UndercarDVR: September 25-28

Contributor: Nolan Howell

Welcome to UndercarDVR, where we review what you need to see from this week in combat sports. We go fight by fight to see whether it needs to be saved to watch, deleted, or watched in fast forward.

This week, three decent cards with minimal intriguing names delivered a fun weekend of fights. Bellator 143 featured a bantamweight main event between Joe Warren and LC Davis, while the heavyweights had the stage in the UFC and boxing. Roy Nelson and Josh Barnett took to the cage for UFC’s Japan event, while world champion Deontay Wilder was the main attraction in his home state on Premier Boxing Champions.

Get your clicker ready.

Bellator 143 (Friday, Sept. 25)

• Ewerton Teixeira vs. Vinicius “Spartan” Queiroz: The kicks from Ewerton Teixeira make the fight worth a look, but as expected with an out and out striker, lots of simple and ugly defensive grappling made this fight a lull.  Verdict: Fast-Forward
• Henry Corrales vs. Emmanuel Sanchez: A good fight between two different styles. Corrales brought the pressure and gameness, while Sanchez was more technical and had the better intangibles. Watch for the grappling of Sanchez and Corrales’ wild volume striking inside. Verdict: Save
• Kendall Grove vs. Joey Beltran: Really the fight you’d expect between two middling UFC washouts until the finish, which makes it worth the quick watch. Otherwise, a rather ugly fight. Verdict: Fast-Foward
• LC Davis vs. Joe Warren: If you appreciate Joe Warren fights, then this is the fight that sums up all his other fights and you should watch. Otherwise, pressure against the cage, takedown, positional advances with minimal striking, repeat.  Verdict: Delete

UFC Fight Night: Barnett vs. Nelson (Saturday, Sept. 26)

• Teruto Ishihara vs. Mizuto Hirota: A really fun brawl with lots of activity and a good pace where both guys didn’t blow up after a round. Some theatrics from Ishihara added a little more to this. Some good dumb fun to kick off a fun card.  Verdict: Save
• Diego Brandao vs. Katsunori Kikuno: Quick and painless…well, maybe not for one of the fighters. An impressive win with an explosive finish for Brandao.  Verdict: Save
• Takeya Mizugaki vs. George Roop: Watching the fight in fast forward would make it look like a loop: brief wild and fun exchange followed by wall and stall that would make the Reebok-branded ghost of Cheick Kongo proud. A fine fight that isn’t a mood killer for a ridiculously fun card, but not really worth the down spots.  Verdict: Fast-Forward
• Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Chico Camus: This is rather dependent on whether or not you are a Horiguchi fan. Most are though and his karate style of in and out with blazing speed is even impressive at the breakneck pace flyweight often sets.  Verdict: Save
• Uriah Hall vs. Gegard Mousasi: What an upset and Uriah Hall did it in style for what may be the biggest upset of the weekend. It is worth watching just on that surprising win alone, but the finish was beautiful and makes it must watch. Hall with a return to his exciting form here.  Verdict: Save
• Roy Nelson vs. Josh Barnett: A good main event to cap off a fun card. This is worth watching just based on its different than expected style. Nelson’s top game grappling (“He put the moon on top of him!”) and Barnett’s striking (especially his clinch body work) both made surprising appearances, with Nelson spending most of the fight looking for takedowns (and somehow landed a head kick, proving the existence of a higher power with a sense of humor). Nelson was his typical awful punching bag self after the third round, but still enough going on to make it interesting all the way through.  Verdict: Save

Premier Boxing Champions: Alabama (Saturday Sept. 26)

• Dominic Breazeale vs. Fred Kassi: A decent fight, but more watchable for the result being the beautiful incompetence that only combat sports can produce. You could maybe get through it with fast forward, but that kind of kills the narrative building until the ending.  Verdict: Save
• Deontay Wilder vs. Johann Duhaupas: Again, this isn’t necessarily due to the quality of fight. We got what was expected here and really anything Wilder is must watch because there is a decent chance he could be the first American heavyweight in quite a while to capture the eyes of the nation. There will be more on that later this week, but another impressive Wilder performance and he is must-see as he tries to build both his skills and profile to make a Klitschko fight competitive and profitable.  Verdict: Save

-Nolan can be reached at [email protected]