I have fairly seriously taped Jacoby-Flores and Medic-Gonzalez, so I might as well share my conclusions for a change.
Jacoby is easily the best fighter on this entire card and even a guy who can have some success in the UFC, whether at 185 or 205. His kickboxing skills are legitimately good, and his takedown defense is solid.
Flores is an absolute mess. He has shown shockingly little improvement from 2015 to 2019 except for his wrestling improving from dreadful/non-existent to merely mediocre. Weak chin, awful defense, awful technique on his punches. He fights at a breakneck pace, is a tough guy, and has okay cardio, but that has its limits, even against his level of opposition.
He flat-out lost to Bochnovic (the crowd and announcers were very, very heavily partisan in his favor, so the bad decision doesn't shock me), and was saved by the bell after being mercilessly dominated, beaten, and having a RNC sunk in against him versus Jordan Dowdy. He should be 6-3 and is lucky not to be 5-4.
I've learned to respect the unpredictability of the Contender Series, so I'm passing on -270 for Jacoby, but this is almost as much of a "lock" as there can be on this show.
Next up I taped Mikey Gonzalez versus Uros Medic.
Mikey Gonzalez is from nearby San Jose, and he looks EXACTLY like what you would expect from a fighter from east side San Jose; surly-looking Mexican covered in tattoos, including on his neck.
However, he fights NOTHING like what you would expect from a fighter from east side San Jose. He is a taekwondo stylist who has a very bladed side stance and throws a variety of exotic kicks, including a bunch of axe kicks and hook kicks. He is very, very patient and calm in his approach.
He isn't bad, and I appreciate his originality and creativity, but alas, that isn't what I want to see for an opponent of Medic.
Medic simply can't wrestle worth a lick. I almost can't believe a fighter can have takedown defense this bad nowadays and be 5-0, but the Alaskan MMA scene is only slightly better than picking crackheads, full-time janitors, and random fans out of the crowd to get into the cage and fight. It's not like he is good at getting up either, and him subbing guys off his back with sloppy triangles isn't going to work against a BJJ brown belt who competes in grappling tournaments like Mikey.
Trouble is, Mikey has no apparent interest in wrestling himself and prefers to stand, where Medic is certainly competent, if not impressive, and could easily win a decision.
To Medic's credit, his takedown defense has gone from completely non-existent to merely very poor in the 14 months years between his 3rd and 5th fights, so maybe it's improved to merely poor or very mediocre now, another 14 months later?
Anyways, with the lack of observable wrestling skills for Mikey and uncertainty there, I'm passing on both sides of this line and would advise others to do the same.
