Big Night for Springfield fighters at UFC TUF Finale

Two Springfield natives with the first name Matt are looking to earn some respect the old fashioned way to tonight – they have to beat somebody up for it.

Matt Mitrione is scheduled to fight the collosal Marcus “the Darkness” Jones.  The fight received excellent hype the other night when Jones flew off the handle and got into Mitrione’s face for giving an accidental eye poke to Scott Junk in his first fight which Junk had been told by a Dr. was career ending.  Mitrione stood his ground but resisted the urge to fight fire with fire – and even seemed understanding of Marcus outburst when he heard the news about Junk (who he defeated via decision).  Later in the show, we would learn that Junk’s fighting career is in fact not over.  Luckily, the incident worked to Matt’s advantage as it guaranteed him an opportunity to fight on the big stage tonight.

Jones vs. Mitrione is the classic stylist match up – ground game of Jones vs. strking of Mitrione.  If Matt can use his footwork to keep “Big Baby’s” hands off of him, and strike while moving backward as he did in his previous two fights – it could be a short night’s work.  Jones is susceptible to the knockout, and Mitrione punches like he’s wearing brass knuckles under his gloves.

However, Jones is a huge dude with a very respectable ground game.  When Marcus gets his arms around somebody, he is well positioned to use his size to take them to the ground where he can put his weight on a guy, do some G-N-P (ground and pound) and look for a submission.  Should be an excellent fight!

Veach has a huge task at hand tonight as well.  He’s fighting the very nimble Frankie Edgar to fill in for Marcus Arellio who was hurt.  Frankie is near the top of the 155lb division and needs a win to keep his title shot dreams alive.  But, as discussed in a previous post, Veach has the perfect style to take out Edgar with his wrestling background.

Both of our fighters are underdogs tonight (Mitrione about +$255 and Veach is as high as +$500). But, personally, I really like both of their chances.  And, as always, it’s not just about winning – it’s about being exciting to watch.  If the fans really want to see you fight, the UFC will probably have you back (just look at Houston Alexander – who I must say is the nicest guy too – I met him at the Chicago Golden Gloves a few years ago and he was incredibly humble and gracious).

Great night of fights tonight – and they’re free!  What more could you ask for from a Saturday night.

We have a great card shaping up for our next show on Saturday, Jan. 30th.  I’ll have some more stories coming up soon, but so far we have Dustin Nelson defending his recently acquired Welterweight belt against Darren Jacoby.  The return of 6’4″ Dustin Jacoby and much, much more.  Tickets will be on sale in time for Christmas.  It’ll be a great stocking stuffer.  More info to come !

Matt Veach to Fight Frankie Edgar at TUF 10 Finale Dec. 5th

H.I.T. Squad protege and undefeated lightweight, Matt Veach, has been upgraded to the main card on December 5th.  He’ll now be stepping in for an injured Kurt Pellegrino to face UFC lightweight contender, Frankie Edgar, at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas.

Matt Veach is currently 1-0 in the UFC (11-0 total) coming off of a very exciting knock out win over Matt Grice at the end of round number 1.   Veach had been given a very limited amount of time to prepare for that fight and was challenged with making a significant weight cut very quickly.  But, he was obviously able to prevail in a barn burner that had the crowd on their feet with the back and forth action.

Following that fight, Matt experienced a back injury which has kept him out of action for several months.  But, he will be well prepared for this contest – having already been scheduled to face Mark Bocek at the TUF Finale.  Veach was the obvious replacement for Pellegrino in this fight as Bocek has already fought and lost to Frankie a few years back. 

Edgar (11-1) will have an edge in experience as he’s stepped into the octagon with a who’s who of UFC lightweight contenders:  Sean Sherk, Grey Maynard, Tyson Griffin and Spencer Fisher.  However, Edgar’s one loss in the UFC may have provided the blueprint to beat him.

Although Frankie’s core fighting base is in wrestling, he was actually out-wrestled in a unanimous decision loss to Grey Maynard.  You could point to Edgar’s win over Sean Sherk to defy his potential weakness against wrestlers, but anyone who watched the fight will tell you that Sherk hardly ever went for the shot in that bout – instead attempting to stand with Edgar.  This proved to be a bad idea. 

Frankie has good footwork and is excellent at finding striking angles.  He kept his feet moving and put on a boxing clinic against the “Muscle Shark” last May for an upset that earned them the fight of the night.

So, the fact that Veach is not only an accomplished wrestler, but trains out of the H.I.T. Squad, is definitely in his favor.  There, he spars with Matt Hughes and is coached by Marc Fiore.  Fiore is a world authority on wrestling for MMA, and is establishing himself amongst the top trainers in the world like Greg Jackson and Mark DeleGrotti. 

If Matt can out-muscle Frankie, using his wrestling and slight size advantage to get the win, it would be a catapult for Veach’s status in the UFC’s lightweight division.  Expect a well conditioned and in shape Matt Veach to bring a high tempo ground and pound strategy that could make Frankie Edgar the perfect stepping stone.  But, make no mistake, Edgar is the real deal.  I’m looking forward to this one!