Preview: UFC 180 ‘Werdum vs. Hunt’

---

WELTERWEIGHTS

Hector Urbina (16-8-1, 0-0 UFC) vs. Edgar Garcia (14-3, 0-2 UFC)

THE MATCHUP: This is something of a head-scratching matchup, particularly as a main-card fight on a PPV. Urbina was bounced early from “The Ultimate Fighter 19,” losing a three-round decision to Irishman Cathal Pendred, while UFC veteran Garcia is back with the promotion after going 7-1 in other organizations in the nearly five years since his release.

Urbina is at his best when he can force his opponent into a close-range brawl, and one has to assume that a propensity for action is why he is getting a shot in the UFC. He is neither particularly quick nor exceptionally powerful, but he can take a good punch and put together wide, ugly combinations of hooks and uppercuts in the pocket. Urbina also has some wrestling skills, with a nice double-leg takedown, good control and strength in the clinch and real facility for doing damage from wrestling positions, like the top ride, on the mat. He is a serviceable if not outstanding grappler and has some mediocre submissions in his arsenal.

Garcia is fairly similar to Urbina, although he owns much better physical tools and higher-quality experience. He is at his best throwing punching combinations in the pocket, and he packs real power in his hands to go along with good offensive fundamentals. On the defensive side, things are less promising, as he is quite hittable and tends to work at the kind of rapid pace that essentially ensures he will eat punches. Garcia is a competent wrestler and grappler, though that is not really his game, and he tends to use those skills more defensively than offensively.

THE PICK: This will either be a grinding, slow-paced fight between two journeymen desperate to secure another fight in the UFC or a leather-slinging barnburner. I lean toward the latter, but either way, this is Garcia’s fight to lose. He has better-quality experience, better physical tools and more complete skill sets, and I think he can take an exciting, back-and-forth decision.

Next Fight » Augusto Montano vs. Chris Heatherly