UFC Vegas 44 | Prelim Preview
Saturday, December 4th (10:00 PM EST Main Card, 7:00 PM EST Prelims)
Bryan Barberena vs. Darian Weeks
WATCH - This fight has now been added to the main card but we wanted to include it here since it was added after our main card preview came out Monday. What a perfect journeyman to welcome a prospect into the UFC! Barberna might not win every time but he slings it and puts on a show so it will be a great test for Darian's striking.
Maki Pitolo vs. Dusko Todorovic
WATCH - Maki Pitolo is incredible at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. He somehow finds a way to blow the most winnable fights ever. Could be a perfect rebound fight for Dusko who not too long ago found himself in a undefeated prospect vs undefeated prospect fight only to get utterly destroyed in the 1st round and is now on a 2 loss slide. We're not entirely sure, but this could be a loser leaves town (and the UFC) fight.
Manel Kape vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov
BATHROOM BREAK - Yes we know he is a flyweight. No we do not care. And we certainly don't care how awesome Manel Kape looked in his 1st round KO victory in his last fight because he egregiously missed weight. And we will never ever forgive Manel Kape for the absolute snoozer and painfully hesitant performances he put on in his first two fights in the UFC. We hyped this man up to everyone as a flyweight Jiri. Need to see 3 wins in a row all by finish before we even consider telling people to tune into his fights again.
Jake Matthews vs. Jeremiah Wells
WATCH - Jake Matthews is your average, win more than you lose but never string enough in a row to make a shot at the rankings, journeyman. But Jeremiah Wells excites us. Guy came out of seemingly nowhere to destroy Warley Alves in his debut, a really tough vet who had just shocked the world stopping the really hyped prospect Mounir Lazzez. Can Jeremiah absorb that hype train and channel it towards long-term UFC success or will it be passed on again to another journeyman whose made a career at shutting down prospects.
Cheyanne Vlismas vs. Mallory Martin
WATCH - Cheyanne formerly known as Buys. Fought her debut in the UFC on the same card as her husband's debut. They both lost. It was hilarious. Next fight she won by TKO. Don't think anyone was expecting that. Now she's divorcing JP Buys which is also hilarious considering that their marriage was the hype story for both of them when they got signed to the UFC. It is a drama and were all here for it.
Alonzo Menifield vs. William Knight
WATCH - These are the fun journeymen. The KO or get KOd kind of journeymen. Surprisingly more successful and closer to the top 15 then we thought. Which says a lot about how terribly shallow the light heavyweight divison is.
Claudio Puelles vs. Chris Gruetzemacher
BATHROOM BREAK - Puelles is insanely young still for a guy that debuted in 2016. But he's also insanely inactive and his 3-win streak is against garbage-tier opponents. Gruetzemacher is incredibly mediocre and he'd still be Puelles's best win to date. If Puelles can get a finish here he'll be worth paying attention to but otherwise it's a good time to take a nap.
Jared Vanderaa vs. Azamat Murzakanov
WATCH - Jared Vanderaa is everything we love about heavyweight. Get mauled to death one fight, somehow magically piece up a opponent that should smoke you on paper in your very next fight. His debuting opponent is undefeated but in his mid-30s. It really doesn't get more prelim Heavyweight than this.
Alex Morono vs. Mickey Gall
WATCH - The people's main event somehow finds itself at the very beginning of the prelims. Morono somehow got gifted what may have been Cowboy's last fight, an opportunity that Morono took advantage of by knocking Cowboy out in the 1st. Just look at Morono's murder differential and you can see why the UFC picked him to get a hype boost. The guy may lose a bunch but he keeps himself relevant when he does win. Mickey Gall on the other hand is peak hilarity. Wins against CM Punk and Sage Northcutt. Losses to insanely washed Diego Sanchez and Mike Perry. He gets the opportunity to fight Morono, a guy whose just below the top-15, after defeating Jordan Williams. Who may be one of the worst fighters ever signed to the UFC, outside of CM Punk and Mickey Gall. These two have the craziest career paths I've ever seen for unranked fighters who don't have some inherent drawing power.
Louis Smolka vs. Vince Morales
BATHROOM BREAK - Why is this card so long? It's actually pretty stellar from top to bottom too. But you can get burned out watching this much MMA, so please don't come early for this one. It's just not worth it, regardless of entertainment, to watch such an irrelevant fight at the beginning of such a long card.
*Nothing contained in this post is financial advice, please bet at your own risk