Diggin’ Deep on UFC Hidalgo: Poirier vs. Johnson FS1 main card preview

Aside from the main and co-main event – as is usually the case – the most intriguing contest on the card was eliminated due to injury. Evan Dunham and Abel Trujillo was one of the favorites to be FOTN, only for Trujillo to injure his arm and pull out. Now the main card is full of fights that could just as easily be hits as they could be misses. Well… damn.

I’ve promised not to lie to my loyal readers (both of you) and I have to admit that there isn’t a fight guaranteed to be a barnburner. However, there is Islam Makhachev who has serious potential to be a major player in the future. It may be a few years before that happens, but if there is anyone on the card that I believe has the potential to become champion one day on this card, I’d say he is most likely to be a future champion.

The main card starts on FS1 at 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT.

Evan Dunham (17-6) vs. Rick Glenn (18-3-1), Lightweight

No disrespect to Glenn who is a legit UFC caliber featherweight, but I really don’t see this going well for him in his UFC debut on short notice.

Dunham has long been one of the more underrated performers of the lightweight division. He has only lost to the divisional elite – often when they were at their peak – and has looked better than ever in his recent performances. Unfortunately for him, he’s unlikely to benefit much from beating Glenn other than receiving a payday.

It really is too bad Glenn has to make his UFC debut in these circumstances. His lone loss in the last six years came against current WSOF champion Lance Palmer when Palmer took the belt from Glenn. He’s beaten the likes of Georgi Karakhanyan, Alexandre Pimentel, and former UFC veteran Ramiro Hernandez in that time, but all of those contests came at his natural weight class of 145. This is a very tall order for him.

One of the reasons Glenn has found success at 145 is his 6’0″ frame and 76″ reach. While his frame is longer than your typical lightweight – including Dunham’s – it narrows his biggest advantage if not negating it completely. Plus, he isn’t a great wrestler and facing bigger and stronger opposition when he has already had problems against featherweights in that area? Yikes. Dunham is one of the most underrated wrestlers in the division. His takedown numbers haven’t been great, but that often has something to do with the matchup. Glenn is an incredibly favorable matchup for the veteran. You’d better believe he’ll look to take Glenn to the mat early and often in this contest.

Part of the reason Dunham’s wrestling is overlooked is the development of his combination striking. He’s not a power puncher, but he strings together long punching combinations that he mixes to the head and body, often punctuating the end of the combination with a leg kick. Dunham has some excellent dirty boxing in the clinch as well. He’ll take damage in return as is part of his volume-heavy style, but is usually good at exiting the danger zone after attacking.

Glenn may be able to take advantage of that as he is about as opportunistic as they come. He really isn’t a volume striker himself and usually starts out slow. He’ll try to stay outside and throw leg kicks until he gets going, but he’s usually starting round two behind on the cards. Once he does get going, he’ll pepper his opponents with short punching combos while looking to land his deceptively powerful left hand. Glenn’s strongest point is his ground and pound as he has ended a number of fights with that in a day and age where those stoppages are drying up.

Glenn’s opportunistic nature and durability – he has never been put away with strikes — means he is always a threat to steal a victory, even if he is fighting a weight class up. I’m not willing to bet that he pulls this one off, especially given he is getting this with just over a week’s notice. Glenn probably deserves to be on the UFC, but he shouldn’t be fighting the likes of Dunham for his debut. Dunham via decision

Roan Carneiro (20-10) vs. Kenny Robertson (15-4), Welterweight

Carneiro makes his return to the welterweight division against a man who hasn’t been seen in over year in a clash of styles.

The 38-year old Carneiro has been around the sport for a very long time, beginning his professional career all the way back in 2000. He made his return to the UFC at middleweight and submitted a shot Mark Munoz in under two minutes to give pundits reason to think he could be competitive there. Being steamrolled by Derek …

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