UFC 149 – Brian Ebersole vs. James Head preview
‘UFC 149: Faber vs. Barao’ lands this Saturday, July 21st at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and MMABay continues to break down the main card action, continuing with welterweights as Brian Ebersole meets James Head. Will the unpredictable and experienced ‘Bad Boy’ pick up a fifth straight UFC victory, or will the up-and-comer add a major scalp to his collection? Find out after the jump…
Brian Ebersole (50-14-1, 4-0 UFC)
When the UFC signed welterweight ‘journeyman’, Brian Ebersole, last year to face Chris Lytle at UFC 127, few expected big things from the highly-experienced Indiana native. Fifteen minutes later, ‘Bad Boy’ had thoroughly dominated the favourite to a unanimous decision and that certainly got people talking.
The unpredictable and charismatic Ebersole smashed Dennis Hallman with first round elbows at UFC 133 but was forced to dig deep at UFC 140, besting top prospect, Claude Patrick, via split decision. The adopted Australian picked up a fourth straight UFC victory just a few weeks ago when he took on another rising star, T.J Waldburger, and survived some tight submission attempts to take the unanimous decision.
‘Bad Boy’ had expressed a desire to drop to the lightweight division but puts those plans on hold this weekend knowing a fifth Octagon victory would guarantee him a big-name lightweight when he makes the move to 155lbs.
James Head (8-2, 1-1 UFC)
Oklahoma’s James Head rose up the ranks of the regional circuit rapidly after turning professional in 2006 and caught the eye of Joe Silva with an impressive decision victory over former UFC prospect, Gerald Harris, last February.
The BJJ purple-belt made his debut at UFC 131 as a middleweight but Octagon jitters seemed to strike and Head was made to look very average by TUF veteran, Nick Ring, who submitted the debutant in round three.
Undeterred, Head decided to try out 170lbs and looked huge as he entered the cage to face Swedish prospect, Papy Abedi, on FUEL TV in April. The 6ft 2in welterweight first showcased his muay thai to rock Abedi before tapping him out in the very first round. We’ll soon see just how legitimate a prospect Head is, as he faces a gigantic bump in competition in Calgary.
The Verdict: Head won few fans with his disrespectful shoving of a dazed Abedi following the submission, but his performance turned a few heads and a victory this weekend would mark him out as a serious future contender. However, Ebersole has absolutely dominated much better fighters than Head and the forecast is not good for the underdog. While Head has solid stand-up and size, Ebersole has not been finished with strikes in over sixty professional fights and there’s little reason to think Head will pop that cherry. More importantly, Ebersole’s gorilla-like grappling is going to cause the rookie fits and although Head may start well, it won’t be long until ‘Bad Boy’ takes his back and makes him play the three-tap symphony. Ebersole, submission, 2nd round.
By Steve Davies.
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