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Saturday's UFC Sacramento card talks about California love.
Seven of the 24 fighters competing tonight have ties to "The Golden State", whose head is Aspen Ladd.
Originally from Pioneer, located about 60 miles east of Sacramento, Ladd is participating in her first UFC main event against former German featherweight champion Randamie. The two women have won their last three bouts at 135 pounds and another victory will bring one of them closer to the front.
In the co-main event, Team Alpha Male's founder, Urijah Faber, makes a comeback on a card that also sees several of his teammates competing. This is Faber's first fight since the announcement of his retirement in 2016, and he has not been left to rest, as he will have to find a way to overcome the growing weight of bantamweight, Ricky Simon.
Also on the main map, punchy featherweights, Josh Emmett and Mirsad Bektic, face off, Karl Roberson welcomes Wellington Turman in Octagon for a middleweight fight and middleweight Marvin Vettori seeks to put the drama behind him at USADA when he will face Cezar Ferreira.
What: UFC Sacramento
Or: Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California
When: Saturday, July 13th. The entire map will be broadcast on ESPN +. The preliminaries of seven bouts will begin at 17 hours. ET and the main map of the five fights from 20h. AND.
Germaine de Randamie against Aspen Ladd
It will be difficult for anyone to shake Aspen Ladd's image absolutely trembling at Friday's weigh-in. The 24-year-old Californian just did not look like a fighter who should enter the cage with Germaine de Randamie, a former UFC champion.
It should be noted that this is not the first time Ladd looks frail on the scale. Do not forget that Ladd is undefeated and that she dominated Tonya Evinger at UFC 229 last October, while she was a dehydrated zombie the day before. Ladd seems to be young enough to get rid of his weight difficulties and then return to the (mostly) rejuvenated cage. Children, do not try that at home, please.
The opponents of Ladd have not yet managed to understand it because it is a better attacker who was also able to rely on his mass and his pound to rule from the top. The question is whether she will be able to keep "The Iron Lady" for an extended period.
De Randamie has an excellent takedown defense and extensive experience in both MMA and kickboxing. If Ladd tries to stay with Randamie, she'll hurt herself. De Randamie takes her time for her featherweight, but she only lost to quality fighters, and it remains to be seen if Ladd is close to this level.
This is a huge step forward for Ladd and I predict that she is not quite ready to do it.
To choose: From Randamie
Urijah Faber vs. Ricky Simon
It sounds like a bad, bad match for Urijah Faber.
In Ricky Simon, Faber confronts exactly the type of fighter lighter than he could inspire. In short, compact, powerful, it sums up Faber in his style and sums up pretty much Simon now. What can Faber bring to the table against a 14 year old opponent his junior?
It's a rhetorical question, because we all know now what Faber excels at. Good back-and-forth movement, a fast right and the fight at the highest level. In his last fight with Brad Pickett, he did not look far removed from the world title contender he once was; again, it was two and a half years ago.
Simon can certainly be touched, but he is intelligent enough to take no risk crazy against Faber, who had the difficult task of ending his career. Look Faber to make a good performance for fans, but eventually fall to Simon on the dashboards.
To choose: Simon
Josh Emmett against Mirsad Bektic
Josh Emmett's head hunt makes him one of the most exciting fighters in the featherweight division. It could also be his fall against Mirsad Bektic.
There is a lot to love about Emmett's game. He has a solid jab and can generate a ton of power in his right hand with little preparation. However, it is not as technical as Bektic. The Bosnian fighter likes to throw combinations, rarely contenting himself with one shot during an exchange. He will punish Emmett for 15 minutes if Emmett is sloppy.
If Emmett can win, it's if Bektic is too cute to confuse hit and fight. Bektic proved he could control the fighting against the cage, but he also put himself in danger late in the fighting with risky development. When he comes up against Emmett in this department, he will eventually see stars.
Nevertheless, I like that Bektic will take stock with Emmett and make a convincing decision unanimously.
To choose: Bektic
Wellington Turman vs. Karl Roberson
Wellington Turman has all the ingredients from a fun perspective at 185 pounds. He loves to walk his opponents and threatens to tear his neck at any time. This is the strange situation in which Karl Roberson is in his last fight, when he gained 22 kg (205 pounds) to face the challenger of the title of very light heavyweight, Glover Teixeira, with almost no time for prepare.
With a full camp and a comeback in the weight category to which he belongs, Roberson should be able to recover much of the hype that he generated after a 15-second win over the Contender series. He has seriousness in both hands and a smooth defense. It's his scrapping defense that will be the key here, although he wants to avoid Turman's bid match.
Turman's limited movement will make him a sitting duck for Roberson and it will not be long before Roberson aligns a killer combo that turns off Turman's lights.
To choose: Roberson
Cezar Ferreira against Marvin Vettori
Cezar Ferreira is really good!
This may not be the most thorough analysis of Ferreira's abilities, but as my colleague Guilherme Cruz reminded us this week, "Mutante" won against Jack Hermansson, Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos. He is plagued by inconsistencies and a disastrous 170-pound drop. It is time for the 34-year-old Brazilian to prove that he is a legitimate competitor.
What Ferreira has always shown, whether he wins or loses, is that he has a good nose for the finals and the elite jiu-jitsu. He also has an underestimated power, although his strike can be sometimes harsh.
Vettori remains an interesting prospect, as he already shares the cage with interim middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and lead candidate Antonio Carlos Junior. In either case, Vettori showed that he could stand, if not excel against a high level competition. His willingness to ride with Carlos Junior could give a glimpse of Saturday's game.
If this is an extremely difficult affair, the action will apply in favor of Ferreira. He has more experience and his attack on the ground is better. I'm waiting for Mutante to win a bid.
To choose: Ferreira
preliminaries
Mike Rodriguez def. John Allan
Andre Fili def. Sheymon Moraes
Julianna Pena def. Nicco Montano
Ryan Hall def. Darren Elkins
Pingyuan Liu def. Jonathan Martinez
Livinha Souza def. Brianna Van Buren
Benito Lopez def. Vince Morales
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