UFC Fight Night 81: Exciting Prospects to Watch

UFC Fight Night 81 was a great fight card emanating from the TD Garden in Boston. The fight card was headlined by a spectacular bantamweight title fight between TJ Dillashaw and Dominick Cruz, with Cruz staging one of the most spectacular and dramatic comebacks in MMA history. However, on some levels, the prelims for this card were pretty wild and even more exciting than the main card, which was moving pretty slow until the main event. I wanted to spotlight some of the up-and-coming talents to watch coming out of the event.

Paul Felder: Paul Felder got back on the winning track this week with an amazing submission win in the third round with Daron Cruickshank. Felder came into the UFC undefeated and started opening eyes very quickly. In his second UFC bout, he pulled off a big upset, knocking out the tough, grinding wrestler in Danny Castillo via a crushing spinning back fist. It earned him a Performance of the Night bonus at UFC 182. Later that summer, he took a huge step up in competition, facing top ranked lightweight Edson Barboza. If anything, Felder over-performed in that bout, looking very strong against a tough and dynamic opponent. It was a very close fight where Felder lost on points, but he did well enough to earn a Fight of the Night bonus for his great performance. Felder took another step-up in competition at UFC 191, facing the always tough and game striker Ross Pearson. This was another close fight where Felder arguably could’ve won, but he just fell short. It was back and forth and competitive, but Felder failed to convince the judges he had won. Suddenly, Felder was down 0-2 and really needed to win his next fight. Felder is an exciting is an exciting fighter, and his performances have been standouts for any UFC card he’s performed on. Now that he’s gotten another impressive win and gotten his confidence back, I think he should be built back up against similar level competition. He acquitted himself well and looked fantastic against guys who were really way above him in terms of the lightweight pecking order. I can’t wait to see Felder’s next fight.

Chris Wade: The Long Island MMA product pulled off a first-round RNC victory over Mehdi Baghdad at UFC Fight Night 81 during the FS1 prelims. That brings Wade’s record to 4-0 in the UFC, and he’s finished two of those wins with first-round submissions. Wade has a good record, and he’s building a nice resume for himself in the UFC’s lightweight division. His originally scheduled opponent for the fight card was another surging prospect in Mairbek Taisumov. However, Taisumov was forced to withdraw at the last minute due to visa issues. Now Wade’s wins so far are over mostly unknown opponents, but he’s looked very good in all his fights so far. I think a slight step-up in competition or name value for his opponents is in order next.

Rob Font: The bantamweight Team SITYODTONG actually made an impressive UFC debut quite a while ago in 2014 when he knocked out a tough veteran in George Roop in the first round. Font returned at UFC Fight Night 81, earning a second-round knockout victory over the undefeated local fighter Joey Gomez, who made his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 81. Font had not fought in 18 months, but he came back strong and earned a knockout victory. Font is 12-1, and he’s a fun fighter to watch. Both of his UFC fights have ended with exciting finishes, and he’s a definite fighter to watch moving forward in the bantamweight division.=

Jeffrey Harris is 411mania’s resident Jack of All Trades and has covered MMA for the site since 2008. You can shoot him an e-mail at [email protected] or hit him up on Facebook. You can also check out the latest edition of the podcast he co-hosts alongside Robert Winfree, The 411 Ground & Pound Radio Show, below.