suffered a submission loss to Matt Wiman, last time out. Castillo is 4-2 in the UFC and is also coming off of a loss. He is a tough fighter and is as likely to win by a KO or a Decision. This should be a tough battle unless Sass has got his confidence back.

Bout 6: Lightweight: Terry Etim (15-4-0) England  vs Renee Forte (7-2-0) Brazil

Nobody can forget Etims last bout as he fell like s statue feeled by Edson Barboza's highlight reel Spinning Wheel Kick. It will be interesting to see how he responds to that shocking knockout. He has been in the UFC since 2007 and stands at 6-4. Forte is another Brazilian, however he is no Edson Barboza yet. His UFC debut was a third round submission loss to Sergio Moaraes.  Is this is a good time to fight Etim, maybe he will come back with a new determination or maybe he has been shaken to his core by that kick. It remains to be seen. Personally I think Etim will come through with a win.

Main Card

Bout 7: Welterweight:  Matt Riddle (7-3-0-1) USA vs Che Mills (15-5-0-1) England

Riddle has spent his whole pro MMA career in the UFC after coming through the Ultimate Fighter Season 7. He has failed to set the MMA world alight though but does provide a solid opponent to anybody. Mills is one tough dude with more than  half of his wins coming via TKO/KO. I think Riddle is going to be hard pushed to stop him.

Bout 8:  James Te Huna (15-5-0) Australia vs Ryan Jimmo (17-1-0) Canada

Te Huna is a hard punching KO specialist however, maybe he will be standing a little bit further back from the action as usual as Ryan Jimmo's last bout was a stunning seven second knockout of Aussie Anthony Perosh. This promises to be an explosive bout.

Bout 9: Welterweight: Gunnar Nelson (10-1-0) Iceland vs Jorge Santiago (25-10-0) Brazil

Nelson made an impressive UFC debut submitting DaMarques Johnson in  the first round via rear naked choke, Santiago is making a UFC comeback after being dropped in 2011. This will be his third spell in the UFC and at present he stands at (1-4) he seems to have what it takes in the "Lesser" championships (he is on a two fight win streak in TFC) but struggles in the 'Big Game' this I am sure is his last chance. Gunnar Nelson is not the kind of opponent you want to meet in a comeback fight.

Bout 10: Light Heavyweight: Jimi Manuwa (12-0-0) England vs Cyrille Diabate (19-8-1) France

Manuwa is yet to taste defeat and has never even been taken the distance. Obviously he has only had one fight in the UFC but he did an admirable job forcing a second round doctors stoppage on Kyle Kingsbury.

Diabate will obviously be the enemy of this crowd as the old English vs France rivalry will be re-ignited, this time in a cage. Diabate stands at 4-2 in the UFC and will not in anyway be a pushover for Manuwa. In fact this will be a massive test of just how good Manuwa is.

Bout 11: Featherweight: Cub Swanson (18-5-0) USA vs Dustin Poirier (13-2-0) USA

Swanson is coming off of a three fight win streak all via TKO/KO and this bout promises to be an interesting battle as I am sure Poirier will be hoping to take it to the ground and Swanson for sure will want it to be stand-up.

Bout 12: Bantamweight:  Main Event: 

Renan Pegado (29-1-0) Brazil vs Michael McDonald (15-1-0) USA

Interim Bantamweight Title Bout

Known to all as Renan Barao, he has not lost a pro fight since his pro debut in 2005, since then he has just gone on a massive unstoppable streak leading up to his entry into the UFC. His UFC record stands at 4-0. Barao has unbelievable momentum and this fight promises very little on the upside for him but a massive downside if he should lose. 

McDonalds UFC record stands at 3-0, his sole pro-career loss was in 2009 to Cole Escovedo which he avenged when they met again in 2010. This promises to be a very exciting fight and regardless of Barao's record McDonald is a very dangerous opponent.