Preview: UFC Fight Night ‘Edgar vs. Faber’

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FEATHERWEIGHTS

Mark Eddiva (6-1, 1-1 UFC) vs. Levan Makashvili (6-1, 0-0 UFC)

THE MATCHUP: A featherweight battle light on name value but full of potential for violent entertainment opens the main card. Eddiva, a native of the Philippines, won his UFC debut against Jumabieke Tuerxun in March 2014 and was then the victim of a knockout at the hands of Edimilson Souza two months later. Makashvili signed on late notice to fight Nik Lentz in February, but the fight was canceled when the American Top Team product fell ill at the last minute.

Both Eddiva and Makashvili are quite promising, and this should be a good fight.

Makashvili has real talent, with great speed, strength and power. Now training out of Long Island but originally from Georgia, Makashvili has the wrestling chops we have come to expect from a native of the Caucasus, and his rock-solid defensive wrestling forms the basis of his game. His takedowns are explosive, well timed and finished with brutal authority. Striking, however, is Makashvili’s wheelhouse. He has excellent fundamentals in terms of footwork, movement and weight transfer, and he generates tremendous force in his sharp round kicks and clubbing combinations of hooks. Defense is a strong suit, as he consistently pulls his head off the centerline and actively uses his hands to block and parry. Volume was a problem earlier in his career, but he seems to have solved that for the time being. From top position, Makashvili does little aside from control and throw a few strikes, and we have yet to see him on the bottom for extended periods.

Eddiva is likewise a good athlete, and he is reasonably well-rounded. He prefers to strike, and he throws hard kicks at all levels but particularly to the legs. His favorite punching combination is the straight right-left hook, and he throws the hook with the force of a lumberjack going after a particularly stubborn tree. Defense is a problem, however, and he is much more available to be hit than he needs to be. Eddiva mixes up his striking repertoire with well-timed and explosive takedowns, though his wrestling is not a particularly deep skill set. He controls and throws strikes from the top but offers little else.

THE PICK: I lean toward Makashvili here despite Eddiva’s greater experience in the UFC and the hometown edge. He is the crisper, more defensively sound and more powerful striker, and his wrestling skills are worlds ahead of Eddiva’s. Makashvili also excels at catching kicks and countering, something with which Eddiva has struggled in the past. The pick is Makashvili by wide decision, with a strong possibility of a knockout.

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