UFC Vegas: Waterson vs Hill - Sep 12 🇺🇸

[wandshogun09]

Back at the APEX again on the 12th September. 

ESPN+ MAIN CARD
Michelle Waterson vs Angela Hill 

Khama Worthy vs Ottman Azaitar 

Roxanne Modafferi vs Andrea Lee 

Ed Herman vs Mike Rodriguez

Bobby Green vs Alan Patrick

Billy Quarantillo vs Kyle Nelson  

ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS
Julia Avila vs Sijara Eubanks 

Roosevelt Roberts vs Kevin Croom

Alexander Romanov vs Roque Martinez

Brok Weaver vs Jalin Turner 

Bryan Barberena vs Anthony Ivy

Sabina Mazo vs Justine Kish

 

Right balls up this has been. Losing the Santos vs Teixeira main event has royally fucked this card over for me. There’s the odd fight I like but on the whole, this is one of the weaker cards we’ve currently got on the schedule.

 

Michelle Waterson vs Angela Hill got moved from the Munhoz vs Edgar card to this one for some reason. Don’t know if this is the main event now. If it is it’s weak, and that’s coming from someone who’s a fan of both. Not even a bad fight, it’s just dead on arrival as a headliner. Still better than Eye vs Calvillo though. 

I’m torn on this because I don’t want either to lose. Always been a fan of Waterson and it’s not just because she’s adorable. Her Invicta fights with Jessica Penne and Herica Tiburcio were genuine barnburners and I’ve enjoyed her UFC wins over Paige VanZant and Karolina Kowalkiewicz. Truthfully though, she’s never going to be UFC champ or even a real contender. For one, I’ve always felt like she’s just a bit too small to really handle the top Strawweights. And even if they brought in an Atomweight division now, she’s 34 years old and the ship has probably sailed. She’s coming off back-to-back losses to Jedrzejczyk and Esparza now, at this point it just feels like she’s not going any further. Angela Hill is someone I’ve really become a fan of over the last couple of years. Love her energy. Worth a follow on Twitter too. She’s 12-8 which isn’t great, but considering she was 8-6 just over a year ago, she’s really turned a corner of late. Somewhere along the line last year, she seemed to take a page out of Gilbert Burns’ book and started stepping in on short notice left and right. It paid off. She rattled off 3 wins between September 2019 and February 2020. And even her last fight, she dropped a split decision to Claudia Gadelha but most felt like Hill should’ve got the nod. Decent fight this. Kind of evenly matched in a lot of ways but I can’t help feeling like the timing is good for Hill. She seems to be on the rise while Waterson is going the other way.

 

Khama Worthy vs Ottman Azaitar is ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** this time. It’s been moved to this show from the Overeem vs Sakai card on the 5th. Don’t know why but whatever the reason, it helps this card. Absolutely love this matchup. Neither are well known but I’ve been impressed with the little I’ve seen of both so far. Worthy is 16-6 with 12 finishes. Made his UFC debut in August 2019, stepping in on late notice against Devonte Smith, who was thought to be a bit of a prospect going in, and battered him in a round. He followed that up with a submission over Luis Pena in June in a great fight. I like him. Azaitar is a bit of a mystery. Him and his brother look like legitimate prospects and both are signed to the UFC but we’ve barely seen them. He’s 30 years old, German-Moroccan. 12-0 with 11 finishes, 9 in the first round, 4 in less than a minute! He made his Octagon debut on the Khabib vs Poirier undercard in September and did this to Teemu Packalen...

It was a scary KO with Packalen completely faceplanting and his legs trembling like Apollo Creed after Drago hit the death blow. Azaitar is no joke. Been waiting to see him back in there for a while. Don’t know what the hold up has been with him and his brother. Even before this COVID mayhem, there wasn’t much talk about fights for either of them. They’re both booked now though and this should be an explosive one.

 

Roxanne Modafferi vs Andrea Lee 2. The rematch! I’m neither here nor there on this. They first fought at Invicta 10 back in 2014 and Modafferi won a split decision. Never seen it, never will. Modafferi has been around forever it seems. Turned pro in 2003 and fought pretty much everywhere that put on women’s fights in the days when it was just an occasionally novelty thrown on a card. She’s got a crappy 24-17 record but she’s had her moments over the years and beat some good fighters. Even in her late 30s now, over the last year or so she’s beat Maycee Barber and Antonina Shevchenko, who were both undefeated going in. She’s a strange one. She’s not explosive or powerful or particularly athletic. But she’s crafty and experienced and she’s seen it all. She can still pull a win out and school an up and comer on a good night. Lee is 11-4 and coming off a couple of split decision losses to Lauren Murphy and Joanne Calderwood. Zero memory of those fights, or anything Lee’s done really.

 

Ed Herman vs Mike Rodriguez. We’re all familiar with Herman. Fucker’s been around forever, dating all the way back to TUF 3 in 2006. He’s 39 now and has had his share of ups and downs. In the cage and injury-wise, he’s been through the ringer. But he’s coming off a couple of wins over Khadis Ibragimov and Patrick Cummins, so he’s doing OK for himself at the moment. Rodriguez is a guy who’s always kind of just been there for me. Never particularly rated him. He’s 11-4-0-1 and nothing really stands out in the memory. He did score a quick stoppage over Marcin Prachnio on the Edgar vs Munhoz card the other week though so there’s that. I’ll be rooting for ‘Short Fuse’ Ed myself.

 

Bobby Green vs Alan Patrick. Not got a strong opinion one way or another on this. It’s came together late in the day as Patrick’s original opponent Kazula Vargas dropped out just over a week out from the fight. Bobby Green steps in. Probably an improvement but you never know with Green. He’s generally not much fun to watch unless he’s fighting Lando Vannata. They’ve had two bangers now. Green isn’t a bad fighter by any stretch, and seems a nice enough guy out of the cage, I’ve just never loved his fighting style. Patrick is a BJJ black-belt out of São Paulo. 15-2 in MMA with some solid wins over Stevie Ray, John Makdessi and Damir Hadzovic. Got stopped by Scott Holtzman in his last fight in October though and at 37, he probably won’t be making a run now. Could be decent but my expectations aren’t that high.

 

Billy Quarantillo vs Kyle Nelson could be a bit of a sleeper on this card, I reckon. Quarantillo is another guy who came through Dana’s Contender Series. That show keeps pumping prospects out. I know they’re on about bringing TUF back but, as far as finding new talent goes, do we even need it? DWCS seems to be doing a grand job on its own. He’s 14-2 with 5 knockouts and 5 submissions. He’s on a 7 fight win streak, submitted Jacob Kilburn in his UFC debut and beat Spike Carlyle on points in May. Nelson is Canadian, 13-3 with 9 finishes. No world beater but decent enough, aggressive and the way he set about and stopped Polo Reyes in his last fight is what I’d like to see more of in this fight. I expect Billy Q probably wins, especially if he can make it more of a ground battle, but it could be bags of fun if they’re both up for it.

 

Julia Avila vs Sijara Eubanks must have just been thrown together last minute. They’ve been trying to make Avila vs Nicco Montano for what seems like months on end now but Montano is constantly injured or sick and Avila’s not hanging around waiting for her. It’s a nothing fight but I’m actually quite invested in this. Big fan of Raging Panda. She’s the Bantamweight prospect I keep forgetting for some reason but she’s ace. 8-1 record, 5 finishes, 2-0 in the UFC so far and she just bashed Gina Mazany in 22 seconds in her last fight. On top of that she’s a great personality outside the cage, impossible not to like. Eubanks was supposed to fight Karol Rosa on the Overeem vs Sakai card on the 5th but Rosa pulled out. Never got into Eubanks.  When she came in I kept hearing how she was this big time prospect but it never panned out. She’s 35 now with a 5-4 record and she’s missed weight a few times at crucial points in her career, essentially screwing herself out of the TUF final and more recently a UFC title shot against Valentina Shevchenko. Although Shev would’ve annihilated her anyway so that was probably a blessing in disguise. So yeah, hopefully another Panda win. If she’s half as good as I think she can be, she should be winning this.

 

Roosevelt Roberts vs Kevin Croom got cobbled together just a day out from the show. Bit disappointed about this really. We were meant to see Roberts vs Matt Frevola here, which has been brewing for a while. But Frevola picked up a foot injury in his last sparring session before the fight. It just never ends does it? Hopefully he makes a speedy recovery and these two can finally meet. Roberts is 10-2 with his only losses being against Miller and Vinc Pichel. He’s still only 26 and I think he’s got potential to go up a couple of levels as he matures and gets more experience. I think he can at least carve out a long stay on the roster in a upper/mid-level spot, if not better. Croom steps in on about 24 hours notice. Which would usually seem crazy but in 2020...it’s just a regular Saturday. He’s 21-12. Apparently he was signed by the UFC in August to step in on another short notice fight but ended up pulling out himself and got swiftly released. Now he’s back. You keeping up? I’d never heard of him but he’s got finishes over Charles ‘Krazy Horse’ Bennett and current UFC fighter Darrick Minner on his record. And his nickname is ‘The Hard Hitting Hillbilly’.

 

Alexander Romanov vs Roque Martinez must’ve been added way late in the day. Had no idea it was booked. Might be worth a look, to be fair. It’s Romanov’s UFC debut, he was meant to fight on last week’s Overeem vs Sakai undercard but it fell apart. He’s undefeated at 11-0, all finishes. Hasn’t beat anyone noteworthy yet but it’s a good start, obviously. Can’t really ask for anything more can you? Saw one clip where he German suplexes some poor get then goes right into a scarf choke. Looked badass. Don’t know Martinez. He’s from Guam, 15-5-2 with 11 finishes and he’s pretty small for Heavyweight at 5’10”. More of a standup brawler from bits I’m reading/seeing on a quick glance. Whereas Romanov seems more of a grappler. 

 

Brok Weaver vs Jalin Turner. Another last minute switch up. Weaver was supposed to face Frank Camacho here. Turner was meant to fight Thiago Moises last week but Moises tested positive for COVID. Not too fussed about this. Weaver is 15-5 and got in the UFC through Dana’s Contender Series. Came in with a little bit of buzz but, truth be told, I haven’t been overly impressed so far. His first fight was a clusterfuck with Kazula Vargas that ended on a DQ, then he got handled and subbed by Roosevelt Roberts next time out. Maybe there’s better to come. There’ll have to be really. I still remember that story about Weaver being involved in dog fighting that was floating around online though. Not sure how much of it was true but if he’s into that in any way fuck him. Turner is 9-5 and coming off a TKO win in February. More of a striker from my fuzzy memory of him but nothing else really stands out. He was Bisping’s sparring partner for the Anderson Silva fight. 

 

Bryan Barberena vs Anthony Ivy could be fun. Barberena usually goes for it. His war with Vicente Luque last year is one of my favourite fights of the last couple of years easy. He’s lost a few fights lately but a couple of them were levels above where he should’ve been at really. He had no chance against Colby Covington and Leon Edwards. He went the distance with both though, credit to him. He could really do with a win now though if he wants to stick around. He’s been exciting but it’s a ‘what have you done lately’ sport and lately, well he’s lost a lot. Ivy is 8-3 with all his wins being finishes. Former Welterweight champ in a couple of smaller leagues. He made his UFC debut in June, jumping in late against Christian Aguilera, and got himself ironed out in a minute. Hopefully we see more of what he can do here. Wasn’t the ideal circumstances to make his debut in by any means.

 

Sabina Mazo vs Justine Kish. Not bothered really but it’s not the worst matchup. Mazo is Colombian, 23 years old with a record of 8-1. Former LFA Flyweight champ. Only loss was a decision against Maryna Moroz. She’s since beat Shana Dobson and JJ Aldrich. Nothing amazing and she’s not much of a finisher, but decent striker and she’s got time to improve. Kish is Russian, 32 years old with a 7-2 record. If she’s remembered at all it’s probably because she shat herself in the middle of a fight once. Actually shit her shorts in a televised UFC fight. She’s got legit skills though. Pretty seasoned striker. Former Muay Thai world champion with a black-belt in Kenpo, a 22-2 Kickboxing record and a 2-0 Boxing record. So yeah, it’s a nothing fight in the grand scheme but could be a fun standup battle all the same.

 

 

That’s your lot. Not a bad card but certainly one of the thinnest we’ve got coming up over the next few months. They need to keep Santos vs Teixeira together by any means necessary. Keep them fuckers bubble wrapped and in quarantine. Don’t let anyone breathe in their vicinity. This card is depending on it. Seriously, I like Waterson vs Hill, Frevola vs Roberts and a couple of other bits and bobs. They really do need to keep Thiago and Glover healthy these next few weeks though. 

Edited September 12, 2020 by wandshogun09

[WeeAl]

It's really risky for the UFC to be putting on these cards that have no Co-main support that could act as a main event, should somebody drop out of the main event on fight week. That's a stone cold banger at the top of the card, but it's pulling this train all by itself. 

Santos Vs Glover is a number one contender fight surely? Winner gets Reyes or Yan the Man. Probably in December is my guess. I don't want either of these guys to lose. In a way I'd have preferred them to be on opposite sides of the brackets so that I could cheer for both of them. I'd really like to see Glover get another crack at the belt though, if pushed to choose. 

[Egg Shen]

crazy that we could see Glover fight for the belt again before the end of the year😵

[wandshogun09]

Official poster here. I think we’ll stick with the fan made one in the opening post. 

[Carbomb]

Yeh, that's a poor effort. Then again, I guess being a fan means having a level of passion to want to make a poster that good, whereas this is clearly someone just collecting a pay cheque. 

[jimufctna24]

 

[Egg Shen]

they keep dropping off😫

[wandshogun09]

They jinxed it with that shite poster. 

[WeeAl]

Well, that was a bloody cert to happen wasn't it?

EDIT: They have delayed this one to October 3rd. The same card as Holm Vs Aldana. 

Waterson Vs Hill possibly to headline? I can't imagine a completely new main event will be found out of nowhere inside a week. 

Edited September 3, 2020 by WeeAl

[Egg Shen]

yeh i think they'd happily go with Waterson/Hill.

[David]

Paul Craig vs shogun would be a better headliner.

[Egg Shen]

 

[neil]

I can't imagine sitting through 5 rounds of Waterson/Hill

[wandshogun09]

It’s a shite headliner but what were they going to do this late in the day?

I like Waterson and Hill but if we get 5 rounds of this cack and then they book Ferguson vs Poirier and Zabit vs Yair as 3 rounders...oh I’m going to kick off. 

[WeeAl]

Might just wait for recommendations for this one. There's nothing on this card I feel I have to see. A few exciting fighters, but there really isn't anything there that's actually important in any division other than the new main event. Even then, I'd be utterly shocked if the result of that is anything other than a split decision, following a not very eventful fight.