Two lower-tier Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight fighters, Chris Camozzi and Nick Ring, are set to collide tonight (March 16, 2013) at UFC 158, which takes place at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
It's a mixed martial arts (MMA) match up with few distinct advantages other than Ring’s edge in wrestling. He has been in many close, flip-a-coin-and-decide fights lately, with three of four bouts inside the Octagon going to decisions. Ring doesn’t do any one thing outstanding, but he executes everything with sound technique. At times it seems like he’s cruising in third gear, unwilling to let it air out and push the pace.
Camozzi, therefore, has to take advantage of that, especially on the feet.
Check out a complete breakdown of the UFC 158 Middleweight main card bout between Chris Camozzi vs. Nick Ring below:
The Breakdown
Ring figures to be sharper than in his last fight, a ho-hum decision over Court McGee that was his first bout in more than one year. He’ll have to be because Camozzi competed three times in 2012 and has demonstrated steady improvement, especially on the feet. "Promise" is basically a solid boxer who doesn’t commit too much to kicks, and if Camozzi can keep it on the feet while making it a kickboxing match instead of a boxing contest, that goes a long way toward winning the bout.
Ring can be very good at holding people down and frustrating them, too.
It’s going to be a tight balance between doing this enough, if he can execute and hold takedowns and not doing too much to let Camozzi reverse, scramble and/or escape. If this is the case, with Ring scoring occasional takedowns and Camozzi getting the better of limited stand up exchanges, it will likely come down to a controversial decision where fans debate what actions count for more on the judges cards.
The Pick
Ring has a lot of potential and at times seems an underachiever. He’s exceptionally durable, has a strong chin and solid wrestling horsepower. Camozzi figures to come gunning for him early to set the tone.
Look for some solid exchanges in the opening round as both vie to dictate the action, and then Camozzi switching to a stick and move style – it’s quite likely his gameplan is based on keeping it on the feet, and certainly off his back, with the powerful Ring left grasping at straws.
Camozzi should do enough on the feet and defensively on the ground to edge out Ring in a hard-fought split decision where Ring tires in the third and absorbs enough punishment to come out on the short end of the stick.
Camozzi via decision
Jason Probst can be reached at twitter.com/jasonprobst