Breakdown UFC Fight NIght 95

UFC Fight Night 95 takes place Saturday September twenty-fourth in Curitiba, Brazil. Sweden’s Lina “Elbow Princess” Lansberg makes her UFC debut in the Main Event taking on Invicta 145lbs Champ and Brazil’s own, Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino in a catch weight bout, 140lbs.

Justino is the most consistent finisher in MMA today, with eleven straight KO/TKO stoppages (including a 12/17/11 TKO at :16 in the first round overturned by CSAC to ND). Fourteen of Cyborg’s sixteen wins have come by KO/TKO. This is her second fight with the UFC, in May she dismantled Leslie Smith in the First Round (1:21) at UFC 198. Justino is unable to fight in the UFC’s 135lbs division and has a difficult weight cut to make 140lbs. In an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Justino revealed that she weighed 165lbs on Monday. She stated her Nutritionist, George Lockhard had given her birth control to take. She feels her body is holding more water. Cyborg has missed weight before, in an April 2009 Strikeforce fight she missed weight by seven pounds and was permitted to fight. When all the signs were pointing to an obvious Justino highlight KO, it appears there are a few factors to consider: what effect will a 25lbs weight cut have (if successful) or if she misses weight, will this fight happen and at what weight or is Cyborg the best poker player in Curitiba.

Lina Lansberg comes into the fight on a six fight win streak. Like Justino, Lansberg lost her pro debut and has defeated every opponent since. Four of the Elbow Princess’s six wins have come by KO/TKO. She displayed that striking prowess last fight (3/12/16) with a second round (2:00) TKO of Maria Hougaard at Odensa Fight Night 5. Lansberg has a giant mountain to climb: fighting Cyborg, in Brazil, in her UFC debut, in the Main Event. But what a wonderful story it would make.

In the Co-Main former Bantamweight Champion, Renan The Baron Barao faces 11-6 Phillipe Super Nover in a Featherweight contest. The 33-4 Barao is coming off two straight losses and has won just one in his last four. In May he lost to Jeremy Stephens by Unanimous Decision at UFC FN 88, before that he lost by TKO for the second time to former Champ, TJ Dillashaw, this one, thirty-five ticks into the fourth round at UFC on Fox 16 (1/25/15). How Barao responds to the potential pressures/privileges of fighting before a home crowd coupled with the pressure of dropping two in a row will play a large roll in this one.

Brooklyn’s Phillipe Nover is in his second stint with the UFC. A third straight loss in 2010 sent Nover to Free Agency where he went 5-2. He got the call to face Yui Chui Nam last May at UFC FN 66 where he won a Split Decision. The Thirty-two year old has been a BJJ black belt for nearly eight years and is a Registered Nurse. Like Barao, Nover may feel his back is once again against the wall after a Split Decision loss last December to Zabaira Tukhugov. Facing Barao is a major opportunity, but a second consecutive loss could send Nover to Free Agency again.

Bigfoot VS Big Country: Two Heavyweights with seventeen combined KO/TKO stoppages meet when #11 Roy Nelson slugs it out with #15 Antonio Silva. It’s been a little while since these two were knocking the brains out of the world’s best, Nelson has won only two of his past eight, while Silva has gone 1-5-1 in his last seven. Forty year old, Nelson is 3-11 in fights that go to the judges and (three years his junior) Silva has only let three of his twenty-nine bouts go the distance. Former IFL Champ and TUF 10 winner, Nelson last KO/TKO win was 4/11/14, a First Round (3:37) stoppage of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Bigfoot Silva is coming off two consecutive First Round KO/TKO losses. Most recently, in May, just :16 into his bout with Stefan Struve at UFC FN 87.

In the Lightweight Division, Philadelphia’s Paul Felder is on a two fight win streak in 2016. At UFC FN 81 (1/17) he stopped Daron Cruickshank, with his first career submission in the Third Round (3:56) and a UD win over Josh Burkman in May at UFC FN 88. Seven of The Irish Dragon’s twelve wins are by KO/TKO.  Felder faces Brasilia, Brazil’s own, 20-4 Francisco Trinaldo.

Trinaldo, a TUF Brazil alumni, is on a six fight win streak. The thirty-eight year old, Massaranduba earned a UD over Yancy Medeiros in May at UFC 198 last fight.

Opening up the card, on UFC Fight Pass, will be TUF Brazil 4 winner, Glaico Franca versus undefeated, Gregor Gillespie. Twelve of Franca’s fourteen wins have been finishes (6 KO/TKO, 6 Subs) and nine of those have come in the first round.

This one may end early, because New Yorker, Gillespie has finished six of his seven fights (3 KO/TKO, 3 Subs) and all have been in the opening round. Gillespie makes his UFC debut.  

Prelims and Main Card to air on FS-1 and Fight Pass Prelims to proceed.