Diggin’ Deep on UFC 209: Woodley vs. Thompson II - Fight Pass preview +
by Dayne Fox Bloody Elbow Mar 1, 2017, 1:30pm EST
Get the scoop on the weekend’s Fight Pass portion of UFC 209, featuring a host of
youngsters and unknowns and headlined by promising 205ers Paul Craig and Tyson
Pedro.
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Woodley vs. Thompson
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While there is zero name quality to the early prelims of UFC 209, there is a
strong chance that the contests on Fight Pass will have a high level of
entertainment to them. One fact to illustrate my point: between the six
competitors appearing, there is a total of four decision victories between them.
Granted, they only have 36 wins between them – an average of six wins per fighter
– but an 89% finishing rate in wins amongst the six of them is still pretty damn
impressive.
While I stated there isn’t any name value, it is also too soon to declare that
none of the fighters will ever become a quality competitor. Albert Morales is tied
with Amanda Cooper for most UFC 209 appearances between them with two, and that isn’t
much time to establish oneself. There is a strong possibility one or two of them
could become real keepers, but only time will tell.
The Fight Pass prelims begin at 6:30 PM ET/3:30 PM PT on Saturday.
Tyson Pedro (5-0) vs. Paul Craig (9-0), Light Heavyweight
Let’s hope Pedro and Craig turn out to be quality prospects as the light
heavyweight is starved for any sort of depth as management has been letting some
of the best young talent the division has had come up through the ranks. Perhaps
the UFC knows something about them that we don’t….
There is no doubt Pedro and Craig have shown some talent, but it is way too soon
to assume either would be able to challenge either Misha Cirkunov or Nikita
Krylov, the two notable talents the UFC 209 let walk away. Pedro in particular, fits
the bill as his physical gifts are more readily apparent, though he is also far
more undeveloped in his career. The 25-year old showcased his wrestling and
grappling skills by getting Khalil Rountree to the ground and submitting him with
relative ease. You may say that submitting Rountree isn’t a huge deal, but
remember that Andrew Sanchez, a notable submission wrestler, was unable to do so
over the course of 15 minutes. Pedro also has some basic boxing skills too, but
make no mistake that the ground is where his bread and butter is at.
The same could be said for the uber-aggressive Craig. The lanky Scot requires the
tiniest of openings to go after a sub, showing a willingness to give up position
to do so. His submission of Henrique da Silva was a triangle from off of his back,
beautifully demonstrating the danger of his guard. Craig’s long limbs make for a
bit of an awkward fighter from his feet, finding the most comfort in the clinch
where he can lean on his opponent and quickly transition to takedown or submission
attempts.
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Woodley vs. Thompson
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Pedro is the better striker and wrestler, a combination that usually leads to
victory. Despite that, I’m not comfortable picking him. Craig is a master of
mitigating his weaknesses and is a hell of a submission opportunist. Pedro will
assuredly have a deeper gas tank than da Silva, so it will be difficult for Craig
to get the finish. I still think he’ll be able to do it. Craig via submission of
RD3
Amanda Cooper (2-2) vs. Cynthia Calvillo (3-0), Women’s Strawweight
According to MMA math, Calvillo should be the victor here as she owns a victory
over Aspen Ladd on the amateur scene who beat Cooper upon turning pro. Then again,
MMA math has hardly proven to be an exact science….
Cooper does offer a bit of promise, though her star seems to dim a bit more with
every subsequent appearance. It isn’t that she isn’t improving, it’s more that it
doesn’t appear that she’ll ever have a true strength that she can fall back on.
Cooper does put together good punching combinations honed from her years of boxing
training and is fairly athletic. She has shown consistent improvement in her
wrestling and grappling, proving she can be a submission threat when facing an
opponent whose ground game is merely adequate. The issue is that she seems to lack
that extra gear necessary to put her attack into overdrive. As Cooper is still
developing, she is just as prone to being overwhelmed on the feet as she is the
ground, depending on the matchup.
So can Calvillo do just that? Maybe. The Team Alpha Male representative is a
bulldog, doing her best work up in her opponents grill with a flurry of punches
complimented by dominant top control when the fight is on the ground. Where
Calvillo is still developing is on her feet. Yes, she has shown a willingness to
throw from the outside with a jab and side kicks being the most prominent strikes.
The issue is that her technique still looks wonky, limiting the effectiveness of
her strikes. Still, they are coming along to the point they should even out sooner
rather than later. Her wrestling is very much her bread and butter with a series
of single and double-legs being the base of her approach.
Remember the TUF finals when Tatiana Suarez completely trucked over Cooper? I have
that image stuck in my head as Cooper heads into this contest. Granted, Calvillo
isn’t the wrestler Suarez is and Cooper has shown growth in that time. Still,
Calvillo’s ground game is good enough that it should overpower Cooper’s well-
rounded approach fairly easily for a clear decision. Calvillo via decision
Albert Morales (6-1-1) vs. Andre Soukhamthath (11-3), Bantamweight
Put together at the same time as the Cooper and Cavillo contest with just over a
week before the event, this short notice bout could steal the show as both Morales
and Soukhamthath have a tendency to wow audiences.
Soukhamthath, a UFC 209 newcomer, is the reigning CES bantamweight champion, a
promotion the UFC has been mining quite heavily for the last year or so. His
strengths and weaknesses are pretty easy to identify. He doesn’t throw at a very
high clip, tentatively throwing his strikes one at a time making it easy to
outpoint him, further evidenced by him only winning one of his four fights that
have gone the distance. However, Soukhamthath is also incredibly opportunistic and
doesn’t mind going for high-risk maneuvers – flying knees, spinning techniques,
etc. -- in an attempt to end the fight. He has excellent takedown defense too,
often making his opponent pay the price with punches and elbows once he has
stuffed the attempt.
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There won’t be a shortage of opportunities for Soukhamthath to wow as Morales is
pathologically aggressive. He isn’t necessarily a headhunter as he is willing to
throw a high volume of leg kicks as he moves forward if the punches aren’t
available. However, there is very little attention paid to his defense as he looks
to overwhelm his opponent with a barrage of punches. Morales hasn’t shown off his
wrestling much in the UFC 209 , though he does have some nice reactive takedowns should
an opening present itself with aggressive ground and pound.
I hope the short notice doesn’t take away from the quality of this contest as it
has serious potential to be a barnburner. Morales doesn’t know how to be in a
boring fight while Soukhamthath has produced some serious highlight reel moments.
I favor Morales slightly due to his success against proven veterans Alejandro
Perez and Thomas Almeida. He didn’t beat them, but he gave them each a run for
their money as a sizeable underdog on both occassions. Even if I’m wrong, I don’t
recommend passing up this contest. Morales via TKO of RD3
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