The UFC has been busy announcing new fights. Following are a few of the new forthcoming midnight set for spring UFC cards, and my first thoughts on these.
Michel Prazeres vs. Ismail Naurdiev, UFC Fight Night 145
Due to an injury to Ramazan Emeev, Ismail Naurdiev has taken a short-notice fight against Michel Prazeres at UFC Fight Night 145, taking place February 23 in The O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. MMABrasil broke the information. Prazeres (26-2) is 10-2 at the UFC entire and is riding an eight-fight win streak right now. He had trouble making the lightweight limit of 155lbs and since moving up to welterweight has looked even better using 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 has experience fighting in ACB, and the vast majority of his wins have come by stoppage. However he has also fought a very low amount of competition and Prazeres is a major step up. I anticipate Prazeres for a solid favorite here, and he deserves it after the current series he’s 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 two, taking place March 30 at Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The information broke. 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 by choice. Barzola’s record is impressive, but his lack of completing instincts could damage him as he progresses up the featherweight ranks. Aguilar (16-1) is coming from a powerful UFC debut when he won a unanimous decision over Rick Glenn, and overall he’s riding an eight-fight win series. His only career loss came from Leonard Garcia back in 2013, but he’s been flawless in his MMA career. This is a fairly good matchup between two guys on win streaks but according to his ability to actually complete a struggle I would have to prefer Aguilar to receive his hands 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 take on Tom Breese in UFC Fight Night 147, taking place March 16 at The O2 Arena in London, England. Breese (11-1) is currently 4-1 in the UFC and is coming from a TKO win over Dan Kelly in his middleweight debut. Heinisch (12-1) is currently riding a four-fight win series and is coming off of a successful UFC introduction when he conquered the above Ferreira by choice. His only career defeat came from Markus Perez, who just filed Anthony Hernandez in UFC Fight Night 144. This looks like a really good matchup between two middleweights with future name aspirations. The two Breese and Heinisch are extremely well-rounded fighters and this is going to be a close fight. I’d have to prefer Breese only based on the fact that the struggle is in England, however I expect Heinisch to be somewhat aggressive in this matchup and that he could be well worth considering as a puppy.
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