The first week of April will be a busy week for the UFC, what with having two shows two days apart in two completely different venues. The first will be the Ultimate Fight Night at the Palms in Las Vegas and the second will be UFC 69 hosted by the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The Ultimate Fight Night card will be headlined by Cobra Kai-trained and TUF 2 winner, Joe “Daddy” Stevenson fighting Team Punishment-trained and TUF 2 cast-mate, Melvin “The Young Assassin” Guillard. There are many in the UFC community who feel Stevenson’s weight drop from Welterweight to Lightweight will have “Daddy” tearing through the division like a miniature Diego Sanchez. However, Melvin, like Joe, has dropped weight to fight in the 155-lbs division, and is likewise a Lightweight favorite in the division.

Joe Stevenson Fighting Style Analysis – Strengths

Stevenson has incredible wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu technique. He is very versatile when it comes to throws where he can take down individuals with either technical wrestling maneuvers or fancy Judo throws. He is very strong from top position and shows excellent balance in order to throw powerful “ground’n’pound” shots. Furthermore, when taken down, Stevenson is feisty off his back with having a taste for Guillotine chokes and leg locks. His clinch and ground technique is fortified by his strong and stocky build which make it difficult for anybody who wraps up with him difficult to control. Look to see Stevenson going for a relentless number of submission attempts against “The Young Assassin”.


Joe Stevenson Fighting Style Analysis – Weaknesses

Stevenson’s weakness comes via his striking skills, although in his last few outings he has been improving. However, since Ultimate Fight Night 4, Stevenson’s striking performance is still on the minds of many where he was absolutely picked apart by the very tough Josh Neer.  Neer ended up winning two rounds to Stevenson’s 1, with a third round that made Stevenson look absolutely green in the standup game. For an individual who has such incredible wrestling and BJJ technique, his ability to link his striking to set up shooting positions has not been refined enough which Stevenson’s coaching staff must take into consideration for Stevenson to try and look at the championship horizon. With Guillard not being the best striker but extremely explosive, Stevenson must be able to try and brush off any assault that Guillard throws at him in order to get Guillard on the ground and employ his game plan.


UFN Clash against “The Young Assassin”

As mentioned before, the game plan for Stevenson is to get Guillard on the ground. Guillard has shown weakness in the ground game where he lost to the very same Josh Neer Stevenson lost to via Triangle Choke. “Daddy” must work on his striking defense for Guillard is one of the best athletes to grace the octagon, but it is short-lived, which Stevenson can take advantage of in the latter part of the rounds and the total fight. Stevenson does not need to worry if Guillard decides to take Stevenson down and employ his own “ground’n’pound” for the tape of Mishima tapping to Stevenson’s Guillotine choke is fresh on the mind of Guillard and Team Punishment, therefore, they will most likely be weary of wanting to take the fight to Stevenson territory. I do not see this fight going to a decision for both fighters have holes in their game that make them susceptible for a devastating finish. However, that’s entertaining for the majority of fans.

- Bardia Mehrabian BuddyTV Staff Columnist