This Sunday (yes, Sunday) the UFC will plant down in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania for UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Cowboy.
Former UFC lightweight title challenger Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone will be moving up to make his welterweight debut. Tim Means was the first to get the call to welcome Cerrone to 170 lbs, but a failed drug test has forced him out of the competition. In steps Brazilian prospect Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira. Now we have this “Cowboy vs. Cowboy” match up, and while I don’t think it’s better than the Cerrone vs. Means match up, it’s still a decent silver-lining. This card has been absolutely riddled with injuries, so we’re lucky to even be having a fight card at all. This may be one of 2016’s weakest fight cards, but it’s free on Fox Sports 1 – so why not tune in?
Because this is a smaller card, I’m going to be doing a condensed break down of the night. Here’s what you can expect on February 27th at UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Cowboy.
UFC Fight Pass
To start things off, the action will be on UFC Fight Pass for a total of 3 fights. There’s a heavyweight match up between Anthony Hamilton and Shamil Abdurakhimov, and two women’s bantamweight match ups: Lauren Murphy vs. Kelly Faszholz and Marion Reneau vs. Ashlee Evans-Smith. The last match up, Reneau vs. Evans-Smith, is the one I’m most looking forwad to.
Reneau at the not-so-prime age of 38 does not fight like you would expect a nearly 40-year-old woman to. Her hands are tight, crisp, and she works the body very well. She went 2-0 in the UFC before losing a decision to current champion Holly Holm. In addition, she is opportunistic on the ground, and is willing to take risks in order to pursue the finish. Ashlee Evans-Smith on the other hand is a very aggressive, scrappy fighter who likes to close the distance and smash her opponents. If Evans-Smith can consistently close the distance on Reneau and stop her from getting off with punches, then she definitely has a shot at grinding out a decision. Reneau is crafty off of her back though and ultimately has more weapons in more places. This should be a fun scrap!
Fox Sports 1 Prelims
Before the main card, Fox Sports 1 will be airing 4 prelim bouts. We have a welterweight bout between Jonavin Webb and Nathan Coy, both of who are looking for their first UFC win. Next up is a duo of middleweight contests: Anthony Smith vs. Leonardo Guimaraes and Daniel Sarafian vs. Oluwale Bamgbose. The one to keep an eye on here is Oluwale Bamgbose; he dropped is UFC debut to Uriah Hall, but had a 5-0 record before that with all first round stoppages. Sarafian should be a good opponent for Bamgbose to show his potential.
Finally, capping off the Fox Sports 1 prelims is a decent affair between Alex Garcia and Sean Strickland. Garcia is a physical specimen in the welterweight division, and has all the athletic potential to be a great fighter – now he just needs to add technique to everything. Strickland on the other hand is a very smart fighter; he’s calculated, poise, and fundamentally sound. This should be a very competitive match up.
Main Card
Now onto the UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Cowboy main card. A staggering 6-fight main card starts out with James Krause vs. Shane Campbell. This is a match up between a very talented striker in Campbell and a potent, well-rounded fighter in Krause. That being said, Krause has faced other high-level strikers in the past and has been out-struck by them. If he has learned from his mistakes, expect Krause to not try and out-strike the striker, but rather tie up and try obtain a win by submission. The longer it stays on the feet, the more it favors Campbell.
Two veterans return next as Chris Camozzi meets Joe Riggs. It’s unclear how much Riggs really has left – he has nearly 60 professional bouts compared to Camozzi’s 32, but both are well past their prime. Camozzi holds a considerable size advantage over Riggs, and this should help him keep away from Riggs’ powerful wrestling game. If Riggs can close the distance and overpower Camozzi then it’ll be his fight, but if he can’t, expect Camozzi to defend well and get enough offense going on the feet to score a decision.
In one of the most ancitipated bouts of the evening, featherweights Dennis Bermudez and Tatsuya Kawajiri square off. Kawajiri has put together an impressive 3-1 UFC record despite being 37 and far past his prime. Bermudez on the other hand was once among the elite, but some set backs have made him desperate for a win here. I think Bermudez has all the tools to out-strike, out-grapple, and out-work Kawajiri, but I would not underestimate how game Kawajiri is. Expect a lot of wrestling, and a long, grueling fight for both men.
Next up is the return of bantamweight prospect Cody Garbrandt as he takes on short-notice replacement and UFC debutee Augusto Mendes. Not much is known about Mendes other than he is undefeated and fought in Legacy Fighting Championship. What we do know about Garbrandt though is that he has exceptional striking skills – particularly his boxing. He throws fluid combinations moving forward and going back, and has some very pin-point accuracy. While he struggled to pull the trigger against Henry Briones, which led to a decision win, look for him to have an easier time here against Mendes who offers little threat on the feet. Mendes’s bread-and-butter is his jiu-jitsu, so watch out for that if he can take Garbrandt down.
In the middleweight division, a veteran making a career resurgence meets an explosive up-and-comer as Roan Carneiro returns against Derek Brunson. Carneiro was last seen making his long-awaited UFC return against Mark Munoz, and choking Munoz out viciously in the first round. Carneiro is on a 6-fight winning streak, and looks to be at his best. Brunson however picked up his most impressive win when he KO’d Sam Alvey in the first round. It’s a clash of styles as the patient muay thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter in Carneiro takes on an explosive, power-fisted wrestler in Derek Brunson. Whoever wins here might be a solid dark horse in this middleweight division (especially if it’s Carneiro).
At last, the main event between Donald Cerrone and Alex Oliveira. It’s Cowboy vs. Cowboy here, but unfortunately this match up isn’t quite as epic as the title suggests. That being said, it’s technicall intriguing. Cerrone, as he know, got blasted in his last fight in what was apparently his last attempt to capture lightweight gold. He has always had a problem against powerful striker who could hurt the body, and now he’s moving up in weight to face even hard-hitting strikers who can also work the body. Oliveira is a long, explosive striker who attacks well when in lunging in. However, Oliveira’s bread-and-butter is when he has your back. He’s an exceptional grappler, so look for that to play a factor here. Cerrone is a fantastic muay thai striker with a skilled grappling game as well. This is a very intriguing match up. Cerrone could come in and lay waste to the lesser-experienced Oliveira with his standard headkick KO which he has nearly perfected, or Oliveira could surprise Cerrone and out-gun him. Either way, I think Cowboy vs. Cowboy will be a very explosive bout between two hard hitters who waste no time going for the finish.
