You just have to love it when UFC events book-end a work week. Last Saturday's UFC 122 was a nice opportunity for fans to take a break from pay-per-view charges, but this weekend, you're pretty likely to get your $44.95 worth of action as UFC 123 broadcasts from Michigan. This card is top heavy for sure, with four superstars involved in the featured bouts. But don't sleep on the rest of the card. Usually, when there aren't a lot of household names, you're in for some big surprises. Let's take a few minutes to check out the top fights.
Light Heavyweights--Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Lyoto Machida: This is one of many fights that could pit former Light Heavyweight Champs against each other. This is an interesting one, not because I think Rampage will win, but because he gave Rashad Evans constant grief about being KO'd by Machida when they coached against each other on "The Ultimate Fighter." Knowing a little bit about what kind of person Machida is, I feel confident that he will be hungry and extremely well prepared for this fight, considering his last outing resulted in him surrendering the belt to Shogun. Rampage, on the other hand, is hard to predict. His last few performances have been uninspiring. If he gets serious like he did for Chuck Liddell and Dan Henderson, it could be entertaining. Most likely, though, Machida will have conditioning on his side, plus his deadly accurate striking and take down defense. Unless Rampage found his fire again, I don't expect this fight to go the distance. Prediction: Lyoto Machida by TKO.
Welterweights--Matt Hughes vs. B.J. Penn: I've always felt that fighting at 170 pounds is a mistake for Penn. It's usually just screwed his record up in the past, but I'm behind him for this one. It is a rubber match, after all, and I like the way he matches up with Hughes. B.J.'s striking is superior to Hughes', as is his jiu jitsu. What Hughes has had on his side in the past is conditioning, brute strength and wrestling. Hughes looked incredible in his fights against Matt Serra, Renzo Gracie and Ricardo Almeida, but Almeida was the only one of them that I thought would really give Hughes trouble. He didn't, but I don't know if that's enough to convince me that Hughes will put B.J. on his back and pound him out. I mean, Hughes has to start looking his age at some point, right? This fight will take one of two distinctly different paths. I'm going to side with B.J., because he's got to be incredibly hungry right now, knowing full well that I could be totally wrong. Prediction: B.J. Penn by decision.
Light Heavyweights--Aaron Simpson vs. Mark Munoz: I love, love, love this match-up. Both of these guys are stud wrestlers with good hands. The prevailing trend is that when good wrestlers fight each other, you end up with a stand-up fight. If there's any justice in this world, that's what we'll get. Munoz has serious power, while Simpson is just fun to watch. Simpson fights at a high pace and throws really nice combinations. I fully believe that Munoz could end the fight with one punch, but I think the odds are a little higher that Simpson will control the action and outwork him. Prediction: Aaron Simpson by decision.
Preliminary bouts: Spike TV will be airing a couple of preliminary fights. I don't know which ones we're going to see, but I'm really hoping that Tyson Griffin vs. Nick Lentz and Phil Davis vs. Tim Boetsch are in there. Those are a couple of great match-ups as well, that should yield really entertaining fights. Tyson Griffin is like a wind-up toy, while Phil Davis is the guy that I consider to be the most exciting up-and-comer in the Light Heavyweight division, with the exception of Jon Jones. Keep an eye out for those fights before the PPV broadcast comes on.
Read more: Sport
No comments:
Post a Comment