185 lbs. Kendall Grove vs. Ricardo Almeida
The evening’s second matchup is a somewhat lackluster middleweight showdown between Kendall “Da Spyder” Grove and long time veteran Ricardo Almeida.
With Anderson Silva’s dominance of the Middleweight division and the fact that he has already beaten most every contender, a win for either of these guys could lay the groundwork for a future title shot, so a lot is on the line.At 6’6″ and only 185 pounds, Kendall Grove has an extremely odd physique for a fighter. He is all arms and legs, it seems, which actually gives him a great reach advantage and also helps his jiu jitsu.
Even though he is well rounded with good submissions and effective, unorthodox striking, his biggest weaknesses are his inconsistency and lack of athleticism. He will go into the fight with Almeida with a decided advantage in the striking department, so his best chance is to keep this one off the ground, where Almeida shines.
Ricardo Almeida, in addition to his two stints in UFC, is also a veteran of PRIDE FC and Pancrase. He has some great wins, including defeats of Nathan Marquardt and Kazuo Misaki. In 2004, though, he took a nearly four-year sabbatical from competition. Since his return, he has looked uninspiring and lethargic during most of his fights, not showing the brilliant technique that made him such a force in his early career. Still, there is no denying that Almeida is one of the most capable grapplers in the sport and especially in the Middleweight division.
This amounts to a style vs. style match, even though Almeida has some boxing and Grove is quite good on the ground. If Grove can keep this fight standing, his superior striking and huge reach advantage will be more than Almeida can handle. If Grove can’t stop the takedown, Almeida will easily ride out a decision from the top, controlling Grove with his superior wrestling and jiu jitsu.
Considering Grove’s lanky frame and Almeida’s experience, I see Almeida managing to wrestle Grove down fairly easily. Almeida by unanimous decision.
