Four days after a prestigious UFC 251 card the UFC is back to Fight Island, this time on a Wednesday. The UFC on ESPN 13 (UFC Fight Island 1) card is headlined between a featherweight bout in Dan Ige and Calvin Kattar in a fight with important title implications.
In a debut vs debut it was originally Kenneth Bergh going against Timo Feucht. When a checkered past [read: Neo-Nazi ties] from Timo came to light to the UFC they would remove him from the card and terminate his UFC contract. Of course Bergh is still on the card and will be fighting now another debuting fighter in Jorge Gonzalez.
Jorge “George St.” Gonzalez
6’3″
Light-heavyweight
36-years-old
Mexico City, Mexico
A.D.A.M.
16-5
12 KO/TKO
4 Submissions
How will Gonzalez fare in the UFC:
Gonzalez is a wild man but a finisher finishing having a 100% finish rate. On the feet he is sloppy usually winging overhands sometimes even throwing himself off balance. He does have some power with 12 KO/TKO’s and he knocked out the well-known Luke Barnatt in brutal fashion. Gonzalez is a strong guy having the ability to power guys to their back. He can submit opponents but his top control and ground and pound is far better.
Defensively Gonzalez has a lot of issues. On the feet, he doesn’t take strikes well usually panicking and blind shooting for the legs and is quite easy to counter. He’s quite easy to take down as well and doesn’t have the technical ability to get back to his feet. Gonzalez is a fun fighter but I don’t think he’s going to find success in the octagon.
Kenneth “Ymir” Bergh
6’2″
Light-heavyweight
31-years-old
Norway
Frontline MMA
8-0
2 KO/TKO
6 Submissions
How will Bergh fare in the UFC:
I don’t like to usually use this term, but Bergh is the pure definition of a can crusher. The opponents he’s beat had a combined record of 37-31-2 when he faced them. The only two times he has seen a step up in competition, against Eric Spicely and Antonio Trócoli, he was finished in round one.
Against the competition he has beaten Bergh has basically been able to blitz through opponents. In his fight with Norman Paraisy it was the first time he saw round two and he was visibly tired. Bergh is mainly a grappler with a vice grip choke being a submission threat. His wrestling isn’t really there as he will just get snap downs or get top position after a sloppy takedown from his opponents. On the feet, he has alright striking and decent kickboxing. His problem is he shells up a lot to then throw a strike. He walks forward a lot which is a bad look as he’s there to easily be hit coming in. In the clinch, Bergh is strong where he will muscle guys around even sometimes pulling the fight to the mat. He has some nice elbows he uses in the clinch and throws good knees. Overall, I’m not too impressed and I think he will struggle against UFC talent.
How do these two match up:
This might be a fight between two entry-level fighters by UFC standards, but it doesn’t mean it won’t be an exciting one. Between both men, they have 24 finishes and that is a pure 100% finish rate with only one finish between both going into the second round. On the feet, Gonzelez may be more dangerous having more knockout power but Bergh can definitely hold his own.
This fight most likely hits the mat and I think Bergh is much more of a threat there with his submissions. Gonzalez has four losses by submission so the chance of Bergh getting a hold of that neck is likely. While the pick is Bergh it could really go either way because I’m not sold on either’s skillset.
