If this isn’t one of the best card’s I’ve seen ever, then I don’t know what is. With a bit of a grudge match with some choice words sent in both directions of Rashad Evans & Tito "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Ortiz as well as two championship bouts in the Lightweight & Middleweight divisions and the debut of Antonio "Minotauro" Rodrigo Nogueira to the octagon and the fact this UFC event is free to all us Brits puts a big smile on my face and gets the beers ready.
Nogueira steps in to the octagon for the 1st time and looks to cement his name as the next contender for the Championship and collide with the winner of Couture/Gonzaga at UFC 74: Respect in August and capture the belt by early 2008 with fighters returning to the Octagon with a one in five appearance on PPV events, but Heath "Texas Crazy Horse" Herring will look to Noguiera in his tracks as these two meet for their 3rd encounter with Noguiera claiming both victories.
Nogueira will look to finish this one with his mastery of BJJ and use his skills in the stand up department as he has developed good boxing skills, but Herring is a heavy opponent with superb agility as a heavyweight fight and will probably like to tie up with his Muay Thai clinch and avoid those submission attempts as his loss to Nogueira came from a anaconda choke back June 2004.
Prediction- Nogueira by Submission Round 2
Possible title shot with the winner of Couture/Gonzaga
Lightweight Championship Match
For me Sherk is a tank with awesome wrestling ability and one of the best ground and pound display in MMA., however Franca is a crafty individual who will be comfortable trading with Sherk on his feet and will look to amount several submission attempts throughout the 5x5minute rounds. Although this division has an array of title contenders, I think it will take a huge effort to snatch the title away from Sherk with his strength and stand up he showed against Nick Diaz.
Prediction- Sherk by TKO Round 1
Fight of the Night
Ortiz needs a win here to ever stand a chance of regaining the title in this revamped division that boasts Jackson, Henderson, Liddell, Jardine, Machida, Sobral, Lambert, Bisping, Griffin, newcomer to the scene Houston Alexander and talk of Mauricio "Shogun" Rua & Rameau Thierry Sokojoudou adding to the mix nothing but a win will do.
Evans has his record in tact 15-0 and will look to score his biggest win yet and I believe it will come on Saturday. Evans & Ortiz in the wrestling area are evenly matched and as for the stand up Evans seems to be more comfortable and has trained severely on this and it shows coming of f the crazy Ko of Sean Salmon.
Ortiz thinks he’s going to throw Evans around like Shamrock I beg to differ because 1 bloke who has great strength in this division is Jason "The Punisher" Lambert and Evans was relentless against him and mounted offence after offence to gain the victory.
Prediction - Evans by Unanimous Decision
No 1 contender match with Machida
Florian returns after his victory against Japanese vet Mishma and looks for a rematch with Sherk or Franca. With Florian being 31 he seems to improve with every performance and Saturday shouldn’t be any different for the Boston representative. Robinson will look to ruin the script and make an impact in his UFC debut and holds a impressive 9-1 record and phenomenal BJJ in his arsenal.
Florian will look to stand, but won’t be scarred to enter the floor game and end this with his renouned elbow strikes.
Prediction- Florian by Stoppage Round 3
Next - Florian v Huerta
Main Event
Middleweight Championship Match
This could be the match that Silva losses his title unless he can utilize his great foot work and pin point striking upon Marquardt then a can see him being dominated by Marquadt’s strength, heavy hands & Pancrase skills. You’d think Silva’s clinch would be a good tool against his opponent like he used against Franklin to win the title, but I think Marquardt looks very strong and also has good takedowns as shown against Joe Doerksen.
I love Silva’s unique foot work and how he adjusts his body it’s like he’s dancing in someway, but Saturday could be the end for the man they call ‘The Spider’
Prediction - Marquardt by TKO Round 4
Conclusion
Should be a great card with some interesting results whoever wins the bouts and might be some new champions crowned and some possible title contenders for later in the year. This should kick start the year with some mouth-watering cards rumoured for the next 3 UFC PPV’s in August, September & October as well as the Ultimate fighter season 6.
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