Week 4 seems to have a grappling theme to it. Going to keep these break downs a little shorter. Since I am writing these 7-8 weeks in advance, there may be some cancellations.
NICK GALATI (7-1) vs. CARLOS PETRUZELLA (15-1) – Middleweight
NICK GALANTI 7-1 (1 KO, 4 SUB, 2 DEC)
Galanti is a wrestler but I didn't leave his fights very impressed. He isn't very big for middleweight but he makes up for that with decent striking technique and an aggressive style. He is certainly a wrestler and although he gets finishes, he can be quite boring which is why I think he is an interesting choice for DWCS. On top of that, I think he clearly lost his last fight and that is a clear case of CFFC/New Jersey corruption. When he does get the take down he is a skilled grappler. He is very good at getting his opponents back – I think he has had a rear naked choke position in every fight he has been in. He has good cardio and will be able to push his pace for 3 rounds.
CARLOS PETRUZELLA 15-1 (8 KO, 7 SUB)
On paper Carlos Petruzella is a beast, but man his record is padded. He has not fought anyone good and that includes his loss to Joseilton Santos who is a record padder himself. Petruzella is a massive welterweight who has now moved up to middleweight. He is hilariously unathletic and Samurai Fight House did well to build up his record to be what it is as he is clueless on the feet. He is flat footed, never moves his head, and offensively is incredibly slow. Boxing wise he makes my technique look good as he drops his hands every time he brings them back to his face after a punch. He can throw kicks but these are also slow. On the ground he does look dominant but it's hard to know how much this means as he beats up absolute cans.
PREDICTION
On paper this is a clear lay up for Galanti. He should be better everywhere and that includes the striking. Carlos is a big dude but he still has never fought anyone with capable grappling. I have also seen him get dropped badly and then decide to keep striking instead of shooting a take down so I don't even know if you could trust him to shoot. I think Galanti will find the rear naked choke here as he always seems to find it, but Petruzella's striking is so bad a KO wouldn't shock me either. Not super confident in Galanti as I don't rate him very highly either.
Pick: Nick Galanti by submission in round 2. Medium confidence.
MARIO PIAZZON (10-1) vs. GUILHERME URIEL (7-2) – Heavyweight
MARIO PIAZZON 10-1 (7 KO, 2 DEC, 1 DQ)
The matchmakers are taking the piss here. Mario was brought in to lose to Saldatkin a few years ago and won by super boring wrestling which lead to an illegal knee by Soldatkin. Since then we have seen him get knocked out by someone with a 15-39 record. I have actually seen that loss but unfortunately I can't find the fight anymore. He just is a boring, fat cage wrestler who doesn't offer anything else.
GUILHERME URIEL 7-2 (4 KO, 3 SUB)
Uriel is also a bit of a meme but at least he is fun. He is a very low level brawler but he throws hands with power. He was on the Contender Series last year is only getting brought back since he had a somewhat competitive fight against Josh Hokit. he showed decent take down defense ability and that should be enough to win this fight. He weighed in 20 lbs less in his most recent fight than he did on DWCS too.
PREDICTION
If Guilherme Uriel can keep the fight on the feet he should cruise here. He looked in much better shape in his last outing, and the technique looked better too. Piazzon is super boring and I don' t think he has a finishing ability against anyone high level either. Both guys have padded records but at least Uriel's losses come to Camacho who fought on DWCS, and Hokit who is now ranked in the UFC.
Pick: Guilherme Uriel by KO/TKO in round 1. Medium confidence.
SEAN CLANCY JR. (8-0) vs. GARY BALLETTO (11-3) – Welterweight
SEAN CLANCY JR. 8-0 (5 KO, 3 SUB)
Sean Clancy Jr. is really good and I think he is the best chance Scotland has at another UFC star. He started out as a grappler but his striking has really improved and he has now become more of a boxer than anything. He recently showed up on my radar as he started to fight higher level competition for Cage Warriors, and he just had his best performance against a solid veteran. On the feet he is mostly a boxer but he does have some flashy strikes such as knees and high kicks. I like the way he constantly targets the body, whether that be with punches, knees, or kicks. Once the fight gets to the ground this is more his wheel house though. He has fantastic control and a strong ability to take the back. He has a strong submission arsenal but also remains active with ground and pound. Overall the level of competition he has fought is pretty good as he took a big step up in his last three fights and has passed all tests. Only concern is Cage Warriors does have a pretty poor reputation as a lot of their best prospects get exposed on big stages like UFC and DWCS, but I am confident Clancy Jr. is the real deal.
GARY BALLETTO 11-3 (4 KO, 7 SUB)
Gary Baletto is the welterweight and middleweight champion of CES MMA – The same promotion Billy Ray Goff was a double champion in. This is a pretty confusing signing though as Balletto has not fought in MMA for over a year, and in the meantime has been fighting for BKFC. He has been finding a lot of success there which is surprising as I didn't think his MMA boxing was that good. He is pretty slow and his chin is up in the air. He was getting countered and hurt by Bruno Quintanilha in round 1 as Bruno was so much faster than him. He has some grappling in his game but I was shocked to see him getting out scrambled by James Cannon in their fight too. He finished him quickly in round 2 but he gave up top control for the entirety of round 1. I am left quite confused about Balletto honestly.
PREDICTION
I honestly did not expect to be this confident in Sean Clancy. Clancy is one of the best prospects signed to DWCS this year but I thought they may have given him a test. I really think they haven't as Clancy should be better everywhere. Since Baletto's striking defense is so bad I am going to pick the KO side instead of a submission.
Pick: Sean Clancy Jr. by KO/TKO in round 1. High confidence.
RONALD HUMPHREY (4-0) vs. ALEXIS MIRANDA (9-2) – Welterweight
RONALD HUMPHREY 4-0 (4 KO)
Ronald Humphrey is the son of . 3 of his wins come in round 1, and his other win came in round 2. He does have another 4 fights as an amateur but we won all of these by first round KO. He reminds me a lot of Jacobe Smith though, as he is a fast, athletic wrestler with great ground and pound power. He wrestled in high school but I couldn't find any information on him wrestling in college. He does make some mistakes though such as overthrowing on the feet which leads to him getting countered. His striking technique is good overall, but likes to swing an overhand on occasion which can put him off balance. His take down defense is great as well, and even if he gets taken down I have seen him scramble out of bottom position. The majority of his wins come by ground and pound so once gets dominant positions he has the power to end the fight.
ALEXIS MIRANDA 9-2 (4 KO, 1 SUB, 4 DEC)
Alexis Miranda is a 6'2″ striker. I left tape a bit surprised he is on the show as he kind of sucks. I expected a lot more out of him considering he will have nearly three times the experience of Humphrey. Miranda is a boxer but he only really throws straight punches. He doesn't like to lead the dance so he spends a lot of time waiting for his opponents to do something which has resulted in his journeyman fights being a lot closer than they needed to be. For example, he is coming off a split decision win over a 29-25 fighter and you could make an argument he lost as he was just getting backed up the whole time. I didn't see a lot of wrestling out of him but he was taken down and had his back taken by Anuel Aburto in round 3. I am not sure if he was tired but he looked clueless on the ground.
PREDICTION
Admittedly, I was expecting to pick Humphrey to win this fight. But I was not expecting to pick him with high confidence at all. This fight seems like the perfect match up for Humphrey to pressure and get quick and easy take downs. Once Humphrey gets an opponent down his ground and pound is vicious and I can't see Miranda scrambling effectively on the ground. Humphrey is very vulnerable to counters which is one of Miranda's best skills, but Miranda doesn't hit hard enough to knock anyone out. This seems like a lay up for Humphrey and I would be very surprised if he lost.
Pick: Ronald Humphrey by KO/TKO in round 1. High confidence.
