Diggin’ Deep on UFC 201: Lawler vs Woodley FS2 prelims preview

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Updated: July 28, 2016

I started writing these previews wanting to complain about everything on these prelims since they looked like crap at first glance. Then I started digging deeper and realized this isn’t the worst offering I’ve seen put on FS2. Nikita Krylov is never in a boring fight, and how in the hell can you hate the matchup of Jorge Masvidal and Ross Pearson? That’s one of the rare cases where injuries actually resulted in a stronger matchup being made by the replacements.

Of course Anthony Hamilton and Damian Grabowski represent everything that I didn’t want to look into when studying up for the prelims. No disrespect to Wilson Reis – he is a quality fighter – but you may be better off skipping the first hour of the televised prelims. I’m being serious. Hmm… I guess I got some complaining in after all.

The FS2 prelims start at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT.

Nikita Krylov (20-4) vs. Ed Herman (23-11, 1 NC), Light Heavyweight

The quirky Krylov has developed a cult following as his fights are anything other than typical. The youngster receives his toughest test yet in longtime middleweight Herman.

Krylov has had to deal with upheaval in his training recently thanks to the unease in his home country of Ukraine, but has dealt with it surprisingly well. The 24-year old turned in a solid effort against the notoriously boring Francimar Barroso in May to give him four wins in a row. Being one of the few youngsters in a division largely ruled by dinosaurs, the UFC has been careful to avoid giving him more than he can handle as they hope to develop him into a mainstay.

Originating from the third season of TUF, the 35-year old Herman has managed to hang around the UFC for a decade. No longer wanting to make the cut to 185 following the IV ban, Herman jumped to light heavyweight at the beginning of this year. While the gritty vet will be the smaller fighter in just about every contest at his new weight class – including this one – he has enough know-how picked up over his long career to overcome the disparity.

What often makes Krylov fights so entertaining is his complete disregard for defending himself, rushing recklessly into the fray with his chin wide open. Though his punches have a fair amount of power behind them, they are often thrown with poor technique. Fortunately, his onslaught has been too much for his opponents to overcome thus far, so he’s been able to avoid any unfortunate consequences that often come with the territory. When Krylov stays of the outside he throws hard round kicks to the head and body at a surprisingly fast pace. He’s also incredibly aggressive looking for submissions, though he is prone to go for them before obtaining proper positioning.

Herman operates at a much slower pace, largely due to his physical lack of speed. Though he has been able to remain competitive even with that deficiency, expect it to be less noticeable in his new division. On his feet, a stiff jab is his strike of choice occasionally followed up with a power hook. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that his wheelhouse is in the clinch where he learned from Randy Couture during his years at Team Quest the intricacies of dirty boxing. His knees are the most devastating weapon from there as he proved dropping the usually durable Tim Boetsch in his last outing. Herman used to be active for takedowns and submissions, but not so much the last few years. No reason to believe he doesn’t still have those skills if the opportunity presents itself.

Herman is nothing more than a gatekeeper and he knows that at this point of his career. Krylov’s ceiling has yet to be established, meaning he has a lot more riding on this than Herman does. Krylov is the favorite at first glance due to his size and athletic advantage. While Herman is typically durable and should be able to survive the early onslaught that will inevitably come from Krylov, I still favor the youngster. Herman’s struggles have come against opponent’s with a noticeable advantage athletically. As stated earlier, that very much describes the Ukranian. Krylov via TKO of the 2nd round

Ross Pearson (19-11, 1 NC) vs. Jorge Masvidal (29-11), Welterweight

Originally scheduled to be Siyar Bahadurzada against Claudio Silva, injuries cropped up and this fight evolved into a welterweight contest between two fighters who’ve spent the majority of their UFC career at lightweight. At least it is an upgrade in terms of quality of fighter…

Pearson hasn’t won or lost consecutive fights since 2013 and wants to ensure that it stays that way for this …

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