UFC Fight Night 26 Results: Chael Sonnen submits Shogun

Some people are hailing last night’s UFC event as one of the cards of the year. It’s difficult to argue.

It had all the elements of a great event including flashy KOs, comebacks, wild brawls and some sneaky submissions.

Chael Sonnen def. Mauricio Rua via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 4:47

Poor Shogun. This is his second defeat in a row that has carried an air of sadness about it and it effectively ends his career as a legitimate contender in the UFC’s light heavyweight division.

The former PRIDE grand prix champion looked in good shape when he turned the fight around after Sonnen struck first with a powerful double-leg takedown, but he wasn’t able to offer much offence, or make much of a meaningful threat to take the fight on to the feet.

He defended one Sonnen guillotine attempt, but he was not ready for the second, and his army of fans were left to digest the uncomfortable reality that he was forced to tap out with a few seconds to go in round number one.

Sonnen doesn’t really flex his submission game too often. In fact, he’s famous for allowing his opponents to flex theirs. However, he has some decent chokes in his arsenal for anyone who’s slack on their submission defence, and it was a surprise for Shogun last night.

On a final note: Sonnen’s call out of Wanderlei Silva was wonderful. The absence of a Sonnen victory in the recent past led me to forget about his mic work, but he proved once again that he’s the best in the business in immediately setting the scene for his next encounter.

Travis Browne def. Alistair Overeem via KO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:08

Alistair Overeem really can’t take a shot, and that is bad news for him in the heavyweight division.

To his credit, he came out from the opening bell like a man with a point to prove and bludgeoned Travis Browne with knees to the body and punches, which would have killed any normal person, never mind knock them out.

Browne hung in there and deserves credit for intelligently defending himself (yes, covering up is good defence if your arms block all punches) and getting back to his feet. When the two giants were back on their feet, Overeem was giving it the ol’ crouch-and-drop-hands and was a sitting duck for a nice front kick that floored him. Browne’s reaction and coffin-nail hammerfists were also worthy of applause, as the Dutchman had no chance to recover and survive.

Browne should be paired up with another heavyweight coming off a win in his next fight. Overeem? Who knows.

Urijah Faber def. Yuri Alcantara via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)

These scorecards were absurd. Not because Faber didn’t win but because Alcantara definitively took the first round. It was a surprise to me and I think a surprise to The California Kid that his opponent was able to drop him so easily and take very dangerous dominant positions from the word go and maintain them for the majority of the first five minute period.

The following 10 minutes showed just how great of a fighter Faber is though, as he won the grappling battle and got in position to throw powerful elbows from the top and staying out of danger.

Not the most thrilling, blood and guts fight involving Urijah Faber ever, but an exciting affair that should have sent grappling heads spinning.

Matt Brown def. Mike Pyle via KO (punches) – Round 1, 0:29

I think Matt Brown’s handiwork speaks for itself, because pretty much nothing else happened in this fight.

Is he a title contender now? No

Is Mike Pyle practically a champion? Absolutely not.

But is Matt Brown deserving of a high quality fighter for his next contest, where a win could propel him legitimately towards that belt? Oh yes. A six fight win streak is not to be scoffed at, especially at welterweight and it deserves just that kind of reward.

John Howard def. Uriah Hall via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)

Last night’s one real low point, and best forgotten. Uriah Hall has shat the bed in two UFC fights now, meaning he should probably be cut despite his stylish TUF heroics.

The fact that John Howard was a serviceable fighter, but a late replacement best suited to 170lbs is not going to help matters. Credit to Doomsday though. He got the job done and his foot back in the UFC door. Hopefully he’ll make thee trip back down to welterweight and put on some more entertaining fights.

Michael Johnson def. Joe Lauzon via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-25)

For my money, the award for most impressive performance on the main card goes to Michael Johnson. Joe Lauzon was heavily favoured in this fight but he had no answer to Johnson’s forward pressure, punches and kicks in combinations, accuracy and power.

Johnson was unlucky not to stop the fight in the first round and can be forgiven for fading slightly in the second. He was still up against a legitimate, established top-20 lightweight.

Prelims

The award for most impressive performance of the night has to got to young Michael McDonald. Simply put, he kicked Brad Pickett’s ass all over the octagon for five minutes and only the Brit’s otherworldly chin saved him from a referee’s stoppage or even a trip out of the cage on a stretcher.

In the second round Pickett tried to turn the tables on the matt, but McDonald responded with a remarkably fast triangle attempt, which I wouldn’t have expected a fighter with the grappling ability of Pickett to be caught in. Then despite a decent effort to escape, the tap followed.

McDonald doesn;t even train at a renowned gym, yet he’s already beaten several top contenders and given Renan Barao his toughest test in the UFC to date. He’s got power like no-one else in the lighter weight classes and a ferocious appetite for violence. He’s also still a baby in the sport. Sean Shelby. Please get this man back on our screens soon and as often as possible.

Also worth a mention are Conor McGregor’s unremarkable, but impressive (especially considering an apparent knee injury) win against tough as they come Hawaiian youngster Max Holloway, and Steve Siler’s KO of former featherweight champ Mike Brown. Siler was promised a bit of Uncle Dana’s backroom bonus action for this KO, and I certainly won’t begrudge him it.

Michael McDonald def. Brad Pickett via submission (triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:43
Conor McGregor def. Max Holloway via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Steven Siler def. Mike Brown via KO (punches) – Round 1, 0:50
Diego Brandao def. Daniel Pineda via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Manny Gamburyan def. Cole Miller via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Ovince St. Preux def. Cody Donovan via KO (punches) – Round 1, 2:07
James Vick def. Ramsey Nijem via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:58

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Dana White post-fight UFC on FOX Sports 1 media scrum

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UFC on FOX Sports 1: Shogun vs. Sonnen post-fight press conference

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UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen Preview

UFC Fight Night (26), UFC on FOX Sports 1, whatever. There’s a potentially excellent UFC event tonight to launch a new sports channel in the US.

Some commentators have been fairly down on the main card and the headliner in particular because of the recent losses on the records of its competitors.

Even if you’re not enthused by a five-round scrap between two exciting, high-level fighters, there’s plenty of other fights to whet your appetite including a clash of heavyweight behemoths, some top-10 bantamweight action and the presence of several renowned bonus machines.

Light Heavyweight – Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua vs. Chael Sonnen

Eight years ago, Shogun was ranked on top of the light heavyweight pile after a stunning victory in the PRIDE middleweight grand prix. Chael Sonnen was busy washing out of the UFC with submission losses and preparing to rebuild his career with stints in Bodog and the WEC. How times have changed.

Shogun is now being written off after Alexander Gustafsson beat him in Decembe, which was just the latest in a series of brutal wars he has been involved in since he joined the UFC. Sonnen remains highly regarded and is favourite in this fight, despite dropping his last two – although those fights were arguably against the two best fighters of all time.

How this fight will go is a mystery to me. Shogun should not be written off because he still packs some mind-blowing power and a fantastic, underrated sweeping ground game. On the other hand, he’s liable to tire, while Chael will keep pushing the pace for 25 full minutes. I’d lean towards Shogun if he was was more inclined to throw submissions from guard, but gun to my head, I think Sonnen will tough it out through some heavy fire, and take a decision victory.

Heavyweight – Alistair Overeem vs. Travis Browne

The UFC’s most impressive physical specimen returns, and looks to prove he’s not all hype after a devastating knockout loss in his last fight.

Alistair Overeem should get the better of Travis Browne using his excellent striking defence (while he’s not exhausted and cocky), picking off the Hawaiian with heavy counter punches and kicks and knees to the body. furthermore, if Overeem wants to take the fight to the mat he has overlooked takedowns and top control.

One thing he’ll have to watch out for is Browne’s power. If anything creeps through that defence then it could be game over. Even if The Reem’s guard is nearly impenetrable, his chin is suspect, and Browne packs the power to change a fight in a flash against even the most granite jaw.

Bantamweight – Urijah Faber vs. Yuri Alcantara

The former #1 featherweight in the world should continue his march up the bantamweight ladder after this fight. He should, but he’s pretty much at the top and the only men ahead of him won’t be fighting him any time soon.

Either way The California Kid should keep his skills fresh in everyone’s minds via the usual channels if he’s able to avoid eating too many leg kicks.  Lightning-quick scrambles and a dominant choke series are enough to put almost every single bantamweight in the world away, and as  skilled as Alcantara is, he’s not one of them.

Welterweight – Matt Brown vs. Mike Pyle

This contest should be a sure-fire winner from the UFC’s go-to action fighter and Muay Thai wrecking machine Matt Brown, and Mike Pyle, who fights in a that should make him perfect foil for his style.

In his last few fights, Brown has been stepping out from the opening bell, going forward and locking horns with his opponents with the same aggression as a stag in heat. His momentum has taken him into the clinch, where he has developed into an outstanding practitioner of hard knees and elbows.

Pyle is solid, but unable to stand up to that kind of punishment and he doesn’t possess the sort of offence that Brown can’t find a way out of.

Middleweight – Uriah Hall vs. John Howard

Touted as the next Anderson Silva after a flashy tun on TUF, Uriah Hall did not live up to the hype when he lost in the finalé. His UFC career is at risk, but he should be able to get past John Howard. Howard had a decent run in the UFC before he bounced out of the promotion after three straight losses, but his success was generally based in his kickboxing. Anyone who saw Hall on TUF should know that striking is his forté, and his size advantage over the long-time welterweight should be another asset to see him to victory.

Lightweight – Joe Lauzon vs. Michael Johnson 

Bonus machine Joe Lauzon gets a bounce back fight, probably as a reward for his awesome tilt with Jim Miller in his last outing. With the roar of the Boston crowd behind him he should be far too much for Michael Johnson.

Johnson is fighting on borrowed time after two straight losses, and the only thing likely to save his job is a fight of the night bonus-worthy performance. Luckily, he’s fighting the best man to help him achieve that.

Prelims

If you want anything to look out for here, pick any of the lighter-weight fights on the undercard.

The pic of the bunch is Brad Pickett vs. Michael McDonald, which should be features on a main card sue to the top 10 status of the competitors.

The other fight to watch out for is Conor McGregor’s sophomore appearance in the UFC. I’m not quite ready to jump on board the Irish hype train just yey, but McGregor sure looked impressive in his debut in Sweden against Marcus Brimage, and exciting to boot. Max Holloway is a good second opponent, an exciting fighter and most importantly, well chosen. McGregor should secure another win and stride on towards a prominent spot upon the UFC’s return to Ireland next year.

Bantamweight – Brad Pickett vs. Michael McDonald
Featherweight – Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway
Featherweight – Mike Brown vs. Steven Siler
Featherweight – Diego Brandao vs. Daniel Pineda
Featherweight – Manvel Gamburyan vs. Cole Miller
Light Heavyweight – Cody Donovan vs. Ovince St. Preux
Lightweight – Ramsey Nijem vs. James Vick

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UFC on Fox Sports 1: Shogun vs. Sonnen weigh in video and results

All fighters were on weight for the UFC’s UFC on FOX Sports 1 curtain raiser tonight.

Without any cases of missed weight there’s not an awful lot of analysis I can really do, but I will say that Alistair Overeem looked in considerably better condition than he did before his last, ill-fated trip into the octagon. He doesn’t look quite the same beast who stepped in to crush Brock Lesnar or any of his Strikeforce opponents (draw your own conclusions as to why that is) but he looks in shape and ready to take on a very dangerous opponent in Travis Browne.

Whether or not that’s enough we’ll have to wait until tonight to find out.

Main Card

Mauricio Rua (205) vs. Chael Sonnen (205)
Travis Browne (236) vs. Alistair Overeem (255.5)
Yuri Alcantara (136) vs. Urijah Faber (135.5)
Matt Brown (171) vs. Mike Pyle (170)
Uriah Hall (184) vs. John Howard (185)
Michael Johnson (156) vs. Joe Lauzon (156)

Prelims

Michael McDonald (135.5) vs. Brad Pickett (135.5)
Max Holloway (145) vs. Conor McGregor (146)
Mike Brown (145.5) vs. Steven Siler (145.5)
Diego Brandao (146) vs. Daniel Pineda (144.5)
PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, 4:30 p.m. ET)
Manny Gamburyan (145.5) vs. Cole Miller (146)
Cody Donovan (204) vs. Ovince St. Preux (205.5)
Ramsey Nijem (156) vs. James Vick (155)

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UFC on FOX Sports 1: Shogun vs. Sonnen video

It’s Friday, it’s fight week and there’s plenty of chatter from the main card fighters to hear.

As usual, the cream of the pre-fight interviews come from MMAFighting.com, and from the microphone of Ariel Helwani. For the most part he doesn;t shy away from asking the kind of questions that other interviewers might shy away from.

Ahead of the UFC’s Fox Sports 1 debut:

• Chael Sonnen dials down the crazy, but just a little. His latest idea is to apply to referee the Chris Weidman Anderson Silva rematch. We’ll see about that.
• Shogun is not impressed with Chael Sonnen
• The returning Alistair Overeem describes his emotions after his crushing defeat to Bigfoot Silva, his return to Holland and the prospects of a title shot in the future.
• Travis Browne has a beard.
• Urijah Faber tries to convince everyone Yuri Alcantra is a legitimate threat and that he had to look him up when he was offered the fight. He also teases his desire to move back to featherweight while the bantamweight title picture sorts itself out.
• Joe Lauzon describes the process of healing the kind of gash he suffered in the Jim Miller fight. Grizzly.

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Guess who’s back: Chael Sonnen vs Shogun for UFC 161

Earlier today, UFC 160 took a bit of a hit, when the…. shall we say reasonably highly anticipated (but probably about four years too late) rematch between Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua and Antonio Rogerio ‘Minotoro’ Nogueira was scuppered following an injury to ‘L’il Nog’.

Enter the man with the biggest arms and the biggest charms. From Chael Sonnen’s twitter:

@ShogunRua I HEAR BRAZILIAN CHICKEN IS OFF THE MENU. AMERICAN GANGSTER IS STILL AVAILABLE IF YOU WANT TO SEND YOUR WAITRESS OVER.

Sure enough, just over three hours later Bloody Elbow reported that Sonnen would step in to square off against the former UFC heavyweight champion in little over a month.

This changes everything for Shogun. He would have been anticipating a stand-up war with L’il Nog, and now he’s going to have to contend with an all-american wrestler. Furthermore, he’s only got five weeks to prepare.

After last months thrashing from Jon Jones, I think most educated MMA fans thought Sonnen had probably reached the end of the road in this division. However, he has talked himself into another fight you could certainly argue he doesn’t deserve on merit, and he’s matched up against a top 10 opponent.

The fight is winnable, and he could be clambering his way into the mix with the division’s elite a lot quicker than we had ever thought possible.

Let the vitriol begin!

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Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman announced for UFC 162 PLUS other announcements.

And it’s about damn time. This fight will go down on the UFC’s annual July 4th fight card in Vegas, a full year after Silva last defended his title against Chael Sonnen.

Many commentators see this fight as Silva’s biggest test to date, but I think a lot of that is based on a bit of hype around Weidman. I’m not saying that he’s not an excellent fighter, but he has fewer fights than Silva has title defences.

Weidman has looked more or less infallible up to this point in his MMA career, but Anderson has a habit of exposing and hurting fighters in ways that have never been done previously.

Chris Leben and Vitor Belfort had never been knocked out, Chael Sonnen had never been stopped with strikes,  and Stephan Bonnar had never been stopped at all, but they were all starched by the middleweight champion.

Stranger things have happened, but I am expecting another win from the greatest martial artist in history over a 9-0 pretender.

That’s not all though, there’s been quite a few fights announces or targeted over the last few days

UFC 161

Renan Barao vs. Eddie Wineland – UFC interim bantamweight title
Dan Henderson vs. Rashad Evans
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Mauricio Rua
Stipe Miocic vs. Soa Palelei
Jake Shields vs. Tyron Woodley

UFC 162

Thiago Silva vs. Rafael ‘Feijao’ Cavalcante

Some thoughts. That all leaves UFC 161 looking like a pretty stacked card.

Barao/Wineland is about as solid as you could make a bantamweight title fight without the presence of Dominick Cruz, and Evans/Henderson must be the highest level fight you could wish to make between two fighters coming off a loss.

It seems a little odd to match up Shogun with Rogerio seeing as L’il Nog is coming off the best win of his career against Rashad Evans and Shogun is coming off a deflating loss to Alexander Gustaffson, but it’s the rematch of the 2005 fight of the year, so I’m sure I’ll get over it.

 

UFC on FOX 4 Results – Shogun stops Vera, Machida earns title shot

Shogun and Brandon Vera engage during their 4 round war…

… while Lyoto Machida stands over Ryan Bader after knocking him unconscious

As its’ been a couple of days since this event I’ll just give a few brief thoughts on a fantastic evening of combat from Los Angeles. There was not a single fight on the card that disappointed.

Mauricio Rua def. Brandon Vera via TKO at 4:09 of Round 4.

After being counted out by almost everyone, Brandon Vera put on one of the performances of his career to take Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua into the deep waters of the 4th round, but it still wasn’t enough to best the former UFC champion. shogun looked dangerous early on, and one couldn’t help but think that the Shogun of a few years ago would have had ‘The Truth’ out of there within 2 rounds after he connected with several good punches.

Vera battled back in the 2nd and into the 3rd, keeping Shogun on his back, as well as landing to some crisp combinations beginning with some clean straight punches followed up by some nasty leg kicks. Both fighters were exhausted well before the 4th round, leading many observers to criticise their condition. While it is true that these guys may have been fresher in years gone by, the fact that they were pushing a pretty relentless pace contributed enormously to their fatigue.

At the end of the 4th round, the combination of this fatigue and Shogun landing a few lethal shots in a row resulted in Vera falling face down on the mat. Despite the complimentary barrage of ground and pound, no further shots were needed, vera was out.

Lyoto Machida def. Ryan Bader via KO at 1:32 of Round 2.

The co-main event was a much simpler affair, as Lyoto Machida fought pretty much the perfect fight, avoiding the attacks of his opponent, hitting him with kicks and delivering counter punches. Throughout the 1st round, Bader was swinging at air as Machida circled away, and in the 2nd he finally got sloppy enough throwing a right hand that ‘The Dragon’ was able to stop him in his tracks with a counter-right that separated the former TUF winner from his senses.

To the business of title shots. I would certainly agree that Machida is deserving of the shot at Jon Jones as his performance was flawless and I think that he still ha the best chance of beating the seemingly invincible UFC champ. However, I still would expect Jones to beat Machida again (he is probably better suited to a drop to middleweight, but more on that another time), and if Dan Henderson can somehow find a way to take the title, the decision to pull the trigger on giving Machida the title shot, and not leaving room to line up a Hendo/Shogun remautch could cost the UFC millions of dollars

Joe Lauzon def. Jamie Varner via submission (triangle choke) at 2:44 of Round 3 – wins $50,000 sub-of-the-night bonus, both fighters win $50,000 fight-of-the-night bonus.

The deserved winners of the fotn bonus, Varner and Lauzon engaged in a back and forth war for the better part of 3 rounds. Jamie Varner looked to be hitting top form once again as he battered ‘JLau’ with a barrage of thunderous body punches and hooks to the head, though Lauzon seemed relatively unfazed by the attack, and he was able to survive until Varner apparently broke his hand at some point in the 2nd round.

After unfortunate turn, Varner’s punches were probably lacking a bit of the fizz that they previously had, and Lauzon was able to capitalise by firing back, putting the former WEC champ on his arse, and taking his back. The submission (in the gif below) was particularly impressive from Lauzon because it didn’t come from a sustained spell of dominance like he had in round 2. He initiated a scrable after being taken down, and was able to work his right leg over the shoulder during the process of a second take down to secure triangle position. A superb submission attack while he was essentially in mid-air.

Mike Swick def. DaMarques Johnson via KO at 1:20 of Round 2 -wins $50,000 KO-of-the-night-bonus.

What a return for Mike Swick, 30 months out and he wins the KO bonus after coming back from adversity against a tough opponent. DaMarques Johnson threatened in the 1st round, and kept Swick on his back for much of the 2nd half of the round. It seeemed as though he was really feeling the effects of having such a long time out of the cage. But then..

..Swick hit a nice knee-tap as a counter to a kick, and threw a punch mid-takedown that connected as Johnson’s head bounced back off the mat, making him go limp instantly.

And now for a few quick thoughts on the prelims

Nam Phan def. Cole Miller via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

A great little war that lived up to my loft expectations. Phan really deserved the win because of hus superior striking, with his left hooks to the head and body particularly effective weapons

Phil Davis vs. Wagner Prado was declared a no decision (doctor’s stoppage due to unintentional eyepoke).

An ugly finish to a fight which was a shame really. Fortunately they are scheduled to rematch at UFC on FX 5 in October

Rani Yahya def. Josh Grispi via submission (North-south choke) at 3:15 of Round 1.

Once on tap to contend for the UFc featherweight title, Grispi looks set to be bounced out of the promotion after entering into the ground game of one of the most talented grapplers at 145lbs. A risky move, and one that Rani Yahya took full advantage of.

Phil De Fries def. Oli Thompson via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:16 of Round 2.

A much needed win for BJJ specialist DeFries who was able to hurt Thompson on the feet before submitting him. Thompson will probably be bounced from the promotion after this, while the big man from Sunderland improves his UFC record to 2-1.

Manny Gamburyan def. Michihiro Omigawa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).

‘Th Anvil secures himself another chance in the UFC, while Omigawa will probably get his walking papers. Not a bad fight, but probably the least explosive of the night.

John Moraga def. Ulysses Gomez via KO at 3:46 of Round 1.

Moraga showed that rare quality in the lighter weight divisions, heavy hands and legitimate KO power. Gomez didn’t get the chance to flex his grappling muscles as he was dispatched in brutal fashion inside the 1st frame. The fledgeling UFC 125 lb class has another prospect to watch out for.

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UFC on FOX 4 Preview

Brandon Vera, Mauricio Rua, Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader will all be looking for a rematch with Jon Jones by winning on Saturday night

Not that it makes any difference over here because it’ll be on ESPN as usual, but the the UFC returns to network TV inthe U.S. with UFC on FOX: Shogun vs. Vera this Saturday night. with a 4 fight main card, with 2 of those fights carrying potential title contendership implications. So, without further ado (and ignoring the absurdity of some of the potential opponents for Jon Jones), let’s have a look at these 4 contests that will be providing us with violent entertainment.

Light heavyweight (5 rounds) – Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Brandon Vera

Ah the much maligned main event. After allegedly ducking Glover Texieria, Shogun settled on a fight with Brandon Vera, who he viewed as a much more recognisable name with UFC fans. I’m sure he also regarded him as less of a test, as Vera should be defeated fairly easily by the former UFC champion and PRIDE grand-prix champion (he probably would have dealt with Glover pretty handily too, but never mind).

Vera has never really put it together at light heavyweight, and most people thought he only deserved a draw in his victorious return against Elliot Marshall. I still think he is capable of winning fights in the division, but certainly not a fight like this that could supposedly lead to a title fight against one of MMA’s all-time greats.

Shogun is a more powerful striker than Vera, he is stronger in the clinch, and his submissions are more dangerous. The only area where Vera probably has an advantage is with wrestling thanks to his greco-Roman background, but that should be negated by all of the above. ‘the Truth’ can take a licking, so he could stick around for a little while, but it is hard not to imagine Shogun getting some sort of stoppage victory in a 5 round fight.

Light Heavyweight – Lyoto Machida vs. Ryan Bader

Badre looked very competent against a faded Rampage during his last outing in Japan, but he will have his work cut out for him against a dynamic and elusive striker like Machida. I can only imagine ‘The Dragon’s’ evasive in-and-out selcction of straight punches and kicks to be kryptonite for Bader’s rudimentary striking. The TUF 8 champion has the power to hurt anyone, but he will be too slow to catch his opponent, and he is not particularly quick to get out of the way of incoming shots, particularly shot of the kind of velocity that will be thrown by Machida.

Bader’s best chance to win would be to secure a takedown and control his smaller foe, but even then I would have thought that the karate expert will be able to return to his feet, and eventually land some sort of missile on on the American’s chin and clam a T/KO win.

Lightweight – Joe Lauzon vs. Jamie Varner 

This is a tough one to pick. Joe Lauzon tends to annihilate lesser fighters with an aggressive submission attack set up by some competent striking, though he struggles with fighters that are approaching his level. I would have put Jamie Varner in the former category until a couple of months ago when he revived his career with the upset of the year, crushing Edson Barboza, knocking him out in the first round after having a rough time in fights after losing his WEC belt.

This should be competitive, and is a bit of a pick ’em, though I would expect whoever takes the upper hand early will cruise to victory. Both guys like to start quickly and are difficult to finish, but they’re both kind of flaky too. I’ll back Varner to ward off some early heat from Lauzon and start to control the fight, and cruise to a UD win.

Welterweight – Mike Swick vs. DaMarques Johnson

So Mike Swick returns to action for the first time since February 2010 when he lost to Paulo Thiago at UFC 109. just to put that into perspective, back then Jon Jones was coming off a controversial loss to Matt Hammil, BJ Penn had just dispatched Diego Sanchez and was considered unbeatable and the best lightweight ever and Kimbo Slice was undefeated in the UFC.

Really, who knows what is going to happen after such a long period of time off with such serious illness AND injury. If Swick was fighting a few months after his last fight, I would have no hesitation picking him for this fight. He was quick, strong, and came forward with a dangerous attack of boxing and submissions. DaMarques Johnson is the kind of fighter that loses to the kinds of fighters of Swick’s level. However, who know’s how Mike Swick is going to look. He could come out with a fire lit under his backside and blitz the TUF UK vs. USA runner-up inside the first round, he could play it safe and grind out a terrible decision, or he could be completely overwhelmed and be soundly beaten. It’s hard not to root for Swick given his troubles, and I would like to see him capture his form of old, though if pressed I’d imagine he’ll get a boring win.

Prelims

Definately a set of fights to pay attention to, particularly those taking place at 145lbs or below where pairings of fighters will be engaging in some all-out barnburners. Phil Davis might also provide some entertainment as he takes on the undefeated Brazilian Wagner Prado, but the British heavyweights will most probably fight like British heavyweights and provide the least skilled mixed martial arts of the evening. I suppose there’s always the potential for an explosive/appauling finish though, so there’s always a silver lining (of sorts) to even the least appetising of contests.

Featherweight – Cole Miller vs. Nam Phan

Light heavyweight – Phil Davis vs. Wagner Prado

Featherweight – Josh Grispi vs. Rani Yahya

Heavyweight – Phil De Fries vs. Oli Thompson

Featherweight – Manny Gamburyan vs. Michihiro Omigawa

Flyweight – Ulysses Gomez vs. John Moraga

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