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Wake up with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)!
The leading mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion pays a visit to Manila, Philippines, this morning (Sat., May 16, 2015), bringing a scintillating "super" fight to Mall of Asia Arena. Former UFC Lightweight champion Frankie Edgar will go toe-to-toe with one-time World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) 145-pound titleholder Urijah Faber in the morning's main course.
A tussle between middleweight strikers Gegard Mousasi and Costas Philippou will precede the show's scheduled headliner. Four more fights pack the FOX Sports 1 main card, including tilts featuring talented welterweight brutes and featherweight prospects.
Each one of these men can go blow-for-blow -- or tit-for-tat -- on the mat. Which of these exciting bouts have the best chance of producing a performance bonus winner? Read on for my take and let us know if we are on the same page in the comments section.
Mark Eddiva vs. Levan Makashvili
Tale of the tape: 6 T(KO), 2 submission -- total career finishes between both fighters
The well-rounded Filipino Eddiva welcomes the heavy-handed Ring of Combat (ROC) veteran Makashvili to the Octagon in Manila.
Eddiva is two fights into his UFC career, sporting a 1-1 record. The 29-year-old has showcased a superb striking skill-set, predicated on a diverse array of kicks -- Eddiva competed in the Chinese combat sport wushu prior to beginning his MMA run. Most recently, he ate a series of hard hooks from deadly Brazilian Edimilson Souza in May 2014, suffering a second-round technical knockout loss.
His opponent, the 26-year-old Makashvili, throws with power and has a sneaky wrestling game. The New York native mixes in takedowns well, typically shooting in from within the pocket, utilizing his foes' forward pressure to his advantage.
This will undoubtedly be a back-and-forth affair decided in the clinch. Unfortunately, I don't foresee a finish occurring here.
What to watch for: Eddiva's takedown defense
Prediction: Eddiva via unanimous decision
Phillipe Nover vs. Yui Chul Nam
Tale of the tape: 9 T(KO), 6 submission
Nover, the runner-up on season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), makes his return to the Octagon, following a five-year layoff, against "The Korean Bulldozer."
Boy has Nover put the disappointment of a three-fight skid in the UFC behind him. Sure, there have been setbacks, but the 31-year-old Filipino-American has taken steps to solidify the holes in his MMA game. He is a winner of three-straight bouts, including one where he captured the ROC lightweight title over Mike Santiago back in June 2013.
Nover is going to face a battering ram -- rather a bulldozer -- in the South Korean Nam.
The 33-year-old is a no-nonsense brawler with hands of stone. He only knows one route, which is forward. If he can't go through you, then he has some difficulty in winning fights. Very rarely, if ever, will Nam look for a takedown.
For Nover, it will be imperative he take this fight to the ground, where he can wear Nam down and hunt for submissions. With that being said, his general inactivity at the start of bouts will plague him here. Stylistically, I don't like this matchup for him.
What to watch for: Nover's clinch
Prediction: Nam via first-round technical knockout
Tale of the tape: 14 T(KO), 5 submission
You'd have to be sleeping under a rock to miss Magny's ascension up the 170-pound ranks in the UFC. The 27-year-old, Colorado-based fighter has put the entire division on notice with his five blistering performances in 2014.
Magny started off 2015 on the right foot, tapping Japanese submission expert Kiichi Kunimoto in February. The well-rounded welterweight has all the tools to compete and will need each one of them if he wants to dispatch the South Korean stand-up specialist Lim.
Though he sports 10 career knockouts to his credit, the 30-year-old doesn't waste any motion striking. As evidenced in his hard-fought loss to Tarec Saffiedine in January 2014, Lim works all parts of the body, and is as calculated as fighters come.
However, the long limbs of Lim know no bounds. He destroyed Takenori Sato in September with beautiful elbows from the clinch as the former looked to secure a takedown.
One of the important factors to consider here is that both Magny and Lim have similar builds. It will be a test for Magny to see if his striking has taken the next step and whether he can take a fighter of similar stature down.
This tussle has Fight of the Night written all over it. It would be a shame if it ended early, but it very well could. Personally, I'd like to say Magny via submission, but I see the length of both fighters canceling each other out.
What to watch for: Magny's striking
Prediction: Magny via split-decision
Tale of the tape: 9 T(KO), 4 submission
Two struggling middleweights lock horns as the retiring Munoz aims to end his MMA career on a high note with a win over "Bigslow."
Once regarded as a legitimate threat to former middleweight champion Anderson Silva, the 37-year-old Munoz has been on a winding road downhill for the last three years. Injuries forced him to miss sometime, become out of shape and suffer three-straight, first-round dismissals.
The credentialed wrestler, and heavy-handed Filipino is a shade of his former self, but will have everything to fight for -- not to mention his nation -- when he takes the center of the Octagon.
The Brit Barnatt has lost two decisions in a row, capping off what was a less-than-stellar 2014. The 27-year-old is not what you would call a high-volume kickboxer. Barnatt typically pokes and prods his way into striking range with body kicks and jabs.
If Munoz wants this win bad enough, it is his for the taking.
What to watch for: Munoz's wrestling
Prediction: Munoz via second-round technical knockout (Knockout of the Night)
Gegard Mousasi vs. Costas Philippou
Tale of the tape: 26 T(KO), 13 submission
Mousasi's sheer volume of fights inflate the above numbers a bit. He has a wealth of experience, which he holds over the former ROC middleweight champion.
The former K-1 kickboxer Mousasi has fought a multitude of high-level strikers and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners over the course of his 12-year MMA career. "The Dreamcatcher" has achieved mixed results in his short Octagon career, losing to divisional standouts Lyoto Machida and Ronaldo Souza.
Mousasi strikes strategically and with purpose. If he catches you, he can jump into your guard or find your back; or finish you off with his hands, like he did with Dan Henderson in January.
Philippou will be returning to the cage following a year layoff due to injury. The Bellmore Kickboxing Academy representative packs a wallop in his kicks and punishes. When he is moving forward, he's hard to stop. Philippou presents a unique challenge to Mousasi, and even though he is not as unpredictable as Machida, he is just as capable of ending the fight with one punch.
The 35-year-old is built New York tough, but far from the complete MMA fighter that Mousasi is.
What to watch for: Mousasi's accuracy
Prediction: Mousasi via second-round submission (Submission of the Night)
Frankie Edgar vs. Urijah Faber
Tale of the tape: 12 T(KO), 23 submission
Well here we have it, two of the best wrestlers in the lighter weight classes butt heads. "The Answer" has been unbeatable as of late, dismantling the likes of B.J. Penn and Cub Swanson.
What is there to say that hasn't been said about one of the most durable fighters in the history of the sport? Edgar seems to welcome punishment. It fuels him, though he has been the one dishing out the punishment now-a-days.
The 33-year-old is on track to secure a title shot if he can beat the similar in-style Faber.
Team Alpha Male's leading man -- although one could argue that the torch was passed on to bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw and perennial featherweight contender Chad Mendes -- can and will usually outwrestle you; not to mention his hands are loaded with dynamite.
Where the difference lies between both men is in the striking game. Edgar, as we know, is excellent at sticking and moving. He also can deliver mean ground and pound. The New Jersey native's punches aren't exactly looping -- in my opinion, he is right up there with the best boxers in the UFC.
Faber has sound hands don't get me wrong, but they're just not as efficient as Edgar's. "The California Kid" will attack in a flurry, usually with overhand shots. Not much in the way of jabs, or body punches.
As far as the wrestling department goes, each man is hard to handle on the mat. Both have excellent shots. The fight could be decided on which fighter has the better takedown defense.
If I was a betting man, I'd go with The Answer. And it seems Las Vegas agrees.
What to watch for: Edgar's boxing
Prediction: Edgar via unanimous decision (Fight of the Night)
Make sure you Maniacs wake up early for this one and if you're just walking in the door from a late Friday night -- for those of you who are on the west coast -- don't even think about going to sleep. You don't want to miss this card.
Enjoy, Maniacs!
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