The Ultimate Fighter Live: James Vick vs. Joe Proctor Preview

If you have nothing to do on a Friday night, be sure to tune in to FX at 10 p.m. ET to witness great MMA bouts from the future of the sport. Eight fighters remain on this season of The Ultimate Fighter, and they are putting in work everyday to try to earn the six-figure contract with the UFC.

The first of the two quarterfinal match-ups on this week’s episode will feature James Vick of Team Cruz taking on Team Faber’s Joe Proctor. The MMA Corner’s own Corey Adams will break down this bout and give a prediction on which lightweight will come out on top this Friday.

Out of the two match-ups that will take place later this week, this fight between Vick and Proctor will be the most difficult to predict.

In one corner you have Vick, who at 6-foot-3 is the tallest fighter on the show and uses that to his advantage once the cage door is locked. Vick not only possesses a reach that is greater compared to his fellow competitors, but also is able to use his long limbs once the fight hits the mat.

Vick’s preference is to use his length to score with his strikes, which are deadly. Just ask Daron Cruickshank, who was on the wrong end of a Vick knee that caught Cruickshank as he was coming in for a takedown.

Long, lanky guys have been successful in the UFC, and Vick is hoping to become the next. To move onto the next stage of the competition, Vick will have to keep the fight standing because his opponent is a grappling ace.

His name is Joe Proctor, a protégé of UFC lightweight contender Joe Lauzon, who trains out of Boston. In his young career, Proctor has won seven fights. He defeated Chris Tickle by submission in the second round a few weeks ago.

With Lauzon as his coach at Team Aggression, Proctor has been practicing jiu-jitsu ever since he was a teenager and has evolved as a guy you don’t want to mess with on the ground.

This will, for the most part, be a striker vs. grappler match-up, where Proctor will have to bring Vick to the ground to have his hand raised. His keys in the Octagon will be to overcome the reach advantage Vick will have on him, close the distance, and press his opponent against the cage to help secure a takedown.

Against Vick, Proctor will have a harder time earning a submission, though. Vick will be able to use his long limbs to escape some submission attempts by Proctor, which will cause this bout to go the distance.

Vick may have earned a stunning knockout in his last fight, but it will be difficult to get that lucky again. Proctor will find a way to take the fight to the ground and grind out a decision win over Vick.