Roundtables
ROUNDTABLE: Which fights stand out on the UFC Fight Night 74 undercard?
Aug 20, 2015 - 5:45:15 PM ROUNDTABLE: Which fights stand out on the UFC Fight Night 74 undercard?

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What UFC Fight Night 74 undercard bouts stand out and why?


MICHAEL BANE, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Perhaps I'm just not hardcore enough to appreciate it, but this is one of the least interesting cards I've seen in a while. The main event is a great fight, but outside of that the majority is forgettable.

Erick Silva burst onto the scene with a fantastic knockout of Luis Ramos in 40 seconds. His next two fights featured a DQ "loss" against Carlo Prater, where he absolutely demolished the guy, and a nice submission against Charlie Brenneman. He has an exciting style, explosive athleticism, and the ability to score finishes with both strikes and submissions. Add to it the fact that he is a very good looking, young talent, and you have a guy that has the potential to be a star.

Unfortunately his career has not quite gone the way expected since his first three fights. He's managed to hold his own against top ranked talents, losing a decision to Jon Fitch and losing in horrifically violent fashion to Matt Brown. Nothing wrong with falling to the premier fighters in the world in your division, but it's left him lacking in the signature win department. Throw in an abrupt knockout loss to Dong Hyun Kim, and you wind up with a career arc that's continued to leave many waiting, and others moving on from considering his potential stardom altogether.

Neil Magny had a nice streak going before being thoroughly outclassed against Demian Maia, but he doesn't have the athletic explosiveness or skill set to be anything more than a solid gatekeeper. This is a fight that I expect Silva to win, regardless of the UFC rankings that Magny is listed on and Silva is not. A win over Story might have provided a little bit more value to his career, but ultimately Silva needs someone more prominent in the welterweight division. For an unranked fighter, Silva has all the natural talent to move into the top 10 at any time, but his tendency to take untimely losses (as opposed to timely ones?) has kept him down so far. Outside of the main event, this is the most interesting fight to me due to what I think Silva has the talent to be, but a loss here and I've moved on.

Outside of that, there's not much I'm going to make much of an effort to see. I'll watch Côté vs. Burkman because at one point I cared about these two fighters, but the outcome of this really doesn't matter that much. Chad Laprise is an undefeated prospect that has good size in the lightweight division, so he's someone to take note of, particularly if he wins in impressive or decisive fashion. He hasn't exhibited much in the way of finishing acumen since moving up to the big leagues, so a grind-it-out decision isn't going to do much to announce his arrival so much as just get him another fight. All in all, not a particularly interesting card, with the only must-see fight being the intriguing featherweight headliner.


FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

UFC Fight Night 74 is one of those cards that doesn't have a lot of star power, but should be a solid card. Neil Magny vs. Erick Silva and Josh Burkman vs. Patrick Cote are the standouts for me. Magny is looking to rebound from a bad loss to Demian Maia and Burkman is get his first win in his return to the UFC. I don't think this card will be great, but it should be solid and has a chance to be good. Given the number of events the UFC runs these days, sometimes that's all you can ask for.


BRAD WALKER, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

Chris Kaledas and Chris Beal is a sleeper to be a great performance by both men, the Cote and Burkman fight also peaks my interest both should be well contested fights with a lot of pride on the line.


DAYNE FOX, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

There isn't too much intrigue on this card. There are some bouts that look like they might be fun... but might is the key word. For example, Partick Cote and Josh Burkman have been known as strikers with iron-clad chins, but they have also been prone to put on stinkers. Light heavyweight is incredibly shallow and Nikita Krylov and Marcos Rogerio de Lima could put on a fun fight too knowing that they could earn a big jump in competition with a win... but I could also see it turning into a slop-fest.

The fight that truly seems to have something at stake is the co-main event as Erick Silva attempts his umpteenth try to break through against Neil Magny who is coming off of a one-sided loss to Demian Maia. I now I kind of made it sound like crap, but it genuinely should be fun considering Silva doesn't understand the concept of defense. I'll throw out the Maryna Moroz-Valerie Letourneau fight too as we're about to get a better feel for what Moroz is capable of no anticipated her earlier victory over Joanna Calderwood.