What with all of the excitement over UFC 148 over the weekend, the lack of promotion for this event, the fact that this is yet another FUEL TV fight card that next to no people will be watching in the U.S of A and the lack of compelling fights on offer, I’d completelyforgotten that UFC on FUEL 4 is tonight.
I’ll have a little go at breaking down the main card fights, though don’t expect the most professional analysis (I’m not a professional after all) because to be perfectly honest I don’t know who some of these guys even are.
Middleweights – Mark Munoz vs. Chris Weidman
The one relevant fight on the card, 2 top-10 middleweights with title aspirations face off with pretty similar styles. Both are wrestlers, though Munoz has much bigger punching power. On the other hand, I’d actually pick Weidman to be more likely to land the most dangerous strikes because of his ability to take a punch and Munoz’s lack of head movement and complete absence of a chin.
A tough one to call, but my gut says Weidman by decision, with the slim chance of a late, late stoppage. Munoz tends to get tired and he could struggle over 5 rounds, and Weidman should have cardio for days now that he has actually had the chance to have a full fight camp in preparation for a UFC fight.
Light Heavyweights – James Te Huna vs. Joey Beltran
Neither of these guys will be fighting for a title any time soon, but boy-oh-boy could be be in for some fireworks here. Both fighters throw hays with reckless abandon, and are pretty durable as well. However, with the velocity of punches that are going to be thrown I fancy someone to go down for good at some point, and I think it will be Te-Huna who ends up being able to get some sustained offence going and get a stoppage. He is the younger, more athletic athlete,m and I struggle to see Beltran keeping up with his pace. Don’t be surprised to see ‘The Mexecutioner’ pull off an upset if Te-Huna starts to get tired though.
Welterweights - Aaron Simpson vs. Kenny Robertson
Arron Simpson was a solid Middleweight with elite wrestling and heavy hands to boot… but I literally have no idea who Kenny Robertson is.
Middleweights – Karlos Vemola vs. Francis Carmont
Carmont has a couple of wins in the UFC, but I’ve not seen ‘em. Veomla is limited, but he has won 2 of 4 UFC fights, including his middleweight début against Mike Massenzio last time out and a brutal TKO of Seth Petruzelli at light heavyweight. I’m picking Vemola by KO because I think that would be the most fun outcome.
Bantamweights – T.J. Dillashaw vs. Vaughan Lee
Lee came back from the brink of defeat to natch victory from ‘KID’ Yamamoto in Japan, and he will probably be written off for this fight. Dillashaw is a great wrestler, but he displayed some of the lowest fight IQ I’ve ever seen against Walel Watson at UFC on FUEL 1. Despite being the far superior fighter, he did not take advantage of his positional dominance and finishing dominance and ended up taking a thoroughly dominant but underwhelming decision. I’d expect Dillashaw to GnP his wayto a decision win, but don’t count out Lee sweeping or getting a slick sub from his back.
Lightweights – Rafael dos Anjos vs. Anthony Njokuani
Dos Anjos should be too good for Njokuani here. The Nigerian kickboxer is a huge 155lber with heavy hands and feet, but Dos Anjos is a good strategist with underrated striking of his own and a slick ground game. I fancy him to match Njokuani on the feet and if he can eventually get the fight to the mat, completely outclass his opponent and get the tap.
Prelims
Wow, this really is a symptom of the overflowing UFC roster at this point. With all due respect to the fighters involved, of which there are some with legitimate skills, try to spot any fights you care about here.
Damacio Page vs. Alex Caceres
Chris Cariaso vs. Josh Ferguson
Rafael Natal vs. Andrew Craig
Marcelo Guimaraes vs. Dan Stittgen
Raphael Assuncao vs. Issei Tamura
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They are coming more often these days. And that’s a good thing
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I’m not so sure. This card got no attention. I’d much rather have a few less events and stack the remaining ones with more entertaining fights to be honest.