Stand and Deliver: UFC Vegas 107

Every fight at UFC Vegas 107 matters, but some matter just a little more.

A win is a win, and a loss is a loss, but some feel bigger than others for various reasons. In some cases, the elevated stakes are easy to define—the fighter on a losing streak who knows he or she is likely fighting for their job, or conversely, any title fight in a top regional organization, where the combatants know the big leagues are scouting them. At other times, a fight feels especially important for reasons that are harder to quantify but no less real. Whether it’s the unspoken weight of being a pioneer in MMA from one’s native country or the simple added spice of two fighters who genuinely hate each other’s guts, that fight just means more.

This Saturday, the Ultimate Fighting Championship comes back to its familiar stomping grounds at the Apex in Las Vegas after a week off. The 11-fight slate of UFC on ESPN 68 feels a bit understated even by the usual standards of Apex events—especially for a card that could conceivably anoint title challengers in two divisions. The headliner features a pair of next-big-thing flyweight women in Erin Blanchfield and Maycee Barber, and the victor will have a solid claim to a shot at Valentina Shevchenko’s belt. Similarly, the winner of the bantamweight contenders’ match between Ketlen Vieira and Macy Chiasson will, at the very least, be a very interested observer of the rumored Amanda Nunes comeback fight later this year.

Among the 22 fighters scheduled to make the walk on Saturday night, here are a couple who are under just a little added pressure to stand and deliver:

Trevin Giles: One “Problem” at a Time

Even in the UFC’s current era, four straight losses mean an almost guaranteed pink slip, unless the fighter in question happens to fall into one of three categories: 1) a popular former champion; 2) a redheaded TUF alum with a creepy smile; or 3) a fighter doing the promotion a favor by stepping up on short notice. That being the case, Giles made a shrewd choice by agreeing to face Andreas Gustafsson when Jeremiah Wells withdrew just 11 days from fight night. Barring something unforeseen, Giles’ roster spot is probably safe even if he should stretch his current three-fight skid to four against the debuting Swede.

The problem for “The Problem” is that he should not be in this situation in the first place. The former Houston police officer has skills and physical gifts that compare favorably with the Top 15 of the UFC middleweight and welterweight divisions in which he has competed, yet he sits at 7-7 in the Octagon. The scouting report on Giles has been largely the same for the eight years since he was called up from Legacy Fighting Alliance: a slick kickboxer with good accuracy and power, solid if underused offensive wrestling and strong submission grappling skills…who is prone to occasional but serious defensive lapses. I have compared him in the past to the Death Star—if an opponent is patient and disciplined enough to spot that moment of inattention and take advantage, all of Giles’ offensive firepower is rendered moot in an instant. Consider that Giles won the first round of his bout against current middleweight champ Dricus Du Plessis before getting caught early in the second and finished quickly. Ditto for Giles’ losses to Zak Cummings and Gerald Meerschaert, two other fights he was winning handily. The only difference is that in those cases, Giles blundered into submissions rather than knockouts.

Gustafsson represents yet another challenge in the same vein. While the Nordic slugger is a massive, imposing physical specimen, he is nowhere near as polished a striker as Giles, nor as well-rounded an offensive fighter. However, as an aggressive, come-forward fighter who gives himself every chance to win, he fits the mold of the many opponents that have been outclassed by Giles right up to the point where they find his chin or neck. Still just 32 years old, Giles has time to change the narrative about himself—just ask Charles Oliveira—but the window is beginning to close.

Step Up and Take It, Macy Chiasson

One advantage of competing in the shallow, rapidly aging women’s bantamweight division is that any woman under 35 who strings three wins together can start thinking about a title shot. Chiasson, who will enter her Saturday clash with Ketlen Vieira on a two-fight win streak, is certainly aware of this reality. It works in her favor that unlike Vieira, who has already challenged unsuccessfully for the belt as well as losing to top contender Kayla Harrison, Chiasson is a relatively fresh face despite having been in the UFC for nearly seven years. She is hindered by the fact that she has missed weight badly in the past, but that weight miss, against Irene Aldana, is now nearly three years ago.

All of this means that if Chiasson can get past Vieira at UFC Vegas 107—preferably in spectacular fashion—she could well be fighting for a title before the end of the year. If former champ and consensus GOAT Amanda Nunes returns to face Harrison as is rumored, the winner of that fight would obviously jump the line, but Chiasson might be able to wait to face whoever emerges as champion, especially considering that she already has a win over Norma Dumont, the only other woman with a serious case. It is all in the hands of the towering 33-year-old Louisianan: make weight, take care of business in the cage, and the rest should sort itself out.