Rich Clementi vs Gleison Tibau UFC Fight Night 17 fight announced

by MMAmania.com on Dec 18, 2008 9:48 PM EST Comment 24 comments

Rich Clementi and Gleison Tibau have been booked to battle at UFC Fight Night 17 at the University of Southern Florida (USF) Sun Dome in Tampa, Fla., on February 7, 2009.

Both lightweights will attempt to rebound from losses in their most recent performances. For Tibau, he will be out to snap a two-fight losing skid and return to the win column for the first time since September 2007.

That's uncharted territory for the American Top Team (ATT) product -- he won three of his first four fights inside the Octagon. And the only loss during that stretch was to Nick Diaz at UFC 65: "Bad Intentions" back in November 2006.

Tibau -- who recently sustained a shoulder injury that forced him off the UFC 90: "Silva vs. Cote card in October -- most recently dropped consecutive bouts to perennial division threats Tyson Griffin and Joe Stevenson. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt was submitted for the first time ever in his professional mixed martial arts (MMA) career in the loss to "Daddy."

Clementi was red hot on a six-fight tear before locking horns with Gray Maynard at UFC 90. He was essentially outwrestled for 15 minutes in a loss that was extremely hard to swallow for the former contestant on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 4.

He had emerged as a possible title contender with wins over Anthony Johnson, Melvin Guillard, Sam Stout and Terry Etim. Now it's back to the drawing board for the 46-fight MMA veteran.

UFC Fight Night 17 features additional 155-pound match ups. Mac Danzig is expected to take on Josh Neer and Joe Lauzon and Hermes Franca are slated to tangle — both match ups were confirmed for the show today. Kurt Pellegrino and Rob Emerson will also likely hook ‘em up.

In addition, Cain Velasquez will be in action on the Spike TV special against Denis Stojnic in a heavyweight bout. The match up between Clementi and Tibau is currently set to take place on the nontelvised portion of the preliminary card.

To check out the latest UFC Fight Night 17 fight card and rumors click here.

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I’ll saw three losses in a row for Tibau with Clementi winning.

by the_mexicutioner on Dec 18, 2008 9:50 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

say*

by the_mexicutioner on Dec 18, 2008 10:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Tibau is a much bigger gray maynard with better BJJ game. He will just sit in his half guard for 3rds for the UD.

by NameNotRequired on Dec 18, 2008 10:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I like this matchup a lot. Both guys need a win and should put up a good fight. I don’t know about Tibau being a bigger Maynard, I think he has a much more well-rounded game overall. Maynard always seems to fall back on his wrestling. And Tibau looked really good against Stevenson until he got caught in the guillotine. I’d like to see their fight be more active like Tibau’s fight against Tyson Griffin, as opposed to a grind it out position-fest on the ground. Rich is scrappy, I’m definitely not counting him out.

by GregC on Dec 19, 2008 12:13 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Bigger maynard? I don’t think so too. Greg’s right, Tibau is much much more well rounded. And since he doesn’t have the wrestling advantage that Maynard has, then he won’t be able to manhandle Rich. He’s just too wiley a veteran to get manhandled….But then again, with Tibau’s enormous size, I could be wrong…

by Syd[a.k.a. "The Negation"] on Dec 19, 2008 1:09 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Syd, i think your last comment cements my point. He may not have the wrestling pedigree of maynard but his size and suffocating top game essentially make him a maynard. The fact that he’s not that great at GNP’ing from guard or even passing the guards of slick grapplers like Clementi leads to half guard for three rounds.

by NameNotRequired on Dec 19, 2008 1:24 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If that’s the case, then I guess we’ll be seein’ a ground battle just like Clementi’s last fight. I’m sure they’re gonna spar for a little bit until one of them decides to take the fight to the ground. Probably Tibau.

Now on the ground, here’s when the fight becomes a little more interesting. With Rich sensing Tibau’s ground pedigree, he’ll try to scramble. From there, he should be able to pull somethin’ off. Just a little daylight at the end of the dark tunnel is what Clementi needs to pull off this one. I’m sure this bout won’t reach a decision.

by TheNegation on Dec 19, 2008 5:50 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I agree. Tibau doesn’t have the ability that Maynard had to hold down Clementi for 3 rounds. Even if he takes him to the ground I think that Rich will be able to scramble and either find a submission or get back to his feet.

by GregC on Dec 19, 2008 2:30 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

UFN 17 has a lot of good LWs on the card. I’m picking Tibau by decision.

by DB on Dec 18, 2008 9:52 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Tibau is that rather large LW that Stevenson beat right? I think this guy can beat Clementi, at least I hope he can. I wanna see that cocky, S&#$ talkin bastard get beat so bad. And by beat I mean subed(finished), not layed upon via descision(Grey Manard)

by The Anomaly on Dec 18, 2008 9:53 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Nah, Clementi’s too crafty to get subbed…Clementi via submission! It’s possible, Stevenson did it anyway.

by Syd[a.k.a. "The Negation"] on Dec 19, 2008 1:06 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

great match-up. tibau has had tough road facing griffin, stevenson and now clementi. tibau is a very big lw, but clementi is a tough vet. tibau always seems to be winning right up until he gets caught. i see it happening again. tibau will look dominant and then get caught. then again, maybe he’s due for a break. good fight, good free event so far.

by b.w. on Dec 18, 2008 10:50 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Agree on all points, as usual…

by BNF on Dec 19, 2008 2:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I like Clementi.I think He’ll outpoint Tibau.Too bad for Tibao.3 in a row… I really feel sorry for him.

by pamirec on Dec 19, 2008 12:29 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Better blame Silva for matching him up with crafty fighters…

by Syd[a.k.a. "The Negation"] on Dec 19, 2008 1:07 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

This is a very solid matchup. But i see Clementi being the better one on the feet and can score points that way. Tibau is a huge LW but i don’t think he is as well rounded as Clementi. This may be Tibau’s last UFC fight if he loses :/

by Chris on Dec 19, 2008 12:49 AM EST reply actions 0 recs