UFC 130: Rampage vs Hamill Breaking Down the Undercard
On Saturday, May 28th, the UFC returns to its home in Las Vegas, Nevada for UFC 130: Rampage vs. Hamill from inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena. After the success of showing every single fight from UFC 129, this card’s undercard will also be shown on both Spike TV and Facebook. In this week’s breakdown, we are going to focus solely on the preliminary fights and follow up with a look at the Main Card next week.
The first bout of the evening that will be broadcast on the UFC’s Facebook page is a Bantamweight bout between Renan Barao (25-1, 1NC) and Cole “Apache Kid” Escovedo (17-6). Barao had a great 2010, going 3-0 on the year, including two victories in the WEC. His preferred method of victory is by way of submission; holding twelve submissions. Coincidentally, Escovedo holds ten submission victories of his own and has only been tapped out one time in his career. Unfortunately for Escovedo, his 2010 wasn’t as successful, going just 2-2. Having some previous WEC success of his own, Escovedo is no stranger to the level of talent he will be facing when he steps in the cage with Barao. With two submission wizards, who are no strangers to knockout victories, it will be interesting to see who will be able to push the pace and work their gameplan better.
The second fight of the night, also on Facebook, is a Bantamweight contest that puts together Michael “Mayday” McDonald (12-1) and Chris “Kamikaze” Cariaso (11-2). Cariaso’s original opponent, Norifumi Yamamoto, had to pull out due to an injury and McDonald jumped at the chance to get back in The Octagon. Although both men have decent striking, McDonald has finished over fifty percent of his fights by knockout as opposed to Cariaso’s fifteen percent. McDonald is also no stranger to the ground as he is a BJJ Brown Belt, so Cariaso may want to keep this one standing and look to slug it out.
The third, and final, Facebook broadcasted fight is a Lightweight bout between Gleison Tibau (22-7) and Bart “Bartimus” Palaszewski (35-14). Tibau is filling in for an injured Cody McKenzie who had to withdraw from the bout due to an injury he sustained during preparation for this fight. Tibau comes in as a strong, BJJ-based grappler, and virtual opposite of what McKenzie brings in. Palaszewski has hopefully prepared himself to be able to defend takedowns and use his striking to control the distance. With Tibau being a grappler and Bartimus being a striker, this fight may be decidied by whoever can work their skillset stronger and be able to control the action.
The fourth fight of the night and first being shown on Spike TV, features TUF 3 winner Kendall “Da Spyder” Grove (12-8, 1NC) as he faces off against Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch (12-4) in the Middleweight division. Both fighters’ UFC careers may be on the line as they are both coming off of losses and performed very poorly. Grove allowed Demian Maia to impose his gameplan effortlessly while Boetsch was turned into a highlight real by Phil Davis. Kendall is going to need to use his long limbs to control Boetsch and push the fight to where ever he wants it to go. Boetsch, on the other hand, is going to need to use crisp striking to slow Grove down and work at his own pace.
The final fight before the PPV broadcast is a Bantamweight bout between former WEC champion Miguel Angel Torres (39-3) against Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson (9-1). After a lackluster performance in his last fight at UFC 126, Torres will need to come out strong against Johnson to prove he belongs back in the title contention. A win for Johnson though would cement his validity in the division and throw his name in the title mix as well. Johnson will have to use his striking to get in close and set up for a takedown in order to avoid being jabbed into a trance like Antonio Banuelos was against Torres. Whoever can push the pace and control the fight is going to walk out of the MGM victorious.
Stay tuned to MMA Valor next week as we take a look at the Main Card fights and break them down. Until then, follow @MMAValor on Twitter for all your MMA news and updates.
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Aspiring chef turned MMA writer after financial issues prevented me from pursuing my first dream. Ever since I started watching MMA, I've read up about it and talk about it all the time and with the encouragement of family and friends I finally decided to actively pursue a career in writing about it.Subscribe
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