Preview: UFC Fight Night ‘Barnett vs Nelson’

---

Featherweights

Katsunori Kikuno (22-7-2, 2-2 UFC) vs Diego Brandao (23-10, 5-3 UFC): Though he remains an entertaining spectacle in the cage, Kikuno has lost some of the eclectic approach that made him so effective on the Japanese scene. His tricky head movement seems to have disappeared, along with his crafty kicking game, leaving him with little more than a heavy right hand and a strong clinch. It was that clinch and his underrated ground game that got the job done against Sam Sicilia, but Kikuno will not be able to lean on his grappling against Brandao, whose guard is every bit as dangerous as his top game. Despite powerful striking, Brandao has struggled to keep his composure in the past, and against the ice-cold Kikuno, that could be a real problem. Still, Kikuno leaves too many openings to be safe on the feet, and it is difficult to imagine him outworking Brandao on the mat. Brandao wins by second-round knockout.

Lightweights

Keita Nakamura (30-6-2, 0-3 UFC) vs Jingliang Li (10-3, 2-1 UFC): Li is a well-rounded striker who prefers to press his opponents with excellent combination punching and punishing low kicks. He is hittable but only because he spends so much time in the pocket, and his head movement is actually above average. Li will go for strategic takedowns, but he prefers not to grapple for long if he can avoid it. In fact, he is so determined to get back to his feet as quickly as possible that he has a tendency to give up his back. Nakamura is a grappler by trade. He is prone to long bouts of inactivity in the over-under clinch, but when he does look for his trademark trips and sweeps, they are very effective. On the ground, Nakamura is a rear-naked choke specialist, though his positional grappling leaves something to be desired. In a striker-versus-grappler battle, I lean toward the natural boxer-puncher Li over the more robotic Nakamura. However, if Li finds himself on the ground, he will have to protect his neck. Li by unanimous decision is the pick.

Lightweights

Nick Hein (12-2, 2-1 UFC) vs Yusuke Kasuya (9-1-2, 0-0 UFC): Despite a record of almost entirely submission wins, Kasuya is no stranger to the striking game and puts his punches together better than might be expected. His bread and butter, however, is a ground game centered on the rear-naked choke, a submission which has earned him five of his nine victories. Hein, however, is neither an easy man to submit nor an open target on the feet. Hein has yet to really find his identity as a mixed martial artist, but his striking continues to improve as he makes better use of his right hand to complement a powerful southpaw left. Added to his judo-based clinch game, that makes Hein a well-rounded if unspectacular fighter. This could be very close, but I am inclined to pick Hein by unanimous decision.

Lightweights

Naoyuki Kotani (33-12-7, 0-4 UFC) vs Kajan Johnson (20-11-1, 1-1 UFC): Though most of his wins have come by submission, Johnson is a willing striker, sometimes to his own detriment. As if constantly aware of his fragility, Johnson will fight desperately, ironically putting himself into even more dangerous positions. If Johnson is a panicked striker, however, Kotani is a paralyzed one. The Japanese submission specialist is positively wooden on the feet, and thanks to his long experience with Zst and Rings, two promotions in which head strikes on the ground are not allowed, his experience is particularly unsuited to competition under the Unified Rules. The pick is Johnson by unanimous decision.

Welterweights

Shinsho Anzai (8-2, 0-1 UFC) vs Roger Zapata (4-1, 0-0 UFC): Anzai is a sprawl-and-brawler of the berserker variety. Keeping a frenetic pace, Anzai eschews anything even resembling a jab as he wades in swinging hooks with both hands, only using his wrestling to fight off takedowns before charging in again. Zapata is a more patient striker, preferring to draw his opponents in and counter. He does a decent job of controlling distance and strings together his punches well, throwing in hard body shots to keep his adversary off-guard. If Anzai wants to put Zapata on his back, he might be able to wear him down, but if he does his usual thing, Zapata should have no trouble walking him into counters. The pick is Zapata by TKO in round two.

Finish Reading » Special Selections