The Bitetti Combat promotion has assembled another solid event for their sixth venture on February 25th in Brazil.  This marks the third time that Brazilian Paulo Filho will assume the headlining role for the young organization, as the Jiu-Jitsu based middleweight will face tough and crafty veteran Yuki Sasaki in the main event. 

Although it's not a UFC caliber card, the line-up is littered with seasoned veterans who are no strangers to the fight game.  In fact, four participants had a handful of fights back in the 90's, and three others began their careers a decade ago in the year 2000.

The supporting cast includes ATT grappling whiz Jeff Monson, who takes on The Pit's Glover Teixeira.  Team Nogueira up-and-comer Fabio Maldonado will engage former Rings icon Valentijn Overeem, Alistair's submission-oriented brother; a fighter who left some very unique footprints in MMA history.  Former Chute Boxe submission coach Cristiano Marcello, who is most renowned for choking out Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennet backstage at Pride, will fight Luciano Correa, while Pride and DREAM vet Luis "Buscape" Firmino is matched with Francisco Drinaldo.  Former UFC fighter Danillo Villefort is paired opposite Cassiano Tytschyo, and Jonny Eduardo draws Leandro Batata to round out the card.

There is a full breakdown of the match-ups just beyond the jump.

Despite his seemingly unimpressive 22-16-1 record, Yuki Sasaki is the type of hard-nosed Japanese fighter that is highly dynamic, difficult to finish, and incredibly resilient.  The Grabaka fighter first built his name in Shooto and Pancrase, but also has later appeared in the UFC, Pride, Sengoku, and DEEP.  He's faced a wealth of steep competition:  Yuki Kondo, Paul Taylor, Alex Stiebling, Ronald Jhun, Ryuta Sakurai (all wins by submission except Stiebling, which was a decision),  Minowaman, Rodrigo Gracie, Ricardo Almeida, Dave Terrell, Dean Lister, Jorge Santiago, and Kazuhiro Nakamura (losses).

He's an extremely well-rounded fighter, he's tough as nails, he has unnerving compsoure, and his extensive experience is readily apparent in his gritty performances.  Sasaki is, however, much more inclined to execute exciting and risky maneuvers than to play it safe and cerebral; an honorable and fan-friendly characteristic that has fostered calamity for the creative fighter in the past. 

If we see the same moderately motivated Filho that we've beheld since the WEC/depression fiasco, Filho may be in for a long evening.  Filho was arguably the #1 middleweight before Anderson Silva rose to stardom in the UFC, and his atrocious loss to Chael Sonnen when the WEC belt was on the line remains the only flaw on his record, but he has not blown fans away by any means since departing the states to reinvigorate his career overseas, and his mental state and cardio must be in top-shape to surpass Sasaki.

As usual, Filho will also be battling against a significant height and reach disadvantage, which only increases the danger and difficulty of his critical forward movement through striking range and into takedown territory.  Since his strategy is rather transparent and obvious, expect Sasaki to give him fits on the feet and to frustrate Filho by resisting his powerful takedown attempts with a strong clinch and decent boxing.  As mentioned previously, Sasaki is the type of fighter that is supremely confident to do battle anywhere, so as we saw in the UFC when he fought Dean Lister, he just may be courageous (and capable) enough to duel with Filho on the ground.  Although it's definitely a longshot, I would not be surprised if Sasaki snared a spirited decision win for the upset in this one.

Glover Teixeira trains at "The Pit" under John Hackleman alongside Chuck Liddell and Antonio Banuelos.  He's got the heavy hands you'd expect from a Hackleman product, but Teixeira also has a phenomenal arsenal of Jiu Jitsu skills.  Teixeira was the man behind the mysterious TKO loss on Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou's record well before Sokoudjou became a seemingly unstoppable star in Pride FC, and Teixeira also has a win over old school Vale Tudo fighter Jorge Oliveira.

Teixeira has faced Monson and Brandon Vera in grappling competitions, unsuccessfully.  Regardless, he has the technical savvy to compete on the floor with Monson, and is much more formidable standing, so this should be a competitive fight--but of course, Monson is the rightful favorite and is likely to pull off a unanimous decision.  It's worth noting that the frenetic fight-schedule of Monson's has him fighting Bryan Vetell in the main event of Xtreme Kombat on February 20th, just 5 days before this Bitetti Combat event.  Monson's a warhorse with an iron chin and a fighter's heart, but I wouldn't rule out the underdog in this bout either.

Valentijn Overeem is the brother of Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, and has fights on his 26-25 record stemming back to 1996.  Overeem is a member of the Golden Glory team in Holland, and gained a reputation as one of the most feared submissionists after catching "Babalu" Sobral in a toe-hold (the only time Babalu has ever been submitted) and was one of three fighters to submit UFC legend Randy Couture.  Conversely, Overeem has also himself been submitted by some respectable competition (Big Nog twice, Kiyoshi Tamura, Igor Vovchanchyn), and also by... Gilbert Yvel.  Overeem lives and dies by the submission, winning 16 of his 26 victories and losing 15 out of 25 by that particular method.

Needless to say, he has extraordinary talent yet remains a wildly inconsistent and unpredictable fighter. 

His opponent, Fabio Maldonado, trains with Team Nogueira and is a Muay Thai striker with 9 TKO's on his 13-3 record.  After his first 3 fights in 2000, Maldonado took some serious time off and only competed three times from 2001-2006.  Maldonado has remained dedicated and fought consistently since then, most recently besting Fernando Tressino at the last Bitetti Combat show.  Given Overeem's flakey tendencies and current career trajectory, I'm liking Maldonado by TKO in the early rounds.

Rounding out the card, 8-2 Cristiano Marcello has finished all of his fights (6 by sub, 2 by TKO) and has only lost to lightweight standouts Luiz Azeredo and Mitsuhiro Ishida, and will most likely throttle MMA newcomer Luciano "Izzy" Correa quickly.  I expect a similar Jiu Jitsu clinic from ATT fighter Luiz "Buscape" Firmino in his match with Francisco Drinaldo, who is only 3 fights deep in his undefeated professional career.

UFC one-timer Danillo Villefort will get a primer for his upcoming Shine Fights opponent, Nick Thompson, when he's pitted against Cassiano Tytschyo.  19-6 Tytschyo is a decent wrestler with good ground skills, winning 11 of his 19 victories by submission.  This will not be an easy fight for scrapper Villefort, but he should have his hand raised when the dust settles.

Finally, 23-8 lightweight Jonny Eduardo is up against Leandro Batata.  Eduardo is an old name you may recognize from your equally aged IVC and Vale Tudo Japan VHS tapes.  He's battled with Takanori Gomi, Milton Vieira, and Wander Braga, and he'll also be riding the momentum of a nine-fight winning streak coming into the match.  He's recently competed in Jungle Fight, Shooto-Brazil, and Bellator FC.

This is a rock-solid presentation for an organization like Bitteti Combat, and I'll definitely be tuning in.