Featherweight: Connor Matthews Vs. Jair Farias
Tale of the Tape
31-years-old
5’8″
Fall River, Massachusetts, US
New England Cartel
6-1
1 KO/TKO, 5 Submissions
Combined opponents’ record: 27-119
30-years-old
5’11″
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Combat Club
10-0
7 KO/TKOs, 2 Submissions
Combined opponents’ record: 40-22-1
Pros and Cons
Connor Matthews
Pros
- Fast starter
- Heavy hands
- Good back take
- Submission threat/Dangerous RNC
- Good straight punches
- Good ground and pound
Cons
- Head movement lacks
- TDD needs some work
- Slows as the fight goes
Jair Farias
Pros
- Good leg kicks
- Explosive
- Good right hand
Cons
- Poor TDD
- Vulnerable to leg kicks
- Hands low
Who has the advantage?
Striking: Matthews
Speed: Farias
Output/Volume: Matthews
Kickboxing: Farias
Striking defense: Farias
Footwork/movement: Farias
Wrestling: Matthews
Grappling: Matthews
Gas tank: Farias
Prediction: I don’t know what to think of Farias. Only his last two fights are available but he’s still a tough one to read. Matthews is getting his second shot on DWCS after coming up short to Francis Marshall last season. A lot of questions were answered in that Marshall fight. Before that, he was fighting severely weak competition and never fought past three minutes. In his fight with Marshall, although he showed toughness, he did prove to have a few holes. His striking defense isn’t too good and he does slow down. Now, that was against Marshall and Marshall is a quality fighter.
Farias is now the one that has a lot of questions. He has the capability to be a really good fighter but he lacks the fundamentals. Someone with his length should be on the outside creating havoc with his range. He throws good kicks at range but doesn’t really use his size as he should. He’s there to be cracked as his hands are low and his takedown defense is poor.
This could be a really fun fight as both should bring out the best in each other. I’m leaning ever so slightly toward Matthews. In this match-up, I like how Matthews is the more well-rounded fighter. Farias isn’t much of a grappler I don’t think and Matthews has mostly won by submission. Matthews is likely to be more aggressive than Farias who is more low-volume. The pick is Matthews by submission but I’m not confident.
