How high can Michael Chiesa fly at welterweight?
[autotag]Michael Chiesa[/autotag] looked like a man reinvented when he fought Carlos Condit at UFC 232. In his welterweight debut, the “TUF 15” champion looked every bit the fighter who no longer had to drain himself with a big weight cut. This was most notable in the scrambles, as Chiesa outmaneuvered Condit, one of 170’s all-time best on the ground, before submitting him in the second round.
Unfortunately, Chiesa hasn’t been able to follow up as fast as he might like. He took a fight with aging Diego Sanchez as much out of necessity, without any other fighters available who made sense, and took an easy decision at UFC 239.
Now Chiesa gets the opponent of the name and ranking value he was looking for in dos Anjos, who comes in with a thing or two to improve on his own. Saturday should give us a real, and long-awaited, indication on just what Chiesa’s ceiling might be at 170 pounds.
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