In the fight of the night, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone takes on Darren Till.
The UFC starts 10 events in 9 weeks with an exclusive UFC Fight Pass card on Saturday live from Gdansk Poland. A welterweight showdown is atop the card as former Lightweight Title Challenger Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone (32-9 1NC #6 Ranked Welterweight) takes on undefeated rising Welterweight Darren Till (15-0-1). This card has sort of flown under the radar, but there are a bunch of great matchups on the card. There are 7 Polish-born fighters on the card which means the crowd will have a lot of hometown heroes to cheer for. The UFC hasn’t been in Poland since April of 2015, and this will be the first time Gdansk will host the UFC. This card should be a good entertaining afternoon on Fight Pass kicking off the end of the year for the UFC.
The Featherweight Division will kick off the cars at 11:30 AM Eastern Standard Time with Felipe “Sertanejo” Arantes (18-7-1 2NC) and Josh Emmett (11-1). Felipe Arantes is coming off a tough split decision loss almost a year ago. He, unfortunately, had to pull out of a fight just this past September due to an illness but is now back and ready to go. Arantes has been up and down in the UFC with a majority of his fights heading to the judges’ scorecards. Don’t let those decisions fool you he is an accomplished Jiu Jitsu practitioner as well with 6 career submissions. To add to that he has 7 career victories via knockout as well. Josh Emmett is also coming off a split decision loss back in April, which was the first blemish on his record as a professional. Emmett has gone the distance in all 3 of his UFC fights, and uses his wrestling and grappling to really keep the fight where he wants it. This is going to be an interesting matchup for him and may force him to keep the fight standing. This should be a good tilt to kick off the afternoon filled with fights. Prediction: Josh Emmett via Decision.
The much-anticipated debut of Invicta FC veteran Aspen Ladd (5-0) is up next against Lina “Elbow Queen” Lansberg (7-2). Aspen Ladd went to the judges for the first time in her last fight in January of this year. Prior to that, she had rattled off 3 4 straight finishes that included 3 TKO victories. Ladd is 22 years old and has made some noise in the lower levels with her striking talent. This is a step up in competition for her, but she does hold victories over 2 current UFC fighters and a current contestant on Season 26 of The Ultimate Fighter. Lina Lansberg recovered from her TKO loss to Cris Cyborg (18-1 1 NC Women’s Featherweight Champion) to take a hard-fought decision victory over Lucie Pudilova (7-2). Lansberg’s striking is her best weapon. If she can close the distance and get in close look for her to try and really do some damage to the young up and comer. This has the potential to be a great first impression of a potential future star. Prediction: Aspen Ladd via TKO.
As a last minute injury replacement Poland’s own Salim “Grizzly” Touhari (10-1) will make his UFC debut against Warlley Alves (11-2). Salim Touhari has found himself in the UFC following a 5 fight win streak. In that win streak, he has 4 wins via KO/TKO. Touhari has obviously made his hay on the smaller European circuits and will step up to the big time to face a formerly very hot prospect in Alves. Touhari will look to get his hands on Alves early and add to the 6 knockouts he has to his name. Touhari will need to get over the UFC jitters, and making a debut in his home country will surely be tough. Warlley Alves in 2014 and 2015 was one of the hottest rising Welterweights in the UFC. Alves looked like an unstoppable force coming off his victory in the Middleweight Division of Season 3 of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil. He then rang off 4 straight victories with 3 via guillotine choke. 2016, however, wasn’t as kind to Alves who dropped 2 straight bouts via decision. Alves is looking to rebound Saturday in Poland and get back to the days that saw him get wins over guys like Colby “Chaos” Covington (12-1 #8 Ranked Welterweight), Nordine Taleb (13-4), and Alan ”Brahma” Jouban (15-6). If Alves can get his grappling back to that level we could see him with his hand raised Saturday. Prediction: Salim Touhari via TKO.
The Ultimate Fighter Season 22 Finalist Artem “The Russian Hammer” Lobov (14-13-1) makes his return to the Octagon to take on Team Alpha Male member Andre “Touchy” Fili (16-5). Artem Lobov had his 2 fight winning streak broken by Cub Swanson (25-7 # 4 Ranked Featherweight) back in April in a great 5 round headlining fight. Lobov is an interesting case because his record looks super suspect, and he gets a reputation as a coattail rider of training partner “The Notorious “ Conor McGregor (21-3 Lightweight Champion). However, Lobov certainly proved he can hang in there in the face of adversity his last time out. He will need to do the same against Fili. Lobov will stand and trade with anyone, he just needs to make sure he is getting out of the way of Fili. Andre Fili dropped a tough decision to Calvin Kattar (17-2) his last time out in what was a 3 round decision. Fili has been a very successful striker in his run in the UFC. If he can use that striking against Lobov and keep the distance between them to launch his powerful kicks he could make short work of him. This one has a performance bonus for one or both of these guys when it’s all said and done. Prediction: Andre Fili via TKO.
A late replacement spot opened up and “Smile’N” Sam Alvey (31-9) stepped in to take on the debuting Ramazan “Gorets” Emeev (15-3). Sam Alvey will be fighting for the 4th time in 2017 and is coming off a split decision victory over former Light Heavyweight Champion “Suga” Rashad Evans (24-7-1). Alvey has won 5 of 6 and is always up for a good entertaining fight. Alvey will be looking for the knockout to get himself another name on a list that is already 18 opponents long. Alvey will need to make sure his takedown defense is on point like it was against Evans to keep this fight on the feet and out of the wheelhouse of his last minute opponent. Ramazan Emeev will be making his promotional debut with the UFC on Saturday. The Dagestani fighter is a confident grappler who is a former M-1 Middleweight Champion. Let’s be honest grappling and wrestling are the bread and butter for all of the fighters from Dagestan. Expect to see shooting early and often from Emeev, and then ground and pound to work for the victory. He also has 7 career submission victories so he could try to add to that as well. His debut has the potential to be a big deal if he can easily put away a long time veteran like Alvey. Prediction: Ramazan Emeev via Decision.
Another Polish-born fighter Damian “Webster” Stasiak (10-4) returns to the Octagon to take on Brian “Boom” Kelleher (17-8). Damian Stasiak is coming off a loss that broke his 2 fight UFC winning streak. That took his UFC record to 2-2 overall back in May and he will be looking to get back in the win column in front of his countrymen and women. Stasiak’s grappling has been his best weapon throughout his career with 7 career submissions. Both of his UFC wins have been via submission as well. He will have his hands full with Kelleher who is an accomplished grappler himself. Brian Kelleher suffered a disappointing submission loss in front of his hometown fans in Long Island, New York back in July. The first round submission loss was his first loss in the UFC. Kelleher has 8 career submissions of his own. He has only been in the Octagon for a combined 3 minutes and 6 seconds in his 2 fights in the UFC. The difference between Stasiak and Kelleher is that Kelleher has also got multiple victories on the feet. He has 6 career knockouts to his name, and that is usually where fights between two very strong grapplers end up out of respect for the others ground game. Kelleher may have the advantage on the feet which could make the difference. Prediction: Brian Kelleher via TKO.
Anthony “Freight Train” Hamilton (15-8) is on life support his UFC life and will look to right the ship against another debuting Polish fighter Adam Wieczorek (8-1). Anthony Hamilton was knocked out in 24 seconds less than a month ago. Now it was a brief sort of flash knockout and he was up and recovered very quickly to even dispute the knockout in the Octagon. He even hinted at retirement following his 3rd straight loss and 2nd via knockout. Hamilton needs to stay out of danger as best he can and try to get off the heavy hands that got him to the dance. With 3 straight losses even in this depleted Heavyweight division, it could be the last time we see him in the UFC if something doesn’t change. Adam Wieczorek will be looking to make a statement in his UFC debut. Adam has rattled off 7 straight victories all by tfinish with 3 knockouts and 4 submissions in that stretch. The only blemish on his record is to fellow Polish Heavyweight Marcin “Tybur” Tybura (16-2 #8 Ranked Heavyweight) in his 2nd career fight. Wieczorek has some serious ground skills, and that could make a serious difference in this one. Prediction: Adam Wieczorek via TKO.
Marcin Held (22-7) is another fighter in desperate need of a victory in the UFC, and he will be taking on another debuting fighter Nasrat Haqparast (8-1). When Marcin Held came over from Bellator in 2016 he had some decent hype behind him. However, his debut loss to Diego ‘Lionheart” Sanchez (29-10) and a controversial decision loss to Joe Lauzon (27-14) got his UFC career off to a rough start. In his next UFC fight, Held looked like he had made the adjustments and was dominating through 2 rounds against the debuting Damir Hadzovic (11-3). Then a knee to the head ended his evening and his 3 fight losing streak was completed. Held is a grappler who uses it to dominate his opponents. He did it so well in the Hadzovic fight until one mistake ended the evening. Held needs to stay out of trouble and take the fight where he can get a finish to make sure he keeps his roster spot. Nasrat Haqparast has rattled off 8 straight victories since dropping his pro-MMA debut. Haqparast has been a knockout machine. Those 8 straight victories have all been via knockout, and held has in the past been susceptible to the knockout. Haqparast could make a statement in his UFC debut with a big knockout. Prediction: Marcin Held via Decision.
The final debuting male fighter of the night Oskar Piechota (9-0) will make the walk versus Jonathan “Jonny Bravo” Wilson (7-2) to kick off the Main Card on Fight Pass. Oskar Piechota is undefeated in his professional MMA career. He has finished all 9 of his opponents with 4 knockouts and 5 submissions. He dispatched his last opponent in a mere 37 seconds with a vicious head kick knockout. His striking will be key in this one to keep Wilson off him. He looks comfortable moving backward, and can uncork the big shot from anywhere. This will be a step up to the big time for Piechota, and fighting in his home country could be a real setup for a case of the first time UFC jitters. Jonathan Wilson shot into the UFC with a 50 second first-round knockout. Since then he has dropped 2 straight and has been out of action for almost a year. Wilson is a knockout artist with 6 career knockouts and that power will need to come out. He will be entering enemy territory facing a Polish fighter in Poland, but if he can make solid contact he may send the fans home disappointed. Prediction: Oskar Piechota via TKO.
Longtime UFC veteran Jan Blachowicz (19-7) returns to fight in front of his home country’s fans and take on Devin “Brown Bear” Clark (8-1). Blachowicz has dropped 2 straight decisions in the UFC, with the last one being a bit controversial. Blachowicz was dominating early in the fight, but gassed and was a mess for the remainder of the fight. Blachowicz is a grinder who will use his grappling and wrestling to take the fight to where he wants to fight it. That grappling will have to be acknowledged in this one, or he may grind himself back into the win column. Devin Clark rebounded from a loss in his UFC debut to rattle off two straight victories heading into this one. Clark has to make sure he uses his striking to keep Blachowicz from closing the distance and taking him down. He has some decent knockout power and will need to try and utilize that early. Blachowicz has shown that he can gas, so Clark also may be able to evade him early and outlast him in the long run. Prediction: Devin Clark via Decision.
Former Women’s Strawweight Title Contender Karolina Kowalkiewicz (10-2 #3 Ranked Women’s Strawweight) is looking to get back in the win column vs the debuting Jodie Esquibel (6-2). Karolina Kowalkiewicz has dropped 2 straight fights one being her title challenge and then a title eliminator immediately after. Kowalkiewicz has looked great in her fights leading up to that. She goes to the judges a lot, and it’s a mix of her striking and owning the Octagon. She has a chance to get a win under her belt here and put her name back in a top 5 matchup. Invicta FC veteran Jodie Esquibel will make her UFC debut. The former Atomweight competitor moved up to Strawweight 3 fights ago and is looking more comfortable now. She has the ability to go the distance, and with less of a weight cut, she can be an interesting prospect in the weight class. This should be a good title with 2 people looking to prove they either still belong at the top, or they belong in the UFC. Prediction: Karolina Kowalkiewicz via Decision.
The Main Event of the evening is next and it features longtime fan favorite Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone (32-9 1NC #6 Ranked Welterweight) and rising contender Darren Till (15-0-1). Donald Cerrone has dropped 2 straight fights to Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal (32-12 #4 Ranked Welterweight) and former Welterweight Champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (28-11 1NC #1 Ranked Welterweight). Cerrone, however, is one of the gamest fighters of all time. His striking is up there with the best of them and he always throws himself into the fire. He also has a sometimes forgot about the ground game that has gotten him 16 career submissions. If this fight goes to the ground Cerrone may have an advantage even with Till’s background. This fight is certainly a risk for Cerrone taking on an unranked opponent, but he stated earlier this week that the rankings are basically useless anyway so in his eyes it’s just another opponent. Darren Till is an impressive prospect at 24 years old he 3-0-1 in the UFC. This is an absolute step up in competition. He is going from fighting some lower tier UFC guys to the just under champion tier of fighters. The question is that with his powerful striking and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu background that he learned living in Brazil for several years does he have the ability to take advantage of a huge opportunity. Till has serious power and his elbows can wreak havoc on his opponents. Cerrone’s chin has been questionable recently, and if Till can get in close and rip a big elbow he may make a huge statement that England has produced another contender. Prediction: Darren Till via TKO.
The UFC is in the home stretch of 2016 and they have 10 events in 9 weeks and 11 events in 11 weeks. The only weekend moving forward without a UFC card is the weekend of Christmas. This card kicks it all off on UFC Fight Pass Saturday Morning/Afternoon. It is always nice when you can get a UFC in the middle of the day to lead in to late night College football. We have a chance for a guy in Darren Till to make a real name against a former title challenger on this card, and a lot of good young European talent on display. There is a long road ahead of the UFC to finish off the year, and it starts now.
