Fall River’s Own “Filthy” Fighting on UFC 196 PPV Card

Fall River’s Own “Filthy” Fighting on UFC 196 PPV Card

 

            Tom Lawlor is stepping up in competition, in his second fight since returning to the Light Heavyweight division, when he faces the UFC’s #12 ranked LHW Corey Anderson. “Filthy” has finished his last two fights, the BJJ Purple belt (under Tim Burrill) caught Michael Kuiper in a second round Guillotine choke 4/16/13 and in his first fight at LHW since a December 2008 Unanimous Decision win over Kyle Kingsbury, he TKO’d Gian Villante at 0:27 in the second round (6/25/15) and earned the Performance of the Night bonus. He has also been awarded Knockout of the Night, Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night bonuses in the UFC. The thirty-two year old is 10-5 with four wins by KO/TKO and four more finishes by submission. The Season 8 cast member on The Ultimate Fighter faces TUF season 19 LHW winner Corey “Beastin 25/8” Anderson.

Anderson went 2-1 in 2015. He started the year in April with a third round TKO (4:18) loss at the hands of, common opponent, Gian Villante, the loss is the only in his 8-1 career. The twenty-six year old then collected two UD wins, outpointing: Jan Blachowicz Sept. 5^th and then just two months later Fabio Maldonado in Sao Paulo, Brazil at UFC Fight Night 77.  The former college wrestling coach will enjoy a five inch reach advantage in his match up with Lawlor.

Power at 205lbs on PPV Main Card

            Gian Villante Wrestled and played Football at Hofstra University, where he met current training partner, Chris Weidman. Villante, the number thirteen ranked LHW in the UFC is fresh off a first round Knockout win (2:56) over Anthony Perosh 11/14/15. The thirty year old is 3-1 in his last four, including that April 18^th TKO over Corey Anderson, and 14-6 overall with nine wins by KO/TKO. The 03 NY state wrestling champ will enjoy a three inch reach advantage when he takes on Sweden’s Ilir “The Sledgehammer” Latifi.

Latifi is appearing in his seventh UFC fight, collecting a 4-2 record. Of those six fights only his promotional debut, a UD loss to Gegard Mousasi, made it out of the first round. An accomplished wrestler in Sweden, “The Sledgehammer” has eight first round finishes in his eleven wins. He is working on a short turn around, following his thirty second TKO of Sean O’Connell on January 17^th.

Number Four Takes on Number Ten

            Twenty-seven year old Amanda Nunes faces Lima, Peru’s Valentina Scevchenko in a womens Bantamweight showdown. Nunes has finished each of her eleven wins, nine by KO/TKO and two by submission. The Jiu-Jitsu Black belt and Judo Brown belt’s NAGA World Championship is just one of her numerous grappling accolades, but “Lioness” is more than just a grappler, the well-rounded fighter has nine wins in the opening round. She won her last two 2015 bouts in the first: a TKO (1:56) of Shayna Bazler 3/21 and she found Sara McMann’s neck with a rear-naked choke (2:53) on August 8^th. She will put her stand up game to the test when she faces Shevchenko with a Kickboxing record of 56-2 including 21 KO’s.

Shevchenko is 12-1 in MMA with four KO/TKO and five sub finishes. She is riding a five fight win streak, including her UFC debut, as a short notice replacement she earned a Split Decision over Sarah Kaufman Dec 19^th. The Russian born, “Bullet” holds multiple Kickboxing and Muay Thai Titles and has fought and defeated UFC Women Strawweight Champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk in Muay Thai.

 

To read my Breakdown of the Main and Co-main events of UFC 196 click here:

http://fightpage.blogspot.com/2016/03/breakdown-ufc-196.html