Rafaello Oliveira vs Yoislandy Izquierdo
Preliminary Card | Lightweight | 155 lbs (70.3 kg)

Oliveira (5’8)

Tractor trains out of New Jersey’s AMA fight club alongside Charlie Brenneman and the Miller brothers. He has an overall record of 14 – 5. He is a high level BJJ player as well as an instructor. Oliveira made his debut in the UFC with a record of 9 – 1. He lost his first fight via decision to Nick Lentz and then split his next two with a win over Gunderson and a loss to Andre Winner. He won 4 in a row outside the UFC and was welcomed back by a Glesion Tibau uppercut and rear naked choke.  Oliveira has decent power in his hands and average wrestling, his fight IQ and gas tank are average but his BJJ is top notch. Tractor seems to falter whenever he is faced with a step up in competition. All of his 14 wins are against lower caliber fighters. He has one win the in the UFC – against John Gunderson.

Yoislandy Izquierdo (5’11)

Izquierdo trains under vicious kick boxer Eric “El Tigre” Castano, who’s overseen the likes of Thiago Alves and Jorge Masvidal, at the Young Tigers Foundation in Miami. He is 6 - 1 overall. Because of his background in Karate Izquierdo fights with a different stance and rhythm than most MMA fighters. Izquierdo has a wide karate style stance, keeps his hands quite low and strikes as a south paw. His best weapons on the feet are a stinging left straight and quick high kicks from both sides. In the clinch Izquierdo punishes his opponents with constant knee strikes. Like many Karate fighters his head movement leaves room for improvement. On the grappling department his ground game is on a better level compared to his wrestling. Izquierdo is a well-conditioned athlete who is also mentally tough and doesn't fold under pressure. In his UFC debut he was matched up with Reza Madadi, Madadi is an Iranian born former freestyle and Greco Roman wrestling champion in Sweden. Madadi has a relentless, grinding style of grappling. In the first round Izquierdo used his striking and foot work to force Madadi to use his wrestling very early. Izquierdo was successful in stopping all of Madadi’s takedowns with very feisty TD defense. In the second Madadi finally finished a takedown and secured a choke. Even though Izquierdo lost that fight, he showed a ton of heart and amazing takedown defense, a slight adjustment in the second and I think he could have kept it standing and blasted Madadi. I went off on this tangent because I believe Izquierdo’s TD defense will be instrumental in his fight against Tractor.

Prediction - Yoislandy Izquierdo by KO in the third. Izquierdo has a nonstop gas tank. Look for a tired Oliveira to go for a take-down in the third. Izquerdo stuffs, backs up and lands a high kick as Tractor is re-gaining his feet. On the feet this is Yoislandy all day every day.

John Alessio   vs.   Shane Roller  
Preliminary Card | Lightweight | 155 lbs (70.3 kg)

Alessio (5’10)

At 32 – 14 overall and only 32 years old, Alessio has 46 professional fights and 14 years of experience. He has competed for the UFC (this is his third stint), Pride, WEC, Dream, King of the Cage, TKO and MFC.  OF his 34 career wins 15 are by submission and 10 by TKO. Alessio has sound defensive and offensive wrestling, his boxing is crisp and accurate but he does not utilize a lot of kicks. He shows his experience in fight IQ and cage movement, utilizing foot work and angles, switching between counter striking and full out aggression beautifully. He was a decent sized welterweight and had no issues with his gas tank in the Mark Bocek fight (L), which he took on short notice (he dropped to lightweight).

Roller (5’10)

Roller is another cross-over from the WEC merger. He is a three time Division 1 all American wrestler and is 10 – 6 overall. Roller won his first fight in the UFC via KO against Thiago Tavares, mostly due to Thiago moving straight back constantly than Roller’s striking prowess. Roller would then lose his next three. Guillard stuffed his take-downs and TKO’d him, TJ Grant was on his way to a dominant decision but caught Roller with an arm-bar halfway through the third and Michael Johnson stuffed all Roller’s take-downs and lit him up for three rounds.  Roller had better success in the WEC going 6 – 2 with notable wins over Anthony Njokuani, Danny Castillo, and Jamie Varner. Most of these fights I haven’t seen, I’d be interested to see how he chokes out Danny and Jamie.

Prediction – Alessio via Split Decision. Roller will probably open as a slight favorite due to his D1 wrestling.  And he may hit a take-down or two during the fight. Alessio had a full camp to prepare for Roller’s wrestling. Look for him to stuff-takedowns and hold his own on the ground when taken-down. The stand-up will be all Alessio, he needs this win badly to stay in the UFC so I think he will let his hands go. On the contrary Roller has lost three straight and needs this W just as badly. I think Roller is getting his walking papers as I don’t think he is that good.

Riki Fukuda    vs.   Costa Philippou  
Preliminary Card | Middleweight | 185 lbs (83.9 kg)

Fukuda

Fukuda (17-5) made his octagon debut against Nick Ring in a highly controversial decision. Most media outlets had the fight scored for Fukuda as he was able to take Nick Ring down over and over, he did have some trouble keeping the slippery Ring on the mat, in the end the judges gave Ring the decision…for…apparently being able to get back to his feet a few times after being taken down. Fukuda is one of the few Japanese fighters with a legit background in wrestling. He was an All-Japan in Greco and Freestyle categories. Fukuda is good at baiting his opponents into a striking match and then changes levels for a take-down while in close. He has very heavy hands, serviceable boxing (he recently made the trip to Tiger Muay Thai with teammate Kazu Misaki to enhance his striking diversity) and legit wrestling credentials. Where Fukuda really shines is in top control on the mat, he slices through his opponents guard with crisp passing and he hits like a frickin’ Gorilla when on top. Fukuda has never been submitted and was finished with strikes only once back in 2006 in Pancrase (open hand strikes only).

Philippou

Costa Philippou hails from the Republic of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. He was a pro boxer before changing over to MMA.  He set up shop with Matt Serra and Ray Longo and the Serra-Longo fight team. Slowly but surely Costa has evolved into a complete mixed martial artist. He lost a split to decision to current UFC fighter and power house wrestler Ricardo Romero in his first UFC fight. Costa would then go on to win seven of his next eight. He made his octagon debut on short notice against Nick Catone (catch weight 195) who delivered Philippou’s second defeat, but it would be his last. Costa would beat the heavy handed striker Jorge Rivera by close, but impressive, split decision, he knocked out the rubber chinned Jared Hamman with a beautiful punch and then handed Court McGee his second career loss. Court came into that fight 12 – 1, TUF season 11 winner and 3-0 in the UFC.  Costa stuffed around 6 or 7 take-downs and battered McGee for a decision win, when McGee was able to hit a high crotch single, Costa pop’d right back up.  Working with Chris Weidman (in my opinion one of the best MMA wrestlers in the UFC or the sport as a whole) at Serra-Longo has really up’d Philippous wrestling chops, and you better believe Serra has him in a GI working his ass off on the ground, this was evident in the Rivera fight as Costa took him down and even went for a few sub attempts.

Prediciton – Philippou stops Fukuda with strikes in the second, ref stoppage. I’ve gone back and forth on this fight in my mind quite a few times now.  I’m picking Philippou here mostly because I really like him and his style. Fukuda could ride this out in top control or finish the fight while on top but I’m going to pick with my heart and hope Philippou can stuff those take-down and then go to work on the feet. Again – Fukuda could take this, it’s a super even match. Good luck!

Melvin Guillard vs.   Fabricio Camoes   Confirmed
Preliminary Card | Lightweight | 155 lbs (70.3 kg)

Melvin Guillard (5’9)

Guillard trains out of Jackson’s MMA alongside some of the best fighters in the world. Training there has improved Guillard’s game by leaps and bounds. His take-down defense, submission awareness and scrambling abilities are all technically on another level, Melivin has always been strong, athletic and a decent wrestler but he lacked the fine tuning that Jackson’s provides. Melvin is learning to keep his insane power while keeping light on his feet; this will enable him to react to take-downs more effectively. Melvin dabbled in Judo at an early age which endowed him with a strong base and excellent balance; now that his sprawl and brawl is finely tuned he is a handful for wrestlers. Melvin is 29-10-2 with notable defeats to: Jim Miller, Joe Lauzon, Nate Diaz, Joe Stevenson, Josh Neer.  He as wins over Evan Dunham, Jeremy Stephens,  Waylon Lowe, Rony Torres, Glesion Tibau. Guillard is still relatively young with a wealth of experience already under his belt. If he can shore up some of the mental lapses he is prone to (going for flying knees and only flying knees after hurting Jim Miller and almost finishing him, prompting miller to catch him in the air and dump him on his but) he could be a true force in the lightweight division.  It is worth noting that out of Guillard’s 10 loses 9 are by submission and 8 are by Choke.

Camoes (5’10)

Fabricio "Morango" ("Strawberry" in Portuguese) Camoes is a Brazilian born fighter training out of the renowned Blackhouse camp. Camoes is a 3^rd degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Royler Gracie.  He is 13 – 6 – 1 overall, but do not be fooled by his record, Camoes defeats are all too reputable fighters.  He was submitted by Kurt Pellegrino (UFC), drew with Caoil Uno after losing a point for an illegal up kick (UFC), decision loss to Luis Dutra Jr, choked out by Gleison Tibau, pride standout Luiz Azeredo TKO/Retired him 2000 and Anderson Silva also TKO’d him. This made for an unflattering start to Camoes' career and his UFC shortcomings are his only flaws since his opening pace (4-5). "Morango" is a stellar grappler with good wrestling, excellent submissions and electric scrambling abilities. Camoes drew newcomer Tommy Hayden in his last UFC fight, it was a rocky start to the 1^st round for Camoes as Hayden connected a few times and even wobbled / dropped Camoes, if I remember correctly Camoes came back with his own flurry, caught Hayden, followed him to the canvas and secured a rear naked choke for the win.

Prediction – Guillard by TKO in the 1^st. Another fight I’m not too confident in. I’m picking Guillard because I don’t think Camoes will be able to take Guillard down. Guillard has been choked out 8 times and lost another by arm lock, Camoes has wicked chokes. It probably comes down to whether or not Guillard makes a mental mistake again, I’m thinking Greg Jackson has him ready to fend off the take-downs of Camoes. Could Camoes catch him on the feet? Maybe but it’s not likely. I better stop before I talk myself out of the pick.

Glesion Tibau vs Nurmagomedov
Preliminary Card | Lightweight | 155 lbs (70.3 kg)

Tibau (5’10)

Tibau is a massive lightweight, clocking in at 5’10 and weighing up to 183lbs by the time he enters the cage. He has become a master at cutting weight, always coming in on weight and with a decent gas tank. He has a 71.0 inch reach in a south paw stance. He trains out of American Top Team in Florida and has an over-all record of 32 – 7. He has 11 wins by submission, 11 by decision and 3 by knockouts. Tibau’s best attributes are his size, wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (black belt).  Tibau is a legit triple threat when is he in the cage, mixing boxing, wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu beautifully. His significant size advantage usually has Tibau battling from the top rather than guard, where he pursues power-subs from dominant positions with stiff ground-and-pound. His boxing has tightened up recently, utilizing a stiff jab and a crisp right cross. He is a straight up bully in the clinch with punches, elbows, knees and take-down attempts.

Nurmagomedov (5’10)

At only twenty-three years of age, the young Russian is a two-time world champion in Combat Sambo, he's undefeated after sixteen entries and closed out his last six opponents in the opening round. He has a very balanced win ratio with 6 wins by KO, 7 by submission and 4 by decision. He holds the title in Russia of International Master of Sports in Combat Sambo as well as being a black belt in Judo.  He won is UFC debut against Kamal Shalorus by submission in the third, after dominating most of the fight.

Prediction – Nurmagomedov via leg lock in the third. Tibau could very well grind out a decision…as he has 11 times before. But imma go with the 23 year old undefeated combat Sambo champion to pull off a possibly come from behind win. Go Russia!?

Khabib Nurmagomedov

Only at age 30, Ivan has over a decade of fighting experience under his belt. He may be best known as the fighter who gave GSP his first professional win (back in 2002). He now trains alongside GSP at Tri-Star in Montreal. Each of his 8 career defeats have been to top notch competition and he has only been finished twice in his career (once by GSP back in 2002). After back to back loses around 2006ish, Menjivar disappeared for a few years and then re-emerged I the WEC bantamweight division. He lost a unanimous decision to Brad Pickett at WEC 54 but destroyed Charlie Valencia in his Octagon debut with a horizontal elbow in the clinch. Ivan would survive Nick Pace’s comeback in the third round to take a UD in his next UFC fight and had a rough go against John Albert before securing the first round submission. Albert came out aggressive in the first and almost had a TKO stoppage on Ivan, Ivan fought through it and Albert decided to latch on a guillotine while Ivan was still hurt, once the Guillotine failed Menjivar quickly took Albert’s back and sunk in the choke for the 1^st round sub.

Menjivar (5’6)

Only at age 30, Ivan has over a decade of fighting experience under his belt. He may be best known as the fighter who gave GSP his first professional win (back in 2002). He now trains alongside GSP at Tri-Star in Montreal. Each of his 8 career defeats have been to top notch competition and he has only been finished twice in his career (once by GSP back in 2002). After back to back loses around 2006ish, Menjivar disappeared for a few years and then re-emerged I the WEC bantamweight division. He lost a unanimous decision to Brad Pickett at WEC 54 but destroyed Charlie Valencia in his Octagon debut with a horizontal elbow in the clinch. Ivan would survive Nick Pace’s comeback in the third round to take a UD in his next UFC fight and had a rough go against John Albert before securing the first round submission. Albert came out aggressive in the first and almost had a TKO stoppage on Ivan, Ivan fought through it and Albert decided to latch on a guillotine while Ivan was still hurt, once the Guillotine failed Menjivar quickly took Albert’s back and sunk in the choke for the 1^st round sub.

Mike Easton (5’5)

Mike Easton is 28 year old Mixed Martial Artist who trains out of Alliance MMA / Team Loyd Irvin. Easton holds a black belt in BJJ (promoted in 2007) as well as a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Easton is 12 – 1 overall with 4 wins by knockout, 2 by submission and 6 be decision. In his first UFC fight he TKO’d Byron Bloodworth with knees and punches, in his second fight he defeated the game Jared Papazian by decision. Outside the UFC Easton has notable wins over John Dodson (split) and Josh Ferguson (guillotine choke) and a controversial split decision over Chase Beebe which was named Sherdogs robbery of the year. Basically Beebe controlled Easton on the ground for 4 of the 5 rounds, a lot of the time spent in back mount and in dominant positions, the judges gave it to Easton after 5 rounds, terrible, terrible judging.

Prediction – Easton by TKO in the second. I think Menjivar might take a very close first round but Easton will come out hungry in the second and finish off “the pride of el Salvador”.

Chad Mendes   vs.   Cody McKenzie  
Main Card | Featherweight | 145 lbs (65.8 kg)

McKenzie

Cody McKenzie was born in Cordova, Alaska and currently trains out of the Throw down Training Centre and Cesar Gracie Fight team. He is a purple belt in BJJ and is making his featherweight debut. At 6’0 and 74 inch reach McKenzie will be a very lanky featherweight. McKenzie was  12 – 0 as a professional before getting caught in back to back rear-naked chokes via Yves Edwards and Vagner Rocha. In his last fight against Marcus LeVesseur (a wrestler who beat ben Ben Askren @ Olympics) McKenzie was taken down but was handed a nicely gift wrapped package containing LeVesseur’s neck for ANOTHER win by gable grip guillotine choke.  Cody now has 11 wins by Guillotine, pretty incredible.

Mendes

Mendes is a 27 year old fighter fighting out of Team Aplha male in Sacramento, California. He is 11 – 1 overall, his only loss coming is to Jose Aldo by KO (knee).  He has hung around on the feet with the likes of Steven Siler and Cub Swanson and dabbled in the guards of submission masters Rani Yahya and Javier Vazquez. After only 4 years in the sport Mendes has an amazing grasp of submissions and submission defense.

Prediction – Didn’t spend much time on this as it is quite a head scratcher of a fight. Mendes via TKO in the third. Cody is pretty durable but I see Mendes finishing this in the 3^rd. Cody’s only chance to win this is to latch on a guillotine when Mendes shoots, that however, is unlikely.

Demian Maia   vs.   Dong Hyun Kim  
Main Card | Welterweight | 170 lbs (77.1 kg)

Maia (6’0) 72” reach

Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Maia began training in Judo, Kung Fu and Karate at young age. At the age of 19 (later than most Brazilians) Maia was introduced to Jiu-Jitsu and never looked back. Even though Maia has recently fell in love with his striking and has not submitted anyone in three years he is still the one of the best (if not the best) BJJ practitioner to enter MMA.  This will be Maia’s virgin run @ 170, his limited gas tank in the Weidman fight is concerning but hopefully was due to incorrect training rather than physical problems.  Early in his UFC career Maia was 5 – 0 with all 5 wins by choke, on the likes of: Ed Herman, Chael Sonnen and Jason MacDonald.  His latest run in the UFC has been less successful to say the least, he is 4 -4 with loses to Marquardt, Anderson Silva, Mark Munoz (close fight, split decision) and most recently Chris Weidman.

Dong Hyun Kim (6’1) 76” reach

Born in Suwon, South Korea, “Stun Gun” is a premier Welterweight fighting in one of the deepest divisions in the UFC. He has been nearly flawless up until recently, Carlos Condit knocked him out with a highlight reel flying knee against the cage, beautiful stuff.  At 15 – 1 – 1 Kim has made a name for himself in the UFC by utilizing his long lanky physique, immense physical strength and technical take-downs and grappling.  Kim has distinct style in the cage as he uses his Judo very effectively; he is a master at closing the distance and forcing a ground battle. He holds the rank of 4^th Dan black belt in Judo, making him one of the most decorated judo practitioners in the sport.

Prediction – Maia by submission round 1. I think this is a pick’em fight, if Maia comes in in shape and decides to grapple I believe he can secure the submission. If he chooses to strike he could end up on the bottom against Kim and even with BJJ chops Kim could ride it out for the UD. Picking with my heart again, GO MAIA!