UFC Fight Night: Barnett vs. Nelson will air on September 27, 2015 in Saitama, Japan.
#8 JOSH “THE WARMASTER” BARNETT (33-7-0) vs. #11 ROY “BIG COUNTRY” NELSON (21-11-0)
This is a five round main event in the heavyweight division. In this fight are two fighters that are planning to make a hell of a performance by making a great comeback in their careers and reclaim their spots in the heavyweight division. Barnett brings wrestling and jiu-jitsu that has made him an excellent grappler to where he has won twenty fights by submission. Nelson brings jiu-jitsu, boxing, karate, Shaolin Kung Fu and wrestling that has made him one of the most powerful strikers in the UFC and almost immortal . He can take much more damage than any other fighter could ever bear to withstand. What makes this fight worthy of being taken seriously is the fact that fans will get to see just how well Nelson’s chin will hold up to Barnett’s striking and how good his ground game will be against another top wrestler. It seems that this fight will favor Barnett all the way, but one cannot forget Nelson’s chin in which he has only been knocked out twice in his entire career. If Nelson’s chin can hold up as it always does then he could possibly sneak a knockout of his own in this fight and cause a major upset that many fans would not have seen coming. Though Barnett’s wrestling is well grounded and if he turned the fight into a wrestling match then Barnett would surely be able to wear down Nelson and score a great amount of strikes on him causing him to lose more energy. My prediction: Barnett wins via unanimous decision.
#6 GEGARD MOUSASI (37-5-2) vs. URIAH “PRIME TIME” HALL (12-5-0)
This is a three round fight in the middleweight division. In this fight are two fighters who are still making their way up the leader boards, but are doing it with great performances. If they both keep up their style and continue to improve they just might find themselves in a title shot in the near future. Mousasi brings boxing, kickboxing and judo that has helped him become a powerful striker and magnificent grappler making him both dangerous on feet and ground. Hall brings Muay Thai, boxing and karate that has helped make him a significant striker with seven of his eleven wins ending by knockout. This fight seems like it will be interesting to watch as two strikers will be going at it to see who has the better strikes and stronger chin, but the key factor that will set this apart is the skill set of grappling which Mousasi holds greatly in his techniques where Hall does not show much. Unless Hall can overpower Mousasi in a striking contest then it looks as if Mousasi has this fight in the bag since he has a great takedown technique and Hall does not really like to fight on the ground that much. My prediction: Mousasi wins via submission in round 2.
KEITA “K-TARO” NAKAMURA (14-3-2) VS. LI “THE LEACH” JING LIANG (10-3-0)
This is a three round fight in the welterweight division. In this fight are two fighters that are still relatively new to the UFC and are looking to make a good career for themselves and what better way for them to do than to fight in front of a Japanese crowd. Nakamura brings boxing, kickboxing and jiu-jitsu that has helped him in becoming a great grappler and also out lasting his opponents when the fights turn to decision. Li brings Sanda, wrestling and jiu-jitsu that has made his successful in grappling as well. With this fight containing two grapplers it appears that this fight will come down to who shows the better technique in grappling skills, but in addition striking will also play an important role in this fight as well. That then makes the fight fall more into Nakamura’s favor as he contains a great variety of striking techniques which could give him the edge he needs to walk away the victor in this fight. Though with Li’s wrestling Nakamura might have some difficulty in trying to place grappling techniques upon him since Li will be dodging many takedowns that he will throw at him and be able to use his wrestling to even counter some of the submission attempts. My prediction: Nakamura wins via submission in round 2.
