Jay Primetown gives his thoughts on each of the fighters who competed at UFC on Fox 20 in Chicago, Illinois. Jay gives his letter grades for each fighter on TheMMA-Analysis podcast which can be found on MMAOddsbreaker.com Luis Henrique vs. Dmitry Smolyakov Henrique: My perception of him changed throughout the week. He put on some weight for this fight and for the first time looked like he could compete physically in this weight class. His wrestling skills are decent and he showed a decent enough motor to beat up and control his Russian. At 22 year of age and in a division lacking prospects, Henrique is a fighter to keep an eye on. Upgraded from D to D+ Smoliakov: He came into this fight a little bloated and really never got started. He struggled with Henrique’s length and was taken down fairly easily by the Brazilian. His gas tank gave out after one round. Tough to imagine Smoliakov sticks around if he loses his next fight. Downgraded from D+ to D- Jim Alers vs. Jason Knight Alers: He simply wasn’t active enough in this fight. Despite landing a few takedowns and cutting his opponent open, he was out struck in every round. Alers hasn’t won a fight inside the Octagon since 2014. It’s quite possible he gets cut from the roster after this loss. Downgraded from C- to D+ Knight: He showed he’s simply not just a fighter who has a very good guard game. His output is fantastic throwing and kicking 225 significant strikes over the course of 15 minutes. He got the bonus for fight of the night and really earned himself some respect from the MMA community. Knight isn’t a world beater, but he’s an entertaining action fighter. At this level, that can be just as important as getting one’s hand raised. Upgraded from D to D+ James Moontasri vs. Alex Oliveira Moontasri: His opponent pressured him early on and didn’t allow him to get out of first gear. Moontasri is at his best with space. He needs distance to setup his striking. Fighting in a phone booth puts him at a disadvantage and he had now answers. He holds wins over the two worst fighters in the division and been exposed in all his other matchups. I’ve seen enough now to realize he needs to go back to the regional scene and work on his grappling before he comes back to the UFC. Downgraded from D to D- Oliveira: A terrific performance from the Brazilian welterweight. He employed one of the best gameplans I’ve seen executed in a MMA fight this year. He put constant pressure on his opponent. The only way Moontasri had a chance to beat him was landing something special in a standup exchange at distance. Oliveira pressed him against the cage, landed in the clinch, and forced the takedowns. Great all around fight for him. Time for the Brazilian to face a formidable opponent. Grade remains C J.C. Cottrell vs. Michel Prazeres Cottrell: He took this fight on short notice, but still this was a really poor performance. He left himself vulnerable to be taken down over and over throughout the 15 minute fight. He never put any pressure on Prazeres and allowed an opponent who fatigues throughout his career a cakewalk of a third round. Due to the short notice he took the fight, he’ll likely get a second chance. If it was up to me, he wouldn’t get another opportunity in the UFC. Grade remains D Prazeres: Another win for Trator. He dominated with his offensive wrestling which Cottrell had no answers for. He also did better in the standup being more aggressive than he had been in previous fights. I think that was more to do with the opponent than anything else. Grade remains C- Kamaru Usman vs. Alexander Yakovlev Usman: An absolutely dominant performance. Usman is a nightmare matchup for most fighters because he’s incredibly strong and can take opponents down in a variety of ways. Once in top control, he smothers opponents making it difficult for them to get up. He reminds me quite a bit of Khabib Nurmagomedov. Upgraded from C+ to B- Yakovlev: He had been on a nice run prior to this fight, but he was controlled and beat up in this fight. He had no way to get back to this feet where he could be competitive in the striking. I’d like to see him take a step back and face a more varied opponent in his next fight to continue to build out his skill set. Downgraded from C to C- Darren Elkins vs. Godofredo Pepey Elkins: A classic Darren Elkins fight. He had to deal with some adversity early on, but his work rate really showed as he dominated the final two rounds with takedowns and ground and pound to get his 10th win inside the octagon. Grade remains C+ Pepey: He was too willing to be put on his back in this bout. He needed to keep it standing and threaten Elkins instead he sometimes jumped into guard to try to score a submission. That strategy simply doesn’t work against Elkins. Grade remains C Frankie Saenz vs. Eddie Wineland Saenz: Unable to have much success in the wrestling game, Saenz resorted to rushing in and was caught by a very good counter striker. Tough loss for Saenz who had been trending up the UFC rankings. Downgraded from B to C+ Wineland: In a fight he needed to win, Wineland turned in a vintage performance defined by quality takedown defense and excellent counter striking. Finishing Saenz is difficult to do and Wineland did it in style. Very good win. Upgraded from C to B- Kailin Curran vs. Felice Herrig Curran: She was out struck on the feet and once the fight hit the ground she was completely out of their element. Curran has shown throughout her career that she struggles with submission based fighters. She’s young, but I just don’t see her improving enough to fend off submission on a regular basis. Grade remains D Herrig: Certainly fought more relaxed inside the cage and found success in the striking before securing a takedown and a quick submission. This matchup was tailor made for her, so it’s difficult to get too excited about this performance. Grade remains C- Bojan Mihajlovic vs. Francis Ngannou Mihajlovic: This was a terrible matchup for Mihajlovic. He was significantly smaller than his opponent and was put in there to be a sacrificial lamb. The referee did a good job of ending this fight without him taking too much damage. At light heavyweight, he may be able to compete, but I don’t see it happening in this weight class. Downgraded from D- to F Ngannou: He took his time measuring his opponent. Once he saw an opportunity he got his opponent to the ground and blasted him with ground and pound. Ngannou’s size, speed, and athleticism are near the top of the division. He’s still rather raw, but the talent is most certainly there. Grade remains C+ Edson Barboza vs. Gilbert Melendez Barboza: He did a tremendous job stuffing takedown attempts and he combined it with doing an excellent job landing leg kicks to Melendez’s lead leg. By the end of three round, Melendez could barely walk. This is his second straight win over an elite lightweight. Barboza is most certainly in the conversation for title contention. Upgraded from B+ to A- Melendez: He’s still a very competitive lightweight, but his inability to have fight altering power or combinations makes it difficult for him to beat the top fighters. He’s forced to the scorecards and without an ability to land power strikes it’s hard to win rounds against his contemporaries. Melendez is nearing the end of his career and I’m starting to see his performances go down along with it. Downgraded from B+ to B Holly Holm vs. Valentina Shevchenko Holm: Most folks believed Holm was the best striker in this weight class, but this fight proved otherwise. Holm struggled with Shevchenko’s well-rounded attack and took quite a bit of damage over 25 minutes. Her takedown defense was rather lackluster as well. This is two straight losses for Holm. It will be interesting to see where Holm goes from here. Downgraded from A to A- Shevchenko: This was a breakthrough performance for the Russian fighter. In a five round contest, her conditioning was excellent and her striking improved throughout the fight. Her physicality is also near the top of the weight class with how she was able to secure takedowns against Holm. In a five round contest, she will be very competitive against champion Amanda Nunes. Upgraded from B to A
Updated Fighter Grades: Post-UFC on Fox 20
