Preview: UFC Fight Night 171 ‘Smith vs. Teixeira’

Bantamweights

Ricky Simon (15-3) vs. Ray Borg (13-4)

ODDS: Simon (-165), Borg (+145)

He has been a disappointment since he returned, but it is nice to see that Borg is back to fighting regularly. After losing his flyweight title fight to Demetrious Johnson in 2017, Borg endured 18 months of personal and professional hell. He could not get into the cage due to a combination of injuries—some of which were suffered in the infamous Conor McGregor bus attack—and weight issues, all the while his newborn son was in need of multiple brain surgeries. Once 2019 rolled around, Borg finally got back inside the Octagon, but despite winning two of his last three fights, everything still feels somewhat flat. For one thing, Borg is still a man without a weight class. He is likely too physically small to have a ton of success at bantamweight, yet he continues to have issues on the scale when trying to cut down to 125 pounds; and once the bell sounds, Borg seems to have regressed or at least pivoted to a much less interesting game plan. While “The Tazmexican Devil” made his hay as a quick and dynamic scrambling submission artist, his last few bouts have seen him lean heavily on a control wrestling game and accomplish little else. For many reasons, between his personal hardship and the fact that he was such an exciting fighter to watch, it would be nice to see Borg regain his old form against Ricky Simon, who should provide a tough test.

Simon has been a pleasant addition to the UFC ranks over the last two years, in part because he fights like an absolute maniac. His first two UFC bouts saw him sell out constantly to try and make something happen, but his breakout win over Rani Yahya was notable because Simon actually showed some caution about going to the ground with one of the UFC’s trickiest grapplers. Unfortunately, that did not portend Simon developing any type of successful defense. His next bout saw him run directly into a Urijah Faber knockout, and while his last fight against Rob Font was a three-round war, Simon ate a ton of punches in the process. Simon brings enough excitement that he will do well until the physical toll gets to be too much, but a win over Borg would do a lot to right the ship if he still has hopes of becoming a contender.

This should be a fun fight, but it could be depressing from a Borg perspective. He is the younger fighter by a year, but it seems like he is probably going to lose this bout to a fresher fighter who can do exactly what he used to excel at. Even if Simon charges directly at Borg and leaves himself defensively open in the process, the latter is not any sort of a knockout artist, so it seems inevitable that this will wind up as a grappling match. At this point, Simon is the more aggressive and dynamic scrambler, along with being the larger and more physically powerful fighter. Even if Borg gets the advantage, all of those factors make it difficult to see the former flyweight contender being able to control and hold down Simon for 15 minutes. Borg probably has not lost his submission skills, so there is a chance that he catches Simon at some point during a scramble. However, they have remained dormant for so long that it is difficult to rely on any sort of awakening. The pick is for Simon to take a clear decision.

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