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Why It Matters: UFC on FX 6 Edition

Joey NOX

December 11th, 2012

There's two UFC events on back to back days. I have to write about both of them. I have to put equal effort into both of them. It's moments like these that make me see what those "oversaturation" people are always whining about. None the less, here's Why It Matters for UFC on FX 6.

The Event

It's a return to Australia albeit on the Gold Coast this time. It's the finale for TUF: Smashes which featured Australians (coached by George Sotiropoulos) versus the UK (coached by Ross Pearson) in the company's usual reality show format. The two are headlining the event with the lightweight and welterweight finales on the card as well. Also on the main card is a fight between Rousimar Palhares and Hector Lombard which could make or break Hector Lombard's UFC run. The prelims are filled with guys fighting. What guys? Why? What's the point? We'll discuss that.

Cody Donovan (7-2) vs Nick Penner (11-2)

Why It Matters: First impressions are hard to come by.

For those of you who engage in drug usage, the amount of logic leaps in this one might require you to toke/snort/shoot up. I'm not making light of drug issues of course but merely pointing out that this one requires some SEVERE hoop jumping to make sense of. Ready?

This fight started as Edinaldo Oliveira vs Krzysztof Sozynski. Edinaldo Oliveira got hurt and was replaced by Eddie Mendez (8-0 guy from Strikeforce) who was going to go up in weight to fight on short notice. Krzysztof was removed from the card about a day later for some reason (rumors ranging from potential backlash to health insurance comments to injury to retirement). No problem, Nick Penner steps up and offers to fight Eddie Mendez at 185. The fight is made...and then Mendez gets hurt. In comes 7-2 Cody Donovan and now we've got Donovan vs Penner. Penner is 0-1 in the UFC but my chit chat isn't about Penner, it's about Donovan. Donovan has already at the very least earned some good will by taking this fight on short notice. He now can make a tremendous first impression with the fans by defeating Nick Penner on short notice. You can only make one first impression and Donovan has a prime opportunity to make a great one ahead of him.

Mike Wilkinson (7-0) vs Brandon Laughrane (5-0)

Why It Matters: There can only be one.

In one of the four fights featuring contestants on The Smashes, Lightweights Mike Wilkinson and Brandon Laughrane meet up on the prelims. On the show, Wilkinson looked to be on a fast track to the finals prior to an eye injury while Loughrane made the semis and was squashed out by super prospect Norman Parke. In all likelihood, only one of these guys is going to get into the UFC and that's the winner. Laughrane struggles vs wrestlers and Wilkinson is a stand out grappler coming into this fight off a torn retina. Both guys are ultra talented so it's a shame one of them will be plodding about on the regional UK scene after this one. Sometimes there truly CAN only be one.

Ben Alloway (12-3) vs Manuel Rodriguez (9-3)

Why It Matters: Every little bit helps

Another Smashes contest is Ben "Benny Blanco" Alloway vs Manuel "Chalate" Rodriguez. Alloway scored the first win of the season with a KO win over Valentino Petrusco before getting bounced in the 2nd round in a really close fight to Bradley Scott. Manuel Rodriguez subbed Bola Omalaye but broke his leg during the fight, eventually leading to him being withdrawn from the show. To most this fight is filler on the prelims but for the UFC which is desperately searching for a homegrown Aussie star, this fight could hold some interesting long term ramifications. The winner of this fight could find themselves sitting pretty in the company as they continue to try and expand in Australia.

Seth Baczynski (18-8) vs Mike Pierce (15-5)

Why It Matters: Divisional relevance, fun fight status, TUF 11, winning streaks should I go on?

Lost in the "blegh" nature of TUF finales are always a few nuggets of relevant MMA. This one in particular is super intriguing to me at the risk of sounding like an MMA snob. Seth Baczynski has found himself in the UFC and has won 4 straight fights in the company. He's also continued the trend of dudes from TUF 11 (Camozzi, Brad Tavares, Court McGee, Nick Ring and Costa Phillippou off the top of my head) kicking ass in the UFC. His last performance was a one punch KO of Simeon Thorenson. His opponent Mike Pierce is on an equally impressive tear (5-2 in his last seven fights with two of his losses being close split decisions) and is coming off a massive KO of Aaron Simpson. Pierce always seems one fight away from a break out performance and Seth is a tough, gigantic powerful welterweight. Both guys are teetering on the edge of contendership in the division and a win for Seth might push him into "must see territory". The winner of this fight is probably on his way to a significant step up in competition and a main card spot on a future FX card at the very least.

Igor Pokrajac (20-9) vs Joey Beltran (14-8)

Why It Matters: Fists will fly.

I wanted to something about division relevance but there really is none. I wanted to talk about something deep and philosophical but nothing doing there. Instead let's call this fight what it is. It's a battle of two really tough guys who will try to punch each other in the face really hard. More so than that, it's a battle of two guys who will come forward, throw punches at one another and waste no time looking for the knock out. Some will refer to it as a slopfest while others will refer to it as a fucking awesome slopfest. I'm in the latter and as big fans of both of these guys, this is the guilty pleasure fight of the night. Beltran has only been KO'd once and that was by super heavy handed Lavar Johnson while Igor has taken on some of the hardest punchers and withstood them pretty well. It won't be pretty and it won't be for everyone but for this guy, it'll be a dream come true.

Chad Mendes (12-1) vs Yoaztin Meza (18-7)

Why It Matters: Chad Mendes takes a risk

Poor Chad Mendes. He comes to the UFC, gets a title shot lined up but Aldo is hurt. So he fights Rani Yahya and then has to go TO Brazil to fight Jose Aldo. Gets knocked out in the first round after Aldo stuffed a takedown by grabbing the fence. Since then he's had a hard time finding opponents with fights with guys like Bartimus and Diego Nunes falling apart. He fights Cody McKenzie, blasts him out and most people complain the fight shouldn't of been made. Now he's fighting Yoaztin Meza, an 18-7 featherweight who lost his last fight but has won 7 of his last 8. It's been said that Mendes was asked if he wanted off the card but Mendes turned it down in the interest of staying busy. Should he do what he is expected to do, Mendes will flatten out Meza and pick up a quickie win while also checking out beautiful Australia. A loss though would be disastrous and make Mendes look like a dolt for taking a fight he was given an out of. It's a risk, one I'm glad Chad is taking.

Hector Lombard (33-3-1) vs Rousimar Palhares (14-4)

Why It Matters: So much crazy in one cage should be illegal.

Hector Lombard's top flight judo and takedown defense vs Rousimar Palhares' superb ground game and BJJ. Lombard's one hitter quitter type power vs Palhares' nasty ground and pound. A potential last grasp at relevance for two fan favorites in the MW division. Those are all fine and dandy reasons to care about this fight. Let's put that aside and focus on why this fight is so attractive to fight fans: there's a lot of crazy in that cage. Palhares and Lombard are both known for crazy things happening during their fights and neither is a stranger to controversy. While it wouldn't be surprising if the fight didn't live up to expectations, it is without question a fight people want to see. This will be crazy.

Also worth mentioning is that Eddie Alvarez is affected by this fight indirectly. Hector Lombard is the first Bellator star to cut his teeth outside the organization. A flop of a performance vs Palhares, especially on adopted home turf, would probably cripple Alvarez's negotiating power with the UFC who would come into it a touch weary of the flop potential.

Colin Fletcher (8-1) vs Norman Parke (16-2)

Why It Matters: A really good fight hidden underneath the Ultimate Fighter label

It's become accustomed that the finale for the Ultimate Fighter is a "fucking finally!" sort of exhale. The show is long and getting to this point, if you watch the show every week, can leave you flat out waiting for the finale to come and go as quickly as possible. If you're a cynical sort, you're allowing your hatred of things to blind you from the fact that Parke vs Fletcher is actually a really good fight. Colin Fletcher and Norman Parke were both top flight prospects on the UK MMA scene and most had the two meeting off in the finals as soon as the show was announced. It's one of the better finals match ups in recent memory and it wouldn't shock me if both guys had pronounced runs of success in the company. While Fletcher is the more entertaining of the two, you'd have to imagine the UFC would love to see Irish born Parke pick up the win as they continue to tease a return to Ireland.

Brad Scott (8-1) vs Robert Whitaker (9-2)

Why It Matters: Is it hyperbolic to say the show's success is on the line here?

I'm not trying to be a drama starter or a rabble rouser but the entire point of this show was to help find new Australian names as the UFC recommits to the region. How bad would it be if the finale sees two UK stars created? How disappointed would Dana and company be if the finale in Australia saw the only Australian finals contestant bounced out? It's possible too, as Scott and Whitaker are evenly matched. I think Whitaker has the edge here but it's not out of the realm of possibility to say that the show is a failure if Whitaker is unable to seal the deal. Think of the dingos, guys!

George Sotiropoulos (14-4) vs Ross Pearson (13-6)

Why It Matters: Relevancy is on the line

Both G-Sot and Ross Pearson come into this fight off losses. Both were knocked out in their last fights. While Ross Pearson can lay his head on the fact he took a chance at 145, G-Sot has been out with injuries and has been forgotten in the grand scheme of things Hell G-Sot in particular is looking at a dire straights scenario; two straight losses going into a main event spot on FX. Pearson came up in weight to coach on the show but could find a home at 155. This is a true gold or shit scenario for both guys. For G-Sot, a win in his home continent on FX in front of a sizable audience pretty much puts him back into the thick of things at 155 where he was on a hot streak prior to Siver and RDA. For Pearson, it would be a triumphant return to 155 where he was extremely successful outside of a close split decision loss to Edson Barboza. The downside of course is that for the loser, it may be a career lock trek through irrelevancy. For G-Sot, it's 3 losses in a row in the UFC's toughest division. While he might not be cut, he may be destined for fuel prelims for the rest of his days in the division. For Pearson, it's two straight losses AND a DUI. That may be enough to get you cut in today's UFC. Needless to say, the stakes are pretty high for what most are deeming a "filler" main event.

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