The UFC has been busy announcing new fights. Following are a few of the newest forthcoming midnight set for spring UFC cards, and my initial thoughts on them.
Michel Prazeres vs. Ismail Naurdiev, UFC Fight Night 145
Because of an injury to Ramazan Emeev, Ismail Naurdiev has obtained a short-notice struggle against Michel Prazeres at UFC Fight Night 145, occurring February 23 in The O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. MMABrasil broke the news. Prazeres (26-2) is 10-2 at the UFC overall and is riding an eight-fight win series right now. He had trouble making the lightweight limit of 155lbs and since moving up to welterweight has arguably looked even better with back-to-back wins over Zak Cummings and Bartosz Fabinski. Naurdiev (17-2) is making his UFC debut on the strength of back-to-back knockout wins. He’s experience fighting in ACB, and the majority of his wins have come by stoppage. However he’s also fought a very low amount of rivalry and Prazeres is a major step up. I expect Prazeres to be a good favorite here, and he deserves it after the current series he has went on inside the Octagon.
Enrique Barzola vs. Kevin Aguilar, UFC on ESPN two Featherweights Enrique Barzola and Kevin Aguilar are set to meet UFC on ESPN 2, taking place March 30 in Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. MMAWeekly broke the information. Barzola (15-3-1) is 5-1 at the UFC and is now riding a four-fight win streak together with all his wins coming from decision. Barzola’s album is impressive, but his lack of finishing instincts could damage him as he progresses up the featherweight ranks. Aguilar (16-1) is coming off of a successful UFC debut when he won a unanimous decision over Rick Glenn, and overall he is riding an eight-fight win streak. His only career loss came against Leonard Garcia back in 2013, but he’s been flawless in his MMA career. This is a pretty solid matchup between two men on win stripes but according to his capacity to really finish a fight I’d have to favor Aguilar to receive his hand raised.
Tom Breese vs. Ian Heinisch, UFC Fight Night 147
Because of an injury to Cezar Ferreira, Ian Heinisch is stepping up as an injury replacement to carry on Tom Breese at UFC Fight Night 147, taking place March 16 at The O2 Arena in London, England. Breese (11-1) is 4-1 at the UFC and is coming off of a TKO win over Dan Kelly in his middleweight debut. Heinisch (12-1) is currently riding a four-fight win series and is coming from a successful UFC introduction when he defeated the aforementioned Ferreira by choice. His only career defeat came against Markus Perez, who only filed Anthony Hernandez in UFC Fight Night 144. This looks like a really good matchup between two middleweights with prospective title ambitions. The two Breese and Heinisch are very well-rounded fighters and this is going to be a close fight. I’d have to favor Breese just based on the fact that the struggle is in England, however I anticipate Heinisch to be very aggressive in this matchup and he could be well worth looking at as a dog.
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