UFC 177 emanates Saturday, August 30, 2014, from the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, California. Last Word on Sports’ MMA Department brings to you their fight picks and analysis for the upcoming event.
T.J. Dillashaw vs. Joe “One Bad Mofo” Soto
James Carlucci: Dillashaw
“Man, this is one paltry main event. UFC 177 was already poised to be one of the worst pay-per-views (PPV) in the post-The Ultimate Fighter era of the UFC. Then it lost a co-main event featuring flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. That was just the tip of the iceberg however, as on Friday bantamweight challenger and former champion Renan Barao failed to make weight and was forced to drop out of the main event. Backed into a corner, the UFC was forced to elevate undercard fighter Joe Soto in his place. While a solid fighter in his own right, the remarkably unheralded Soto is only making his UFC debut in this contest. The event’s box office potential is dead in the water, so let’s just hope that Dillashaw can send the hometown fans that actually decide to show up home happy.” – Carlucci
Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson vs. Danny “Last Call” Castillo
Carlucci, Daniel Richeson, Dallas Blacker: Ferguson
Trent Dozier, Michael Hutchinson, Todd Parkinson: Castillo
“Tony Ferguson looks to have equal wrestling and slightly better jiu-jitsu than Danny Castillo. Ferguson’s stand up is also an advantage over Castillo, plus he’s longer, stronger, faster, and younger. Ferguson basically does everything Castillo does, just slightly better. Plus, Castillo is 0-for-2 when trying to get a win in his hometown of Sacramento, which is where this bout goes down. But, with all that being said, I have a gut feeling that the third time’s the charm for “Last Call.” I think Castillo eeks out a split decision win in a razor close fight.” – Dozier
Bethe “Pitbull” Correia vs. “The Queen of Spades” Shayna Baszler
Carlucci, Dozier, Hutchinson, Parkinson: Correia
Richeson, Blacker: Baszler
“This will be a back and forth battle. Baszler will try to mix it up, but Correia’s all-around game will be too much for her. Correira will out-point Baszler on the mat and on the feet to earn the decision victory. Afterwards, she will call out Ronda Rousey, the leader of the 4 Horsewomen and UFC Women’s Batntamweight Champion, by dropping two fingers to show her victories over two of the Horsewomen.” – Parkinson
Ramsey Nijem vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira
Carlucci, Hutchinson, Parkinson, Dozier: Nijem
Richeson, Blacker: Ferreira
“This is a fun match-up between two up-and-comers. Carlos Diego Ferreira absolutely smoked Colton Smith in his promotional debut in June, and Ramsey Nijem is coming off of an April drubbing of Beneil Dariush. As long as Nijem can keep this on the feet, he should have a substantial advantage over Ferreira, a submission specialist. Nijem might get a late knockout, but I lean towards a decision victory. Either way, I think Nijem prevails with little to no problems.” – Richeson
Yancy “The Kid” Medeiros vs. Damon “The Leech” Jackson
Carlucci, Richeson, Blacker: Jackson
Hutchinson, Parkinson, Dozier: Medeiros
“Yancy hasn’t won in three UFC fights while Jackson recently beat Leonard Garcia outside of the UFC. Both of these guys are still in the earlier stages of their career, but Medeiros has the UFC experience. Jackson is a late replacement and is making his UFC debut, and I believe that will affect him in the fight.” – Hutchinson
Undercard Radar:
Derek Brunson vs. Lorenz “The Monsoon” Larkin is the undercard fight to watch: “Unless Larkin has tightened up his ground game I look for Brunson to take him down at will and beat on him for three rounds. When Brunson turns it on, he puts on a show, but if he’s ahead on points, don’t expect him to take too many risks. I believe Larkin gets added to the cut list after this one.” – Blacker
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