| 27 May 2010
Have I ever been more excited for a UFC card? Yeah. But it's been a while. It was probably UFC 101, actually. THAT WAS ALMOST A YEAR AGO! That's what Couture/Coleman and Ortiz/Griffin main events do to you, I guess. This card took a hit when Griffin dropped out against Lil Nog but...
MAIN CARD
Light Heavyweight bout: Quinton Jackson vs. Rashad Evans - Black on black crime! Wait, can I say that? Let's hope so. I don't want to end up like Rashad will be after this fight. That's right, I'm calling it for Rampage. I'm ignoring all the "Jackson isn't training hard enough" and "Jackson wants to be a movie star" talk. Yes, Jackson has a history of under training and yes, he has a big summer blockbuster coming out next month but right now, it's all about beating that ass. Jackson has never been more motivated to beat someone's ass than he is now. My only worry is that Evans will scoop Jackson off his feet and maintain positional control on the mat, never going for the victory but doing enough to avoid a stand up. In which case, I will be a sad panda.
Middleweight bout: Michael Bisping vs. Dan Miller - "We can rebuild him, we have the technology." A minor bump in the form of Wanderlei Silva aside, the next step in the UFC's rebuilding of Michael Bisping takes place at UFC 114. Don't get me wrong. Dan Miller is a tough, tough kid but Bisping has the strength of an entire country behind him! Yeah, their food sucks and their women are ugly (don't let Cheryl Cole and Liz Hurley fool you, NORMAL English women are quite hideous) but they know two things: football and fighting. Miller's never been finished but I'm a perpetual limb-go-outter so I'm calling a second round TKO for the Briton.
Heavyweight bout: Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow - The big boys coming out to play! Todd Duffee (who DOES NOT have the fastest KO in UFC history) should take this fight easily. This is a guy who, when taken to the second round for the very first time in his career, got so pissed off that he came into the UFC and knocked out his opponent in 7 seconds. Not a dude you want to anger. Duffee wins this one.
Light Heavyweight bout: Antônio Rogério Nogueira vs. Jason Brilz - "Good news, Jason! We need you to step in for an injured fighter!" I'm sure that's how Joe Silva, UFC matchmaker, approached Jason Brilz concerning his fight at UFC 114. But bad news, Jason. Very bad news. You're fighting Lil Nog. This is a dude who has only lost three times in almost 10 years. One loss he's avenged. One loss was a fluke. And the other loss was to KING SHOGUN in what is possible the GREATEST FIGHT OF ALL TIME. Lil Nog all the way.
Welterweight bout: Diego Sanchez vs. John Hathaway - "Dammit, I can't beat Koscheck or Fitch. I'm going to 155." Flash-forward two years! "Dammit, I can't beat BJ Penn. I'm going back to 170." Oh, Diego... always a bridesmaid, never a bride. I'm actually going to go with the upset on this one. I say Hathaway spoils Diego's re-debut at welterweight and shoot himself near to the top of the 170 pack. As for Diego, maybe he can cut off a leg and fight at featherweight. Hey, it'd stop Jose Aldo from kicking the crap out of him.
***
PRELIMINARY BOUT (Spike TV)
Welterweight bout: Amir Sadollah vs. Dong Hyun Kim - Poor Amir. You're like a 170-pound Forrest Griffin. But hey, Forrest had to get the snot kicked out of his a couple of times to make him a champion so a loss can't be the worst thing in the world for you. And rest assured, "Stun Gun" Kim will hand you a loss. Amir isn't polished enough yet to handle someone of Kim's caliber while Kim is looking to shrug off a few lackluster performances by lighting up the TUF winner the way he was doing in DEEP a few years back. This'll likely be Fight of the Night but in the end, Dong Hyun Kim gets his arm raised.
Lightweight bout: Efrain Escudero vs. Dan Lauzon - The Lauzons need to get with Mary J. Blige because they have some drama! Yes, that was a 2001 reference. No, I'm not embarrassed to admit that. If you haven't heard already, Joe Lauzon kicked baby brother Dan out of his gym due to an apparent unmotivated attitude regarding training. They even had some kind of verbal contract before the training camp started! If it gets to the point where you have to tell someone, "If you don't come in X amount of days to train for a CAGE FIGHT, you gotta leave," they probably shouldn't be in the business of punching other dudes because those other dudes will probably punch back harder and faster. Escudero is a tough ass Mexican (LA RAZA~!) who reminds me a lot of Leonard Garcia. They'll never be title contenders but damned if they're not entertaining. The drama surrounding Lauzon's camp plus his already lax training regimen will be Escudero's gain.
***
PRELIMINARY BOUTS: QUICK SHOTS!
Lightweight bout: Melvin Guillard vs. Waylon Lowe - Guillard takes advantage of Lowe being a late replacement and gets an easy but impressive win, furthering along his hype train. I can't wait to see that thing derail for the... is the third time now?
Light Heavyweight bout: Luiz Cane vs. Cyrille Diabaté - DIABATE! Unfortunately, the French kickboxer is getting up there in age and a young buck like Luiz Cane should be able to take the fight to the mat and slapping on a choke.
Lightweight bout: Aaron Riley vs. Joe Brammer - I'm gonna go with Brammer solely because his nickname is "The Southside Strangler." I love the word strangle.
Middleweight bout: Ryan Jensen vs. Jesse Forbes - I'm picking Forbes because he has a win over local fighter Cleburn Walker. You probably remember him from the first episode of this season of The Ultimate Fighter. What you probably don't remember him from is being an asshole and asking me to pay him for an interview. So that being the case... WAR FORBES!
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