The UFC’s fifth event in The Windy CIty will answer a variety of questions for a few weight divisions and potentially telling us a lot more of where certain fighters stand in their respective careers.
Headling the Chicago fight card will be former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm (10-1), who returns to the octagon for the first time since losing the title to Miesha Tate in at UFC 196 in March. Her opponent, Valentina “The Bullet” Shevchenko (12-2), was also on that card. The Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan native lost to Amanda Nunes that evening … who just so happens to now be the current divisional champ.
Some may say this division is a mess now, while others, see it as one that promises to have a fair amount of intriguing matches for months to come.
While Holm’s immediate goal is to emerge victorious vs. Schevchenko, her eye is on one prize. Actually two. Wait … better make that three.
In a perfect world, prize number one is winning the belt back. Prize number two? Avenge that loss to Tate. And perhaps prize number three? A major money-fight vs. Ronda Rousey.
But this is a sport chock full of party spoilers and where the MMA Gods rarely let the stars align for anyone.
Shevchenko is a serious threat and will not be overlooked by Holm. She may not have the same professional boxing experience as Holly, but does have better kickboxing resume. In 25 fights, they’ve combined three defeats between them. These two know how to win.
At -220, Holy is the favorite. She is taller, has a longer reach, with the in-cage numbers tabulating a sum that ends up giving her the edge in the striking department as well as a slight edge in the wrestling realm.
According to the tabulators, neither fighter has attempted a submission in any of their six combined bouts in the UFC. Over their careers, Holm has never won a bout via submission while Shevchenko has five submission victories on her MMA C.V.
All this is latin for a stand-up striking affair, where if no one gets knocked out, it’s going to go the distance. Or, at +750, you can make a pretty penny on Valentina via submission. I’m not suggesting you do anything, but something tells me … never mind.
Then there’s the co-main event between Edson Jr. Barboza (17-4) and Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez (22-5).
The American has no problem fighting up or down to his opponent’s level. Wanna go toe-to-toe, he’s in. Wanna take it to the ground? He’ll dive right in. He likes to stalk his opponents and do whatever it takes to break their will.
But he will be cognizant of Edson’s counter combinations, that often end with a low leg kick. And not a normal one either. More like a baseball bat to the thighs.
Gilbert is coming off a one year suspension, last seeing action in June of 2015. During the span, Barboza has competed three times. He is the fresher fighter, and despite the experience clearly tipping the scales in Melendez’ favour, Edson is the -225 favourite in this bout.
He definitely lands more but also gets hit more. Personally I’ll be paying close attention to see how much damage Gilbert will be willing to take before he decides if he should close the distance or not and get this fight down to the ground.
He’s never been finished via KO / TKO and has only been submitted once. That came at the hand of former lightweight champ Anthony Pettis, who coincidentally enough, was Edson’s last opponent, and one he defeated via decision in April.
If you like props, here are a few to consider: Melendez via submission at +1260 and/or Barboza via KO/TKO +225.
While each bout has it’s own storylines to examine, I will personally be paying close attention to by Titan FC broadcast partner Kamaru “The Nigerian Nightmare” Usman (7-1), who will be taking on Russian welterweight Alexander Yakovlev.
Kamaru may have his hands full in this one but I have no doubt that he will be primed for a 15 minute war. As a proud representative of The Blackzillians, we can rest assured he’s put his time in, been punished a fair amount in training and will be ready to continue his ascension up the 170 lbs latter.
But in Yakovlev, he’ll be facing a guy who Demian Maia couldn’t submit, one who defeated Gray Maynard and a guy who happens to be coming off a first round knockout victory in January vs. George Sullivan. It’s a solid match-up and I cannot wait to see how it plays out.
UFC: Holm vs. Shevchenko promises to deliver us the answers many of us have been waiting for. Answers to where many fighters’ careers truly stand in 2016.
By Showdown Joe Ferraro
