Preview: UFC Nashville ‘Lewis vs. Teixeira’

Featherweights

Nate Landwehr (18-6, 5-3 UFC) vs. Morgan Charriere (20-11-1, 2-2 UFC)

ODDS: Charriere (-260); Landwehr (+210)

With only a handful of fighters from Tennessee currently on roster, it falls to “The Train” to deliver some bliss to the Nashville crowd. Landwehr has been a somewhat surprising success story in the UFC, joining after a long run in M-1 Global of all places, where he won a title. After dropping two of his first three Octagon bouts by first-round knockout, he settled in as a classic overachiever, action hero and tough out for almost any opponent. His game is built on recklessly aggressive striking, opportunistic wrestling and a sneaky-slick submission game, paired with durability, cardio and pace to drown many more skilled opponents.

Even after a setback two years ago against Dan Ige in his first shot at the next tier of featherweight competition, Landwehr appeared to be in good shape, as he bounced right back with a first-round finish of Jamall Emmers.

However, his last outing, against Doo Ho Choi at UFC 310 last December, was cause for concern. Landwehr entered the cage as the favorite for once, with Choi the one under pressure to prove he was still UFC material, and lost badly. The problem as not the loss so much as the optics, as Choi beat Landwehr in his own wheelhouse. While both men are aggressive strikers, Choi was the more composed of the two, leaving Landwehr looking wild and ineffectual. “Korean Superboy” was by far the more effective wrestler, taking Landwehr down with ease several times. Worst of all, it was Landwehr, usually the builder and grinder, who wore down as the fight went on, leading directly to the third-round TKO loss.

In order to get back on track, Landwehr will need to get past Charriere. “The Last Pirate” has been a promising prospect for what seems like forever: an exciting, charismatic, good-looking fighter who has been a rising star in his native France since before MMA was even legal there. It seemed a foregone conclusion that someone like the UFC would snap Charriere up eventually, which it did two years ago.

The results have been mixed since then. When he has won, as he did against Gabriel Miranda and Manolo Zecchini, it has been with spectacular bursts of striking offense. When those bursts have not come, as they did not against Jose Mariscal and Nathaniel Wood, Charriere has gotten lulled into slow-paced affairs in which it is difficult for him to win rounds even though the fight is generally competitive.

In effect, Charriere has become a bit like Manel Kape, or the most frustrating version of Anthony Pettis, waiting too patiently for the perfect opening that may or may not come. Stringing together enough wins to become a contender in a division as brutal as featherweight requires that a fighter learn to win rounds, and the Landwehr fight is an excellent opportunity to find out whether Charriere has made any progress there.

If the Landwehr-Choi fight had not happened, this would be a very easy fight to call, and not in the Frenchman’s favor. However, with Landwehr now 37 and coming off a performance in which he struggled to control the fight in any way, the pick is for a torch-passing moment, with Charriere finding a big moment or two on the feet, and staying active enough in the moments between to win two out of three rounds and pick up the decision victory.



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Lewis vs. Teixeira
Thompson vs. Bonfim
Kattar vs. Garcia
Landwehr vs. Charriere
Petrino vs. Lane
Tafa vs. Tokkos
The Prelims