UFC Fight Night 19 preview
Published by Jim Genia on September 10th, 2009 in Current Events

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There are match-ups meant to solidify rankings, match-ups meant to cement title runs, and match-ups meant solely for the viewing pleasure of the fans. UFC Fight Night 19: “Diaz vs. Guillard” has none of those kinds of match-ups on tap. Instead, the card – headlined by TUF 5 winner Nate Diaz and TUF 2 castoff Melvin Guillard and stocked with nonsensical pairings like Carlos Condit against Jake Ellenberger and Gray Maynard against Roger Huerta – can best be summed up by the word “relevancy”. As in, “who still possesses it?”

Guillard sure doesn’t, and Diaz is on the cusp of losing whatever he had coming out of the fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter. An athletic striker with a lightning-quick jab and absolutely zero ground game, Guillard has inexplicably found his way into the Octagon on numerous occasions, picking off scrubs like a hyena gnashing at a mortally wounded gazelle (see his bouts against Gabe Ruediger, Rick Davis and Dennis Siver for proof). He’s no world-beater, and, split decision win over Gleison Tibau notwithstanding, has fallen to anyone with even a modicum of submission skill.

To his credit, Diaz, a whip-thin lightweight potty mouth and kid brother to Nick, has far more than a modicum of submission skill. But after stringing together five wins in the Octagon, he was subsequently outworked by Clay Guida and Joe Stevenson, and now fans are left wondering just how much their Nate Diaz action figures and mint-condition Nate Diaz cards are going to be worth in twenty years. More than Guillard, Diaz needs a “W” here to maintain his relevancy. Will he get it? Barring any unforeseen circumstances – like errant banana peels, falling comets or what have you – Diaz should emerge victorious. You never know, though. His apathetic stand-up game could have him walking face-first into a Guillard fist. Then both men would be irrelevant.

Former WEC champ Condit tasted defeat in his first UFC bout. He returns now to face newcomer Jake Ellenberger, a ham-and-egger who fought and won and lost in everything from BodogFight, M-1 Challenge and the IFL. Condit needs a win here to establish himself as a legitimate big league player, something which eluded him when he gave up the split decision to Marvin Kampmann at the last UFC Fight Night, and though Ellenberger looked impressive scoring a 42-knockout at a June Bellator event, the WEC refugee should get it.

When last we heard from Huerta, he was blasting his employers over money and promising to commit to modeling for a living. Consequently, the lightweight – who graced the cover of Sports Illustrated and at one time seemed to be saddled with the role of Mexicano poster boy – was gone from the spotlight almost immediately, kept on ice and ignored by the powers that be. Now it’s time for that last fight on Huerta’s contract, and Maynard, the prince of lay-and-pray, gets to play the role of human blanket, smothering whatever embers of a fighting career Huerta once had. “Relevancy” most aptly describes what’s at stake in this one, and Maynard should be successful in suffocating the last of Huerta’s mojo.

Why are Nate Quarry and Tim Credeur even fighting? Surely the 37-year-old Team Quest representative and the 32-year-old TUF 7 almost-was could be doing better things, like training those young bucks who might actually make some waves in the middleweight division. Quarry will likely pound out the win, but will it matter?

Don’t tune for any epic battles between titans or to see who could be the next great star, for UFC Fight Night 19 isn’t even remotely about that. But for those curious about who gets to keep their jobs and who gets told to take a hike next, well, “Diaz vs. Guillard” might be worth pressing record on the DVR.