Another fight weekend is here, baby, and we love to see it. This weekend’s action features the UFC and Bellator going head-to-head on Saturday night: Bellator has a slightly more entertaining main event, but both shows are pretty weak. Meanwhile, RIZIN returns on Sunday with a show that isn’t any great shakes either.
You honestly can skip this week of fights if you want, but if you must, here are the three fights I’ll be watching closest on Saturday:
Yoel Romero vs. Phil Davis, Bellator 266
It’s a pretty dire state of affairs when a fight that promises little to no actual action is also the biggest fight of the week. But Bellator’s main event, at the very least, poses an interesting question: what, if anything, does Yoel Romero still have left in the tank?
Romero was one of the most decorated UFC middleweights of the last decade, a truly fantastic talent, and one who did absolutely everything except put a UFC championship belt around his waist. He’s also 44 years old, coming off four losses in his last five fights, didn’t get medically cleared for his last booked fight, and is fighting at 205 pounds for the first time in over a decade.
In his prime, Romero was something to behold: the former Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling mixed world-class wrestling acumen with alarming explosiveness and athleticism, a crazy chin, and huge knockout power. And even in that last unsuccessful run before his UFC release, he never got his ass kicked: some believed that he should have gotten the decision nod over Israel Adesanya to win the title last March, and many more thought he similarly deserved the nod over Robert Whittaker in their title fight in June 2018.
But he didn’t get either, and now we’re left with a fighter in his mid-40s, who hasn’t fought in 18 months, and whose output has been declining for several years: the Adesanya fight, now infamous, was basically a staring contest. And after Bellator brought him in as one of the major names for its Light Heavyweight Grand Prix earlier this year, his planned bout with Anthony “Rumble” Johnson was scuttled due to an eye issue that caused him to fail a pre-fight medical screening.
You kind of need to be able to see to fight – just ask Michael Bisping. But perhaps the biggest issue of all is the huge size disadvantage Romero will be giving up having moved up to light heavyweight, where he started his MMA career. At 5-foot-10 with a 73-inch reach, he’s always been a bad frame for the division. And after getting knocked out by the now-forgotten Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante in Strikeforce 10 years ago, he moved to middleweight, hopefully never to return.
It doesn’t help that they stuck him in there with Phil Davis, either. Davis has now been an elite light heavyweight for over a decade, and at 36, he’s still a problem – he’s a true 205er at 6-foot-2 with a 79-inch reach, with elite wrestling, an adeptness for fighting at range, and a lack of interest in popping off fireworks for the fans. He’s there to leverage the things he does well at and win, and with what we’ve seen lately, it isn’t super likely Romero will bring the fight to him.
And although he was knocked out in the first round of the light heavyweight tournament, Davis is still one of the best 205ers Bellator has to offer – he gave champion Vadim Nemkov a scare towards the end of their bout in April, staying in the fight for five rounds and turning up some big pressure. This may be a showcase for Bellator’s big-name signing, but with all things considered, you’d have to favor Davis.
The problem is, Davis is in what I like to call the Benavidez Position: having lost to the champion twice, he’s not getting another shot. The only way this fight can shake things up is if Romero proves he’s got something left. Do we hope that happens? Sure! Will it? Time will tell.
Anthony Smith vs. Ryan Spann, UFC Vegas 37
The UFC seriously just isn’t trying anymore. It feels like every week, their weekly Fight Night cards get worse, and every week, I go in feeling like this is the weakest offering they’ve given us. And this week, this feels like the weakest offering they’ve given us. That’s what happens when you’re slaves to the ESPN schedule.
As a main event, it’s shit, but as a battle between lower-level light heavyweight contenders, at least, Anthony Smith-Ryan Spann might be kind of interesting. It was about a year ago that it felt like Smith’s run as a relevant fighter was just about done: having been dominated in a title fight against Jon Jones, beaten senseless by Glover Teixeira, and kept on his back for three rounds by Aleksandar Rakic, the 51-fight veteran who’s somehow just 33 years old was on his way out.
And to be clear, Smith still isn’t a real contender. But he’s come back around his last two fights and proven that he still has a ton to offer as a gatekeeper. On Saturday, he’ll be keeping the gate against Ryan Spann, who’s won five of six UFC bouts and is coming off the most impressive performance of his UFC career.
A 30-year-old Contender Series alum, Spann has been very up-and-down, even with his positive record. It was just three fights ago that he had a very bad time in a split decision loss to supreme dope Sam Alvey, now winless in his last seven. He followed that by being viciously knocked out by a series of downward elbows from glass cannon Johnny Walker, in his first UFC loss.
Once considered a prospect, Spann’s stock was at a low. He bounced back in March with a resounding KO of the tough Misha Cirkunov, blitzing the Canadian in just over a minute to win a fight he desperately needed.
Spann looks the part and has a lot of the tools you want, but something’s been missing between his output and his cardio. Still, that KO of Cirkunov was a nice palate-cleanser, especially after he blew the Walker fight, having knocked Walker down twice in the first round and failing to finish it. Still on the cusp of the top 10, he now has another big opportunity.
But Smith may have found his groove again beating up younger guys on the way up. He bounced back from the Rakic loss by easing past an outmatched Devin Clark via triangle choke, and in April he switched off Jimmy Crute‘s leg with a calf kick, scoring a big win over a 25-year-old prospect who I really, really like.
Smith is just a gamebred tough guy, having spent the last 13 years fighting almost everywhere a man can fight, eventually emerging over the last five years as a dangerous finisher with a slick ground game and some depth to his striking style – out of 35 career wins, he’s racked up 19 knockouts and 13 submissions. And while his days fighting for titles may be done, Anthony Smith is still a threat. He’ll be one heck of a test for Ryan Spann.
Joaquin Buckley vs. Antonio Arroyo, UFC Vegas 37
It was less than a year ago that Joaquin Buckley, completely overnight, turned himself into one of the most hyped prospects in the UFC welterweight division. That’s what happens when you come out of nowhere to land one of the most incredible knockouts in the history of mixed martial arts.
Buckley will forever be associated with the spinning kick that turned Impa Kasanganay‘s lights out, and for good reason. It was a moment that anyone who witnessed it will remember for a very long time. But the question that Tweet is asking is the wrong one. We shouldn’t be asking whether he’ll ever top that incredible knockout – he won’t. We should be asking if we should remember him for more than just that.
Because for the first time in his UFC career, Buckley got exposed very badly in his last time in the Octagon. In January, Buckley was matched up with Alessio Di Chirico, then an eight-fight UFC veteran who had lost his last three. Buckley had shocked the world against Kasanganay, and shortly after run through Jordan Wright with another resounding KO. But against Di Chirico, we fund out just how limited he really is.
Buckley has one speed: he comes directly at you aggressively and killer intent, throwing big one-twos at your dome and hunting the knockout. But Di Chirico managed to avoid Buckley’s big rushes, and just over two minutes into the fight, derailed Buckley’s hype train with a right high kick.
It’s been eight months since that KO loss, and Buckley has to prove that he’s got more in his toolkit – otherwise, we’ll see this scene repeated. The UFC is giving Buckley what should be a solid opportunity for a turnaround, against a fighter in Antonio Arroyo who’s dropped both of his UFC appearances.
A 32-year-old from Brazil who earned his UFC spot on the Contender Series in July 2019, Arroyo has dropped decisions to supremely talented submission ace Andre Muniz, and the hilariously proportioned Deron Winn since debuting. Stylistically, however, this could be interesting: both Muniz and Winn are good grapplers who exploited Arroyo’s poor takedown defense and cardio.
Buckley most certainly isn’t that guy. And Arroyo, when he gets flowing in the stand-up, can be very entertaining to watch. It’s a good bit of match-making from the UFC: give Buckley the kind of guy who will be willing to stand with him. Even so, he’s going to need to show something more.
The Big Fight 