UFC arrives in Atlanta, Georgia this Saturday for their 1st UFC PPV and is headlined with a top light heavy weight clash. Rashad Evans locks horns with Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell in a bout that was heavily advertised for UFC 85: Bedlam in London, England until a horrific torn hamstring the former champion Liddell suffered put him on the sidelines and the bout in limbo.
The co-main event sees a debut (not in the UFC), but in the light-heavy weight division for the former middleweight champion in Rich "Ace" Franklin as he takes on world class wrestler Matt "The Hammer" Hamill who seems to be claiming the ladder slowly in the division.
Here is a run through the nights MMA action come Saturday 6th September:
Team Quest meets Brazilian Top Team in this battle. Another bout that was put on hold due to injury looks set to go and a rematch between the two. Chonan the victor last time these two met due to stoppage back in 2005.
Carneiro will look to utilize his ground skills and not make no mistakes like he did when he was submitted by newcomer Kevin Burns at UFC 85: Bedlam. Chonan didn’t showcase his talent when he fought Parisyan in a dull unanimous decision loss and will look to secure his 1st win in the octagon and 2nd against Carneiro. Chonan is a little more well rounded than Carneiro and I expect him to take this one.
Prediction: Chonan by Split Decision
Clash of the Jason’s in this one. It will be good to see these two as MacDonald is recovering from a devastating loss to Demian Maia and Lambert looks for some success as he steps into a new division.
Lambert always looks a bit sluggish in the LHW division and could be a force in the MW division as he always looks dangerous with his power as shown when he upset Renato Sobral.
MacDonald is the guy floating around the scene for a title shot, but came up short when he lost to Maia & Okami and has had to take a step back in the queue.
The Nova Scotia fighter is a good all rounder and has shown his finishing skills on the floor in the octagon and will look to uses this, as he’s triumph card against Lambert. I’m going to swing towards Lambert in this one as I see him coming in leaner and quick in the stand up.
Prediction: Lambert by TKO RND 2
Kim will look to improve on his impressive with over Jason Tan at UFC 84: Ill Will. His opponent is no slouch as he was tipped by housemates to be in the final of the TUF reality series. Brown has his hand full with Kim who posses great ground & pound skills and a lot of victories by armbar. Expect the TUF fighter to fall short in his attempts to tame this deadly Korean.
Prediction: Kim by TKO RND 1
Boetsch will look to make Patt’s debut in the octagon a short on Saturday. Boetsch was victorious in his debut when he defeated David Heath by TKO only to be on the receiving end of the co-headline act Hamill, when he came unstuck in April.
Make no mistake Boetsch has a job stopping an excellent submission guy in Patt and will have to show he has other skills in his bag to deal with the newcomer. Another loss for Boetsch and Patt makes a winning start.
Prediction: Patt by Submission Rnd 2
Next - Alexander/Schafer
Tavares suffered a brutal KO to Matt Wiman in June and Pellegrino gassed to suffer a triangle loss to Nate Diaz. For me this is an exciting fight with both holding superb ground skills, and Pellegrino possessing better stand up could find himself on the winner’s podium.
Prediction: Pellegrino by TKO RND 3
Still unbeaten Kampmann takes on his toughest test In Marquardt in a top MW clash. Marquardt will be eager to get back in the octagon after his controversial loss to Thales Leites by split decision and will have to use his ground skills and strength to edge out the Dane Kampmann. Kampmann for me is an excellent striker and showed off his ground game by defeating Jorge Rivera and should nick this one by a tight decision.
Prediction: Kampmann by Split Decision
Henderson is headhunting the new BJJ wizard in Palhares this Saturday and show the division he is still dangerous, but a loss wouldn’t surprise me with what Palhares brings to the table. Although he defeated a veteran in Ivan Salaverry and not a top-flight guy, I found myself applauding this guy in my living room as he showcased his BJJ skills.
A tricky customer for Henderson and the toughest decision on the card.
Prediction: Palhares by Submission RND 2
Yoshida will look to push Parisyan down the pecking order for a title shot, by upsetting the Armenian born Judoka expert. Yoshida is also a high caliber judoka expert and could cancel out Parisyan’s advantage in previous bouts.
Yoshida disposed livewire Jon Koppenhaver in 56secs with an anaconda choke in his UFC debut and spells trouble for Parisyan.
The question mark and the thing that has hindered Parisyan’s performance in the past has been the conditioning aspect and with word that he is training with Greg Jackson for this one, can a new Karo be expected this Saturday.
Prediction: Parisyan by TKO RND 3
An intriguing one this is, a new challenge for Franklin and a step up in opponent for Hamill. Hamill surprised a few people with his last victory over Boetsch and looks better every time we see him in action. Franklin won’t be affected too much by the weight gain and should be his old self.
This fight depends on whether Franklin deals with Hamill’s takedown attempts otherwise he’ll be in big trouble. Advantage in the stand up for Franklin and will look to pick apart Hamill on his feet for a victory in his new home.
Prediction: Franklin by U.Decision
Next - Winner of Jardine/Vera
Main Event
This seems to be a forgone conclusion with the MMA pundits giving it to Liddell because of his record with wrestlers in the past. Evans is another guy who is always improving and the guy is still unbeaten so he must be doing something right.
Is Liddell a step to far? My answer is no, I think this is the right time for Evans to really cement his place in title picture. His close friend and team-mate Keith Jardine also has a victory over Liddell that could be a key in his preparation.
Prediction: Evans by Split Decision
Final Words - a solid card as it should be with all these PPV’s and fights to look out for are Tavares/Pellegrino, Yoshida/Parisyan & Henderson/Palhares.
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