Jussier Formiga goes up against Ben Nguyen at UFC 221 on Sunday in Australia. Because of the time difference, the fight can be seen on Saturday night in North America. Formiga is 20-5 in his career, including 3-4 in the UFC, while Nguyen is 17-6 and 4-1 in the UFC. This bout is one of four on the FS1 portion of the preliminary card, leading up to a five-fight main pay-per-view card, featuring Luke Rockhold and Yoel Romero.
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Jussier Formiga (20-5, 3-4 UFC)
Formiga has split his last four fights. He lost a split decision to Henry Cejudo in November of 2015, won a unanimous decision against Dustin Ortiz in September of 2016, lost a unanimous decision to Ray Borg in March of last year and was submitted in the first round by Ulka Sasaki in September of last year.
Even though he has a losing record in the UFC, Formiga is ranked as the No. 4 flyweight. He is considered a submission specialist, with nine of his wins coming by submission. He has 11 wins in his career by decision.
Ben Nguyen (17-6, 4-1 UFC)
Nguyen made his UFC debut in 2015 and knocked out Alp Ozkilic. Nguyen followed up that win with a submission of Ryan Benoit in November of 2015. The first UFC loss for Nguyen occurred in 2016, as he was knocked out by Louis Smolka in the second round. Nguyen rebounded to beat Geane Herrera by unanimous decision in November of 2016 and the latest action for Nguyen was a submission of Tim Elliott in June of last year.
Nguyen has moved up the rankings and is now the No. 8 ranked flyweight. He has plenty of experience fighting in Australia, as he has fought three times in the UFC in the country and won all three bouts. Nguyen said to Fightful that he has the goal of moving into the top five in the flyweight division. “I wanted to fight anyone in the top five, my goal for the last year was to make it into the top ten, which I did after beating Tim Elliott. This year’s goal is to make it into the top five, so its just part of my yearly goals I come up with that keep me motivated to train. Jussier just happened to be one of those guys in the top five and I’m gonna take his spot.”
Nguyen said that he has a lot of respect for Formiga. “He’s dangerous on the ground, like every fighter I’ve fought in the UFC, and I feel like we have really focused and worked on defenses against his strengths: rear-naked chokes, submissions, back-taking positions. Once we’re able to shut that down, anything is possible.”
Nguyen said to MMAJunkie Radio that he has been working a lot on submission defense. “We’ve been working a lot of back defense and submission defense,” Nguyen said. “(Formiga’s) striking has been looking a little better. I wouldn’t say it’s one of the best, but it’s there.”
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There is no question that Formiga will have the edge when this fight goes to the mat, so the key will be the takedown defense of Nguyen. If Nguyen can keep this fight standing he will win a striking battle. This should be an excellent fight to watch and one that is entertaining. I will take Nguyen to get the win.
UFC 221 takes place on Sunday, February 11 at the Perth Arena in Perth, Australia but because of the time difference it will be seen live in North America on Saturday night. There are five fights on the main pay-per-view card featuring Yoel Romero vs. Luke Rockhold. There are seven preliminary bouts, with four on FS1 and three on UFC Fight Pass.
Main Card (Pay-per-view)
Middleweight - Luke Rockhold -153 vs. Yoel Romero
Heavyweight - Curtis Blaydes -165 vs. Mark Hunt
Heavyweight - Tai Tuivasa -285 vs. Cyril Asker
Welterweight - Li Jingliang -150 vs. Jake Matthews
Light Heavyweight - Tyson Pedro -275 vs. Saparbek Safarov
Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1)
Lightweight - Dong Hyun Kim -140 vs. Damien Brown
Middleweight - Israel Adesanya -350 vs. Rob Wilkinson
Lightweight - Alexander Volkanovski -195 vs. Jeremy Kennedy
Flyweight - Jussier Formiga -117 vs. Ben Nguyen
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Lightweight - Ross Pearson -145 vs. Mizuto Hirota
Bantamweight - José Alberto Quiñónez -205 vs. Teruto Ishihara
Welterweight - Daichi Abe -150 vs. Luke Jumeau
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