UFC 82 will be an event to remember, or a borefest of decisions, it’s hard to say what’s going to happen in many of the bouts on the card. Many fans are claiming some huge lopsided victories while many others are seeing decisions galore litter the event’s results as we head into Saturday night. Hopefully, we won’t see another Strikeforce at the Dome card. Here’s our picks for UFC 82.

Main Event: Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson
At Stake: UFC Middleweight Title

People are starting to call this a pick’em fight, and I’d have to agree. This is one of the toughest fights to mull over due to the stylistic matchup between the two, but also due to the historical dominance of both fighters.

Silva has simply crushed everything in his path. He made Rich Franklin into a rag doll, and simply used his Muay Thai skillset to strike with him, close the distance, clinch, and then set up massive head shots with his knees. That gameplan will have to change if he wants to defeat Dan Henderson.

Henderson’s strength in this fight will be his wrestling. Greco-Roman control will be the key to getting Silva to the floor where Henderson should be able to crush him, but there are problems. First and foremost, Henderson doesn’t exactly wrestle when he needs to. He likes to brawl and showed it at times against “Rampage” Jackson. Secondly, his wrestling isn’t as good as many make it out to be. Sure, he’s an Olympian, but he was sloppy in many of his PRIDE bouts when it came to controlling his opponent. He can’t let that happen against a surgeon like Silva. Nonetheless, he has two big powerful hands to fall back on if he’s in trouble. The potential for a knockout win from either fighter is very high.

I’ve battled with who to pick in this fight for days, and honestly, it doesn’t matter. They are very even in regards to how their skills compete with one another. A BJJ Black Belt with surgical Muay Thai striking against an Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler with heavy hands is a classic matchup that should provide a spectacular main event. Who will win?

I’m going to have to go with Anderson Silva. I was a supporter of the whole idea behind Henderson winning this fight. He has better wrestling; therefore he can get the takedown and pound on Silva. I understand that point. My only problem is that I can only see Henderson ending this fight in the standup, and Silva has reach, awesome power for having such big reach, and he is a surgeon on his feet with his strikes. He can wear down Henderson with punches, and then move in for the kill. People know Henderson can ward off the clinch, but can he do it while he’s wobbly… most fighters can’t. To sum it up, I’m taking Silva because I think he has more tools to end this fight.

Leland’s Prediction: Anderson Silva via TKO/KO, Round 2

The person who wins this fight is the person who can impose their will on their opponent. This is as close to a pick ‘em fight as there has been in recent events, but I like Henderson’s chances against Silva. Henderson has the advantage because of this reason: he can keep Silva guessing. Silva knows that Henderson can take him down, and I assure you, Dan will be using his feints a lot. Imagine dropping his head down and faking a takedown, but instead, he throws that huge overhand right. The thing that scares me about Henderson is that he tends to get into brawls. He abandons his wrestling and will choose to stand and trade instead. I don’t think he’ll make that mistake against Silva. I think Henderson will be able to impose his will and dominate Silva inside the clinch with his Greco-roman ability, and he’ll earn a stoppage via strikes late in the fight.

Joe's Prediction: Dan Henderson via TKO/KO, Round 3

Cheick Kongo vs. Heath Herring

This is another tough fight on the event’s card to predict. Herring has a career that spans a decade, and in that time, he’s managed to win 16 of his bouts by submission. Many fans don’t associate Herring with a submission game, but I think that’s exactly what he’ll be looking to do in this matchup.

Kongo will likely try to use his bread and butter, Muay Thai, to defeat Herring along the cage. It’s been working for him in his two most recent wins, but it hasn’t led him to a finishing win that we would come to expect from such a large and powerful fighter.

Both fighters have weaknesses and strengths, but I think Herring has the distinct advantage in this matchup. His ground skills will undoubtedly come into play, and even though he isn’t the best grappler on the planet, Kongo’s ground game looked non-existent even in the short stint that he was on the ground against Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic. It won’t be an easy task, and Kongo may very well prove that he’s trained hard for this fight, but I’ll go with Heath.

Leland’s Prediction: Heath Herring via submission, Round 2

In my eyes, this is Herring’s fight to lose. Herring doesn’t have great wrestling, but Kongo has a very weak takedown defense. It shouldn’t be a problem for Herring to get Kongo to the mat. From there, I think you’ll see a scramble where Herring catches Kongo in a choke, most likely the anaconda choke.

Joe's Prediction: Heath Herring via submission, Round 2   

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Paulo Filho's performance at WEC 31 was far from impressive. In fact, Chael Sonnen stuck it to Paulo Filho early in the fight with much crisper and quicker standup than the Brazilian had predicted. Sonnen dropped Filho, and began working a ground and pound game that saw Filho nearly losing the fight. The one key skill that Filho had to defend himself with was great jiu-jitsu. Filho used his overwhelming power and grappling prowess to eventually submit Sonnen in a controversial ending.

Now, Sonnen will get a rematch with Filho for the Middleweight title in March, the last fight for Filho at 185 pounds. Filho's boxing coach confirmed to Tatame.com that he will move up to the Light Heavyweight division after the fight, look out Doug Marshall.

Henderson talks about Filho

In a related story, MMANews.com did an interview with Sonnen's teammate and UFC fighter Dan Henderson. He was quoted as saying:

MMANews.com:What are your thoughts on Paulo Filho?

Dan Henderson: I don’t think he has been very impressive in his last two performances since coming to the US but I think that’s what not being able to use Steroids will do to you.

MMANews.com:Are you saying Filho may be a juicer?

Dan Henderson: Well that’s my opinion anyway. He hasn’t looked good since he left Pride.

MMANews.com: Was steroid abuse a problem in Pride?

Dan Henderson: People didn’t get tested.

First and foremost, I don't agree with his statements. Paulo Filho more than likely has used steroids, but he is using Filho's poor performances as a basis for his argument. The fact is that Filho has still been powerful in his matchup. He clipped Doerksen and sent him home, and he used his raw power and jiu-jitsu to finally catch Sonnen's arm that was more than likely going to be broken off at the joint.

Secondly, Filho's fight with Doerksen ended rather quickly, although it was fairly sloppy. Filho still managed to end the fight with striking, a skill that Filho is not well trained in. It's known throughout the MMA world that Filho is a horrible boxer, and really only has the strength to knockout opponents, not the technical prowess. If that fight had went to the floor, I think Doerksen would have been overwhelmed.

Sonnen had much better striking, and was able to keep Filho at bay for most of the fight, but the difference in the matchup was Sonnen's submission defense. It was absolutely terrible. When you get your arm caught multiple times and barely escape an appendage being tore off your body, there is a problem with recognizing danger in the guard.

Lastly, Filho won the damn fights. He won. It was sloppy, but he still managed to pull out two victories. Yeah, Sonnen isn't a top 10 middleweight, but he is an Olympic caliber wrestler with some decent standup skills. The fact that Filho cuts down from well over 200 pounds would hurt anyone's chances.

It sounds to me like Henderson is bitter about his teammate's loss. Sonnen will get another chance to prove everyone wrong. Apparently Henderson wants to make himself the Jose Canseco of mixed martial arts, when's the book coming out? Henderson may be right on the money with his assessment, but in my opinion, his argument sounds like a whole lot of crying because his teammate came out on the short end of the stick in his last matchup. Maybe this will heat up some tension for a potential matchup between the two.

Despite UFC 78: Validation having some fairly boring matchups, some key news came out of the event. Dan Henderson will drop down to the Middleweight division to take on the destructive Anderson Silva in a middleweight championship showdown in March at UFC 82 in Columbus, Ohio. As I stated in a previous article, this was one of the most probable scenarios that would happen in the division. We may also be looking at some more fighters drop to middleweight as well. Michael Bisping possibly? It'd be in his best interest, I believe. Let's take a look a closer look at the divisional impact this news has.

Middleweight division gets a much needed jolt!

Dan Henderson dropping to Middleweight will provide a much needed electricity to the title picture in the division. Anderson Silva has yet to have a solid contender in the division, and Henderson is exactly that, solid. It has been said throughout the MMA community that the type of opponent that can counter Anderson Silva well is a Greco-Roman wrestler with dynamite in his hands at times. Problem is, Henderson has a tendency to try to break an opponent with his power in the standup game. He loves to brawl with his opponents, but his strength should be his wrestling abilities. He has at times, however, been outwrestled by opponents that should have been easily stifled on the ground. The x-factor in this type of matchup is Anderson Silva's black belt ju-jitsu skill on the ground. Can it nullify the control techniques of Henderson?

Silva has made his claim as the best pound for pound fighter in the world for one reason alone, complete destruction of his opponents. His knockout power in his long lanky arms is deceptive to his opponents. Henderson has never been knocked out and has what is considered to be one of the hardest chins in mixed martial arts. He took some very tough shots from Quinton Jackson in their recent matchup and still kept coming. His cardio is very good and his relentless attack may prove to be enough to edge Silva. This is all possible if Henderson actually executes a solid gameplan. Silva's reach and striking are very dangerous however, and his power may be deceptive enough to stop Henderson for the first time in his career. It'll be a very interesting battle if it stays standing.

Henderson finally gives in

What led to this fight coming to be? Henderson has been stating for months that he would not drop down to middleweight to fight Silva, and it was perceived that it may have been an issue of money. With the UFC's contracts and salaries recently being exposed from the Couture-Dana White debocle, Henderson may have been even more weary of the terms of his own negotiations. Did Dana White have to give up a fairly large salary for this fight? That speculation definitely has merit.

Henderson would be dropping down to a division that really has a poor talent base except for the top few fighters. Without Henderson, fans may only be able to look forward to the possibilities of other light heavyweights dropping down to middleweight, or the eventual rebirth of Rich Franklin only to be possibly destroyed for a third time. Henderson's holdout had some great timing if those were the only possibilities for the division. He had leverage to ask for more bonus money, pay-per-view cuts, and an increase in pay for the fight. Making the sacrifice to cut more weight and possibly power was probably another factor in the negotiating.

Scenarios

With this signing, the division has at least prolonged its life for the time being. If Henderson actually stays at middleweight even if he is beaten, it doesn't bode well for anybody below such as Franklin, but if he wins, it sets up some great spectacle fights for Anderson Silva to dominate in for the fans. I wouldn't put it past Dana White to give Anderson Silva an immediate rematch though considering he destroyed Franklin and Franklin has beaten the top contenders below the top spot. With that said, the division still needs more talent near the top.

Once again, we will be faced with a stagnant division with just two or three fighters in the mix for the title. Ed Herman is trying to via for a run into the top and was impressive in his win over Doerksen last night, but he isn't anywhere near the top. Many fans believe he could at least make a run into the mid-tier fighters and possibly defeat some of them. I'm a bit more hesitant to think so just yet. I would leave him out of the conversation for now.

Who else? Trigg, Miller, and Jacare are all out. Once again, I resort to my argument that Matt Lindland should be in the Octagon. Lindland vs. Henderson is a decent fight, and Lindland vs. Silva is a possibility. Hell, even Franklin vs. Lindland may be a better fight than people give it credit. That's four top fighters in a lacking division. For now, we can wait for the Henderson vs. Silva matchup in grand anticipation. It should be an explosive battle of comparable styles at times, but both possess skills that can revert to a different gameplan quickly. What happens after the matchup, only time will tell. With the new season of TUF coming as well with Middleweights, who knows what we'll see from the UFC.

The UFC Middleweight Division has been scrutinized lately due to the upcoming UFC 77 main event, Anderson Silva vs. Rich Franklin. If you look down the list of middleweights trying to work their way up the ranks to get a shot at Anderson Silva, you cannot find a single fighter who deserves a chance. Many have began their runs, but fell short in recent fights. Rich Franklin and Anderson Silva are the only fighters at the top of one of the weakest divisions in MMA, if not the weakest. Let's take an inside look at the UFC's middleweight division and really see if there is any potential for it to improve any time soon.

Current situation in the division

Currently, Anderson Silva is dominating the division. His recent wins over Nathan Marquardt and Travis Lutter were a bit different, but wins regardless. Marquardt proved to be no match for Silva, even though many fans felt Marquardt may have had a potential shot at beating the Brazilian. Lutter had some fairly decent attempts at ending the fight, but was unable to catch Silva in a submission. Both fighters are far from being back in the picture for a title run. Franklin fought Silva at UFC 64 in a title defense matchup. Silva came in and completely destroyed Franklin with his signature knee strikes in a Muay Thai clench. The result of that bout has been driving fans to pick Franklin in their upcoming rematch in Franklin's hometown. Should Silva be that big of a favorite?

Yes, he should. Silva's striking is the best the Middleweight Division has to offer. His lanky physique may fool the casual fan, but when he lands strikes, his opponents seem to crumple to the mat as if they were shot. The great thing about Anderson Silva's unbelievable striking is that he can concentrate more on his ground game because his standup is so good. Reports from his camp confirm that he has been working on his ju-jistu game extensively and will be very tough to take on the ground. It remains to be seen if he can handle the ground game, but his long legs and height definitely help him in that area of MMA.

Let's get into hypothetical mode here. What if Franklin beats Anderson Silva at UFC 77? Silva drops down to beat up on two unsuspecting opponents and most likely regains the rematch while Franklin possibly takes on MacDonakd or Okami... again. I'm not too keen on MacDonald actually beating Franklin, but Okami could edge out Franklin in a bout. He nearly submitted him in their last bout. Okami vs. Silva, in my opinion, is not a very interesting fight. Silva wins, regains a shot at the title again against Franklin, and the cycle repeats itself. What I'm getting at here is that no matter how you want to move around the players in the Middleweight Division, Silva and Franklin seem to be running toward an endless cycle. MacDonald and Okami don't seem to have the skills to move up into the top, although Okami could potentially beat Franklin. We have come to a crossroads in the discussion. Who the hell does the UFC bring in to make this division worth a damn?

Bring in the ringers

Who can the UFC actually bring in to give this division a much needed kick in the ass? The obvious choice is Paulo Filho. Filho is currently the middleweight champion in the WEC, a promotion owned by Zuffa. Since he is likely under a Zuffa contract, bring him over to the UFC to give Silva a challenge on the ground. Filho is known for his amazing ground tactics and is currently ranked in the top 5 of middleweights in the world. He could prove to be a significant test for Silva. Although he wasn't very impressive in his title win over Joe Doerkson in his lone WEC bout, he was able to also use some decent standup. When I say decent, I mean ok standup. He managed to loop some punches and catch Doerkson. I feel that it wasn't impressive technique, and Filho certainly doesn't have the reach that Silva has. Filho's main strength and overall gameplan is taking you down and submitting you.That's exactly why he'd be a great fit for a title run against Silva.

The reported rumor according to George Garcia of TAGGRadio is that Frank Trigg may be making an appearance against Paulo Filho in the WEC. As of today, a deal hasn't been struck and Trigg remains adamant in stating he wouldn't fight if it wasn't for the title. What if Trigg manages to take out Filho? Trigg has much better standup in my opinion. He also has some fairly good wrestling, but would probably need to work on it extensively to really counter Filho's ground tactics. If he can manage to stay away from Filho's submissions and gain the upper hand in the standup war, he may be able to irk out a victory over Filho. Will he make a run at the UFC title at Middleweight? I'm not completely sure. If the WEC signs him, it'll end a small beef that Zuffa had with Trigg over comments he made as a PRIDE commentator about the UFC. They may keep him as the WEC champ since he is 35 and nearly the end of a career. Or they could send him on his way to the UFC to make an impact on the division. Anything is possible with such a weak division. In my opinion, Trigg won't be hitting the UFC ever again.

The most interesting addition would be Matt Lindland. Although Dana White has a real problem with Matt Lindland and vice versa, it's possible that Lindland's skill alone may get him another chance in the UFC. A powerful wrestler with some great ground tactics along with some knockout power, Lindland has had only 2 losses in the last 2 years, one to Quinton Jackson and another to Fedor Emelianenko, both guys being outside of his base weight division. Lindland would be a fantastic addition, but he is rather old as well, although hasn't shown much in diminishing skill. Can Dana White get past his issues with Lindland and bury the hatchet to improve the division? Doubtful, but I would love to see it happen.

We could make a case for Joe "Diesel" Riggs. He fought Eugene Jackson in their Strikeforce bout and demolished him with a brutal ground and pound. But is Riggs better at Middleweight? He looked like he was, but he was taking on an older Eugene Jackson who could not handle Riggs's power. Riggs is also locked in with Strikeforce for a bit, and participating in the Middleweight Tournament that Strikeforce will be putting on. If he can manage to demolish the competition the same way, could he earn a shot at Cung Le and Frank Shamrock? Cung Le is a possibility, but Shamrock would probably run from the prospect of fighting a very tough "Diesel" Riggs.

Big names

Dan Henderson is the most talked about light heavyweight who has the title for the welterweight division in PRIDE. Welterweight in PRIDE was around 185. Should Henderson drop down? YES!! Please! Henderson dropping down could potentially begin a cycle that will see Silva being beaten and having Franklin, Henderson, and Silva in the running instead of two fighters. Add in Filho and maybe Lindland, we could see a surge in the fights and talent in the division. Henderson's wrestling and awesome power would be a problem for Silva, along with Hendo's granite chin. It's beyond me why Henderson doesn't drop down.

Michael Bisping, you say? I'm not completely convinced he would do much in the Middleweight division. Simply put, he's a striker who doesn't have awesome knockout power, but he can throw the leather on the ground. He doesn't have great takedown defense, as was evident in the Matt Hamill fight, and his ground game, although improving, wasn't the finishing type. I think he'd be a mid-tier to upper-tier Middleweight who would feel the pain of the 3 big names if Henderson decided to drop.

Ryo Chonan is another name being thrown around. Honestly, Chonan had the most insane flying scissor kick to heel hook submission I've ever seen. He has apparently decided to fight at Welterweight in the UFC for the time being. Could he make an impact at the Middleweight level? Most likely, he couldn't. Although he has a tough chin and can take a beating, he'd have to pull off some amazing wins in order to get to Silva, in which case he'd probably get beaten into a pulp.

As far fetched as this sounds, Robbie Lawler is always a name that should come up. Currently fighting at middleweight, could he make a run toward the UFC? It's always a possibility. He has heavy hands and has matured his game a bit. In his win over "Ninja" Rua in EliteXC's Uprising event on September 15th of this year, he showed a patience in his bout as was able to coast through the bout without ever really gassing himself as he has in the past. Lawler could prove to be a force with his unbelievable power.

Final thoughts

Henderson should drop to Middleweight and give Silva a run for his money. Imagine the matchups then. If Silva beats Franklin, line up a Hendo vs. Silva fight. If Franklin ends up beating Silva, Henderson can take on Franklin. Either way, it puts another huge name in the division who can take out either fighter and set up a number of matchups to get back to the title. Add in a very good Matt Lindland and possibly Filho or Riggs, the division could actually become interesting. A lot of the ideas I expressed here are long shots, but White needs to man up and sign Lindland. He's a free agent and a very good fighter. Henderson needs to realize that owning the Middleweight division could potentially get him a pay day that he wants. Make it happen.

 

In the latest chapter of the saga that is Tito Ortiz, the "bad boy" of the UFC has seemingly caused multiple rumors to be released onto the Internet as to who he will be fighting next in the UFC. The presumption was that he would rematch Rashad Evans due to the draw that occured between the two at the UFC 73: Stacked because of a Tito Ortiz fence grab that ultimately caused the scores to be even at the end of the bout. With Ortiz's contract discussions in play, Ortiz has been flapping his gums about potential matchups that may or may not be in the works. Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, and the already mentioned Rashad Evans are all possible matchups. It seems odd since Rashad Evans was the fight everyone assumes was going to happen and was said to be happening at UFC 78. It appears that matchup is still happening, but Ortiz has continued the rumors about other fights replacing that matchup. With all the other potential matchups in the air, are there benefits to the other possible opponents? I wanted to take a look inside those potential matchups to see if there really is a bigger benefit to producing those types of matchups. Would a Silva-Ortiz or Henderson-Ortiz fight be a fight that could save the year end events?

Rashad Evans rematch will disappoint

At UFC 73, Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans was a highly anticipated matchup for the mere fact that it was a stepping stone for Rashad Evans to defeat to begin a run into the top contendership of the UFC Light Heavyweight Division. For Ortiz, it was a battle to prove whether or not he was still a fighter that could sneak into contention and cause some trouble and possibly a run for another title. Most MMA fans laugh at that prospect, but Tito Ortiz has the skills to come to life. Lately, his cardio has been under critique even though he trains in Big Bear, California, renowned for providing some altitude training as well as great camps full of top-tier fighters.

After the draw between Ortiz and Evans due to Ortiz's fence grab, the rematch was already being announced by Dana White. Many fans sighed in dismay due to the fact that fight was uneventful the first time around. Evans looked scared to be countered by Ortiz's sprawl and his striking was subpar. Ortiz looked to be pushing the pace, but began to tire late in the 2nd round. Let's get one thing straight, Tito Ortiz won the fight. He drew only due to the fence grab, that's the obvious insight on that fight that everyone clearly knows. But a rematch of an already boring fight that had some anticipation leading up to it only to be proven to be unexciting is something the fans do not want to see. Unless we see a Rashad Evans who will use his wrestling more and strike with a bit more aggressiveness, the fight will most likely go the same way it did the first time. For Ortiz, the rumor mill began most likely due to the fact that he wants a bigger fight, more money, and an easier route back into the picture. Is this rematch the only option right now for Tito Ortiz?

In my mind, yes. Tito needs to prove he can be put into the lower top-tier of fighters with a win over an up and comer. He barely beat TUF fighter Forrest Griffin in a controversial split decision. He beat down an older, slower, and gassed Ken Shamrock twice and basically hyped the fights so much that by the time they came around, people were actually somewhat excited for them. A very good job in self-promoting those matchups by Tito Ortiz, you have to give him a bit of credit for that, but it doesn't put him close to even breaking into some of the top contenders in the Light Heavyweight Division. The UFC thought so by pitting him against Liddell in a grudge match that ended with Tito being caught in the third round. Close to seven months later, he gets downgraded to fighting Rashad Evans after fighting the champion, Chuck Liddell. He proved that he wasn't what he used to be. I think he sorely needs an impressive win over a great wrestler like Rashad Evans to really begin a climb toward the top. With the Light Heavyweight Division being flooded with new fighters, Tito isn't in that top tier yet. He hasn't fought consistently this year, and needs to string some wins together before his time is over.

On the flip side, I think a rematch will disappoint. It was fairly unexciting during their first encounter. Rashad's style doesn't counter Tito's style all that well. Pitting two takedown fighters against each other and having one of them shy away from using his primary skills didn't bode well for the fight the first time around. Ortiz's defense is a lot better than most fighters Rashad has faced. His boxing wasn't as effective as it has been in the past when he fought Tito before. We could have the makings for another boring fight, or we could see a much improved Ortiz or Evans. Rashad is now stuck in the Ortiz charade not knowing whether he will be battling the Huntington Beach Bad Boy or having his fight pushed back because Ortiz shmoozed the Joe Silva into a different matchup. For right now, Evans-Ortiz is still the matchup that is up for UFC 78. Will it go on? Nobody knows, but there are two other potential matchups that have been rumored.

Dan Henderson wants to fight at 205

It's been reported in a few publications and in interviews that Dan Henderson wants to fight at 205. The consensus from the MMA community is that Henderson should drop to Middleweight and give Anderson Silva a run for his money. I fall within the latter group. I think Henderson would be an excellent matchup with Anderson Silva, and I'd actually go as far to say he would dominate the Brazilian striker. Last week, rumors surfaced from Ortiz that Henderson may be a possibly matchup that could be set soon. If this fight happened, what would the UFC's thinking be behind it? Are they trying to load up some type of end of the year card with potentially great fights? Of course they are, but Ortiz vs. Henderson?

First of all, Henderson's standup is much better than Ortiz's standup. Henderson's power alone would probably crush Ortiz early in the fight. His wrestling skills are more honed that Ortiz's ground game, although you can knock Henderson to some extent due to some of his showings in PRIDE. During his PRIDE reign, he was outwrestling by some far less skilled ground fighters. To me, this potential matchup is murder for Ortiz. If Ortiz has been renegotiating a new contract, the obvious reason as to why he will be coming back is to sell tickets. Henderson isn't the type of guy to play along with that notion. Also, you can't sell too many tickets talking a huge smack game when you get destroyed by a big name fighter such as Dan Henderson. It doesn't work that way. If the UFC wants to get their money's worth out of Tito Ortiz, I think lower level fighters are the way to go until he proves himself to be back in shape and fighting at a high level again.

Wanderlei Silva rematch in the works

Another hot rumor that has been out there is the possibility of a Tito Ortiz vs. Wanderlei Silva rematch. Rematch you say? If you haven't seen it, Ortiz fought Silva back in UFC 25 in which he threw Wanderlei down to the ground for most of the fight and dominated him in ground and pound fashion. He didn't TKO Silva, but won an unanimous decision. If you watch the fight in-depth, you can definitely see Wanderlei's size difference from then to now. He is much bigger, stronger, and has a much better takedown defense than he used to. The rematch rumors were first spoken by Ortiz during a speech at Little Creek Casino in Shelton, WA this past weekend, sourced by Fightlinker. I think this is a horrible fight right now for a number of reasons.

First, Wanderlei Silva is a huge signing for the UFC and Dana White has publicly said that Wanderlei was a guy he dreamed about signing. Dana seems to have the notion that Silva is a guy who can make the UFC a lot of money. Instead of setting up Silva for a possibly lay and pray beatdown by Ortiz, get him some experience in the cage first unlike the other PRIDE fighters that have been sent in too early. I'm not saying that Ortiz would necessarily win in that manner, but I'd rather see a tune up fight for Silva before a major fight. A lot of you may think that an Ortiz vs. Wanderlei fight may not be a major fight, but with the Ortiz hype machine in full gear before the fight, it will become a ridiculous spectacle. Be assured, Dana White would be hoping Ortiz exploits the hell out of the media to anger Silva into a war of words.

Second, Ortiz would probably be signed to a new deal. One fight into his new deal, he possibly gets devastatingly knocked out by Silva after a much hyped campaign by Ortiz to bring in the big dollars. Fans watch him as he gets destroyed and of course, many fans love it! But now what happens? Ortiz's value in the light heavyweight division begins to go down the tubes. People will say that he dodged the rematch with Evans, he got destroyed by Silva in their rematch, and his days as a top ranked fighter are over, needless to say, they may already be over. With the amount of talent in that division, Ortiz is almost a lock for underperforming and being beat out of the division. I'm not even going to get into the type of fights he may get if he beats Evans in a rematch. Can someone say Lyoto Machida? Nobody wants to fight that guy, and he's coming up through the rankings and may run into Ortiz soon. Fact is, having someone like Ortiz, although hated, produces hype and brings in more PPV buys and sales. Getting him possibly murdered by Silva would not bode well. Let Ortiz prove his worth, give him someone lower or the rematch with Evans and let him make you some money on some of the lower level light heavyweight bouts. Give him a huge fight later on into his contract.

Last, Wanderlei Silva has already mentioned that fact that he would like to fight Forrest Griffin to avenge Mauricio Rua's loss at UFC 76. I believe that this is a much better matchup for the UFC to promote. The whole "avenge" storyline will be hyped to death, the UFC vs. PRIDE debate will be brought up again and again, and it's a fight that if Griffin can win, will solidify a shot at the title for him. On the other hand, Silva will have the chance to have a strong showing against a guy who has had success, but isn't exactly the best fighter there is in the division. The matchup makes much better sense to me, but due to Griffin's horrendous gash that he received from "Shogun" in their matchup, we may not see this fight for quite some time.

In retrospect, Ortiz could market the Silva battle as a rematch, and would be the right guy to pull Silva into a war of words. Ortiz is a master at hyping fights and to his credit, many fans may hate him but he always seems to do well in the pocketbook. The UFC could work a rematch angle, as well as another UFC vs. PRIDE debate just like the rest of the fights. Wanderlei would definitely get upset over any comment Ortiz makes, and the war of words alone would make this fight hotly anticipated. Wanderlei's debut in the Octagon alone would make any hardcore MMA fan want to see this matchup.

Putting it all together

Until Ortiz's contract is figured out, we won't find out what's going on with his next matchup. He has one fight left on his contract, and he has stated that in his dealings with the Fertittas, owners of the UFC, he was offered the deal that he wanted. So why hasn't it been signed and the matchup confirmed? I have no idea. Rashad Evans is now waiting in the wings of the contract negotiations. Rashad could be matched up with someone like Houston Alexander or Lyoto Machida if the Ortiz fight does not happen. To be honest, I think Rashad gets destroyed in both fights, but that's speculation as far as if those fights would happen in light of Ortiz being matched up with someone else.

Henderson and Silva are a bit more intriguing, but I don't think Ortiz deserves that kind of huge matchup. But what do I know? I know that Ortiz is a media mogul for the UFC. I know that no matter who they put Ortiz in with, he will hype that fight to the max and every casual MMA fans who doesn't realize that Ortiz hasn't beaten a top contender since 2006 will eat the hype up with a spoon in hand. Eventually, even the hardcore fans will show some interest, although the consensus would be that Ortiz would be beaten. I doubt the Henderson rumor has any truth to it. Wanderlei Silva vs. Tito Ortiz does have some merit though. With a big marketing scheme that the UFC can deploy for that matchup and the hype that Ortiz could create with a bit of smack talk with Wanderlei Silva, the matchup could become a hotly anticipated rematch. Don't hold your breath though.

SOURCES

Fightlinker.com: Tito vs. Wanderlei Silva or Rashad Evans
TaggRadio: Tito vs. Henderson <--- Debunked, but still worthy of analysis

Apparently, some people did not believe the rumors were true or didn't read any MMA news for an entire week... here you go.

Saturday morning, I woke up knowing that UFC 75 was most likely going on in England at the very moment I stepped out of bed. Normally, I would rush downstairs to the computer, immediately check the results, and brag to the MMA fantasy leagues how well my picks "owned" everyone. But not for UFC 75. Since it was a free event on SpikeTV and I had been shelling out cash to see all the other notable MMA events such as Art of War, ShoXC, and UFC 74, I was glad to save a little coin to see the event on tape delay. I grabbed a cup of coffee, some breakfast, watched some television, some college football, my beloved Northsiders, the Chicago Cubs, and then finally settled in for UFC 75. During the day, I received some phone calls from friends talking about the event coming up that evening. A few decided to drive down and got there about an hour before the event started. As I sat outside cooking up some brats on the grill, holding a beer in my hand, an unbelievable question shot through my ears. "Who the hell is Dan Henderson anyways? "Rampage" is going to kill this guy, I don't even know who the hell Henderson is, must be some shitty can." It was amazing to me. I was completely dumbfounded by the question. I proceeded to explain that Dan Henderson was an Olympic team wrestler in Greco-Roman. He had an unbelievable record of 22-6 in his entire MMA career with notable wins over Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, Kazuo Misaki, Murilo Bustamante, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Murilo Rua, Renato Sobral, and Gilbert Yvel. He's the current welterweight and middleweight PRIDE Champion, first MMA fighter ever to hold both titles at the same time.¹ To my surprise, my buddy didn't really care. He'd never heard of him, therefore he declined to really let a guy of this caliber into his world of MMA. He just figured Quinton would destroy him in the first round. He didn't know who any of those notable wins were except for Wanderlei Silva, and my friend hasn't really seen any footage on him either. He just knows through hearing me speak of him that he's a great fighter. What's the problem here? My buddy is a typical casual MMA fan who's directly in the demographic that the UFC is aiming for. He's a bit amped for the fights, but I'm unbelievable nervous about the light heavyweight championship. I know the two guys are unbelievable fighters, I've seen nearly all of each fighter's past fights, and I know what's on the line here. He has no clue, no real excitement, and completely discounts Henderson due to the fact he hasn't seen any of his fights, and knows nothing about him. This brings me to my big question: What is the UFC doing wrong in their marketing department?

UFC 75 Unified Belt? Where?

The big question when Dan Henderson was given the title shot against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson was what was going to happen to the PRIDE belt now that Zuffa, UFC parenting company, had bought PRIDE Fighting Championships. First, it was that the belts were not on the line.² Then a few days later, the belts were going to be unified.³ It seemed the rumor went back and forth, back and forth. Finally, it was assumed that the belts would be unified and MMA would have it's first undisputed Light Heavyweight champion of the World. Did anyone really see that? No. Once the post-fight interviews were over, there was no passing of the guard, or belt, no big extravaganza that we used to see at the PRIDE Grand Prixs with the musical score blaring and the streamers falling from the rafters. Henderson didn't even come out with the PRIDE belt on. None of his entourage was carrying it, the commentators didn't even mention it. Why was it not a factor all of the sudden? Dana, can you answer that?

Two ideas come to mind. First, the whole PRIDE acquisition and organization could just be a huge confusion to the casual MMA fan. The UFC may be trying to stray from the boxing arena with the IBF, WBA, WBF, the list goes on. Instead of confusing fans with the thought of two organizations, one being acquired by another and now there being a type of "playoff" to determine who will be the champion under a combined organization, the UFC decided to create all this hype in the MMA media, but ultimately leave it out when it mattered the most. Secondly, maybe the UFC really just didn't think the U.S. audience really cared. As a hardcore fan of MMA, I loved PRIDE. PRIDE was an organization full of spectacular fighters, spectacular knockouts, and spectacular events. I feel the same way about the UFC, and I was very excited when Zuffa bought PRIDE. But the excitement is no longer there for me anymore. The fight was great, but the UFC really acted as if it was just another day, another dollar made. They shoved Dan Henderson aside and touted Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. I love Jackson's skill, his fighting, his personality, but I really thought the UFC dropped the ball by shoving Henderson aside like that. For such a meaningful fight, the UFC made it far from that.

Personalities

What can be done to really make the UFC's marketing more educational to the fans? What can be done to make the fans really learn the game, learn who the fighters are, learn how important some of these fights can be, and ultimately make the fans even more excited about the events? One huge idea that has already been brought up in the MMA community is the idea that these fighters are not showcased enough. Personalities are not shown enough. When we get a dose of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, we love it. Stephen Quadros did an interview with Jackson during his show on the Sherdog Radio network awhile back, and he noted that he found it odd that many people did not know how unbelievably funny Quinton is, and charismatic he is when people are around him. He was very funny during the post-fight interviews, funny during his radio interviews, and overall just a likeable guy outside the ring. But a lot of people don't know that side. They say "Man, he looks like a bad dude, a real crazy lunatic..". Fact is, he may look that way, but he is a serious professional MMA fighter who works hard and respects many of his opponents. Why isn't the UFC marketing his personality more? Chuck Liddell was successful with the MMA faithful for knocking people out. That was all he did, he knocked people out, and everybody loved him for it. He's soft spoken and not very outlandish when speaking in interviews. So, what happens when you market a guy that not only knocks people out, but is funny, likeable, and generally good for the sport? I'm going to stretch an idea and say that probably ten times the revenue that Liddell has brought in over the years.

The List

I compiled a small list of ideas I had in my head of things that the UFC could do to really amp up marketing, educate fans, and educate fans on the new fighters coming in from PRIDE. Fact is, they haven't done really any good marketing of these guys coming over from PRIDE. They really dropped the ball on it. Instead of really capitalizing on them, I have friends of mine who ask me who Crocop is still to this day even though he's fought in three UFC fights. On to my list:

1. More Personal Fighter Profiles
Didn't they have an "Inside the UFC" show you ask? Yes, they did. But it got cancelled. Fact is, the UFC needs to have some sort of show on SpikeTV every week that highlights a different fighter every week. The NBA has a show like that, the NFL has an entire network devoted to football that has shows like that, NASCAR has shows and a network devoted to that, hell, even the NHL had a show that was actually very good that went in-depth with teams during the season. The UFC had a show like that, but it was axed due to ratings. It's time for a resurrection with some new production value. I've heard rumors about a show in the works called "UFC Lifestyles". Idea doesn't sound bad, but please, don't make it like MTV Cribs, I know the same company that owns SpikeTV owns MTV Networks.

2. UFC Unleashed with a Twist
Instead of doing UFC Unleashed with crappy commentary that just introduces what the next fight is, why don't you take a suggestion from FSN and produce a PRIDE FC/UFC show just like what Jay Glazer and Frank Trigg hosted. The show could show older UFC and PRIDE fights with commentary from the hosts on their impact on MMA, their possibly bearing on upcoming fights in the UFC, and they would also showcase the skills of PRIDE fighters coming into the UFC on SpikeTV. It's an idea I can't believe the UFC has yet to take advantage of since they have the PRIDE FC Fight Library. This gives a lot more exposure to PRIDE fighters coming over.

3. Tune up every PRIDE Fighter
Give all the PRIDE guys ample time to adjust to the Octagon. I know, I know, you want your superfights now, but these guys aren't going to perform their absolute best without some type of tune up. If they lose the tune up, then obviously they weren't going to be doing much in the Octagon anyways. I'm tired of hearing the excuse that the UFC could lose their investment. Listen, every investment has risk. Signing a PRIDE fighter to a UFC contract is a big risk, but you have to be willing to give him some type of tune up before the big name fights can happen. In Mirko's case, a bad investment.

4. Pre-UFC event analysis shows
Sunday morning, the NFL has 4 hours of damn analysis shows on ESPN, ABC, CBS, NFL Network, it's ridiculous. Why can't the UFC have a little hour long show before the event hyping up the fights, going over styles, what to expect, maybe some predictions, analysis of each fighter, etc? Some fans watch these fights expecting a one-sided beatdown. If the UFC would actually somehow show each fighter's strengths, it could make the fight more meaningful in the casual fan's eyes. For example, my buddy has seen Robbie Lawler fight, but never seen "Ninja" Rua fight. For that reason, he doesn't care about the title fight in the EliteXC card this weekend. He's much rather looking forward to the Nick Diaz fight. If he actually knew what to expect from "Ninja", I think he'd be much more excited to see the fight. I think it would really spread the word about the UFC more, and get more casual fans really talking about styles and techniques, just like Sunday armchair quarterback fans do.

5. Major network participation, even if it is small
I'm sure Dana is working on this, but major network participation would be key. Getting a UFC Fight Night like event on ABC, CBS, or NBC would be unbelievable. With the  recent ratings that UFC 75 got, I don't know if it's a huge push to actually gain network television's bandwidth when SpikeTV sufficiently did the job, but even getting sports networks to highlight the regular events would be a great push into getting the fights, results, and events seen by the average sports fanatic. ESPN sometimes shows the major title fight highlights, but we need more than that on Sportscenter with more frequency.

6. A little confetti
Would it hurt to make a title unification bout actually meaningful? Pull out the stops. I enjoyed the big runway that fighters got to take during the PRIDE events, but we don't absolutely need that. When Fedor Emelianenko won the Heavyweight Title in PRIDE, and the streamers came down as he was hoisted onto the shoulders of his corner men while he had blood running down from his eyes, as a fan, you could actually see a bit of emotion. He knew he had done something great. That was just for the PRIDE belt. At UFC 75, Quinton unified the belts, and all that happened was some funny comments and the event was over. Come on! You can make a celebration without creating a ridiculous environment.

And for a bit of fun, my wishful thinking list...

Bring in the screaming PRIDE girl
For that old nostalgic calling, Lenne Hardt needs to be signed by the UFC and brought over to scare the casual UFC fans.

Just Bleeds Guy on payroll please
Sherdog's very own Jordan Breen brought nostalgia back during a show where he wanted to know what happened to the Just Bleeds Guy, shown here. He's obviously the numero uno fan of the UFC. When he gets out of jail in 2013, have a contract ready for him.

That's all the ideas I have for right now. I'm somewhat tired of these PRIDE guys getting no love from the UFC. As a hardcore MMA fan, I miss PRIDE very much, but was very excited at the prospect of these super fights occurring in the UFC. But having casual MMA fans have no clue who these guys are even after the Countdown shows and All Access shows is amazing to me. Obviously the marketing just isn't cutting it. Yeah, the UFC had awesome ratings for the SpikeTV show, but it was on FREE TV, and it was on an otherwise boring night of sporting events. Get the marketing tank going and bring more of a personal feel to the fighters and to the sport.

There are several points that can be argued against these ideas, the main one being that the shows got low ratings when they were around. I found one thing to be particularly odd when reading Jay Glazer's article in FIGHT! Magazine. NFL players were asking him about PRIDE fighters and UFC fighters while at camp. Obviously the PRIDE FC show on FSN was hitting their demographic and educating those guys into who those fighters were. That's the aim here. To educate fans, and in turn, make them more excited, amped, whatever you want to call it, but more intelligent about the fight game. I think in the long run, this will make the sport even more successful. Basketball, Football, Baseball, we've all played those games, we know from experience about those sports, but MMA is much different. It isn't something you play when you are a little boy, or at least not a mainstream sport. We can't all be experts and understand it. The aim of this article is to give some suggestions on how the UFC can market toward that demographic.

THE BREAKDOWN: DAN HENDERSON VS. QUINTON JACKSON

Dan "Hollywood" Henderson comes into this fight with a 22-5 record with his most recent win over Wanderlei Silva at PRIDE 33: The Second Coming to win the PRIDE Middleweight Championship Belt. He became the only MMA fighter to ever hold two belts simultaneously and only the second fighter to actually attain two championships in two different weight classes, PRIDE Middleweight and Welterweight.

He also won the RINGS Tournament in 1999, in which he fought three consecutive fights in one night against Gilbert Yvel, "Minotauro" Nogueira, and Renato "Babalu" Sobral. He has a consistent record with big wins over Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, and Murilo Bustamante in his most recent fights.

Henderson is a member of Team Quest, which has gyms in Portland, Oregon and Murietta, California. The California location is ran by Henderson himself. Team Quest trains fighters such as Matt Lindland, Ed Herman, Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Rameau Sokoudjou, and Gabe Ruediger. In the past, fighters such as Randy Couture, Evan Tanner, Nate Quarry, and Chris Leben were all members of Team Quest. Randy Couture is actually credited by Dan as to getting him involved in MMA.

With this impressive resume of experience and accomplishments, Henderson obviously has a well rounded MMA skillset. Henderson is best known for his strong standup skills even though he has a very strong wrestling background. He was involved in the '93 NCAA Championships and was a member of the '92 and '96 U.S. Olympic Wrestling squad in Greco-Roman Wrestling. Even with this incredible background, Henderson has won by knockout in 10 of his 27 bouts and only won by submission once. He has 11 fights that headed to decision in which he won. His 5 losses were mostly lost by decision except for two losses to "Minotauro" Nogueira via armbar.

So what does all this statistical analysis say about Dan Henderson? Obvioulsy he has a strong standup game. He also has very good cardio considering he has had many of his fights go the distance. Not to be compared to Chuck Liddell, Henderson does have similar traits to the former UFC light heavyweight champion. He seems to be using his wrestling primarily to escape the ground game or for body control on the ground to pound out opponents. He rarely tries to position himself for the chokes much like other wrestlers try to do.

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is fresh off his UFC title win over Chuck Liddell with a huge knockout victory in the first round that stunned the MMA community. Before that fight, Rampage had started to train with Juanito Ibarra and claimed that he was in the best shape of his life. Juanito's training regiment was featured on UFC: All Access before UFC 71. With a notably better
trainer in Rampage's corner, Rampage looks to be coming off one of the biggest wins in his career and into a dead standup matchup with Dan Henderson.

Rampage's resume is also fairly impressive with notable wins over Kevin Randleman, Murilo Bustamante, Ricardo Arona, "Ninja" Rua, Matt Lindland, and Chuck Liddell twice. His highest achievement in the ring was his title matchup with Wanderlei Silva at the Middleweight Grand Prix known as PRIDE Final Conflict in which he suffered a devastating loss via knee strikes.

Striking is Rampage's game. He has very heavy hands and packs a lot of power into his fists. He's physically very strong and able to pick up opponents and slam them at will as we've seen in the Arona and Sakuraba fights. He is so physically strong that he is very hard to control on the ground and is able to easily break from guards and escape to his feet. Rampage has proved even in losses that he has some skills that some MMA fighters cannot match up against. His chin is unbelievably strong. In both the "Shogun" Rua matchup and the Wanderlei Silva matchup, he took an unbelievable amount of knees to the chin and face that didn't drop him immediately. Especially in the Shogun fight, Rampage remained on his feet until the end of the fight after taking a brutal beating. It should be noted however that in that fight, he suffered a broken rib early in the fight and really was unable to keep going, but kept fighting nonetheless. He's also shown a decent ability to escape chokes, especially in the Matt Lindland fight.

Recently in an interview with Stephen Quadros, Rampage also stated that he has been training with Brandon Vera and Cheick Kongo for an added element to his striking game. I believe this is most likely to prepare for Henderson's power punches.

PREDICTION

Historically, I would think this fight may go to a decision because due to the high amount of bouts that both fighters have had go to a decision, but that wasn't in five round title matchups. Also, both of these fighters have heavy hands and that doesn't make for a particularly long fight.

Henderson has had 4 out of his last 5 fights go to decision, which tells me that his fists have been avoided for the most part recently. It's obvious that his heavy hands are more avoidable that MMA fans would be led to believe. Gono and Chonan absolutely got steamrolled by Henderson's aggressive advance which equaled brutal knockout victories in both bouts. If Henderson can be more aggressive in this bout than in previous bouts, he may be able to do the same thing that Wanderlei and Shogun were able to achieve in their matchups. If the bout becomes a standup fight in which both fighters are trying to pick each other apart, Rampage may have the advantage considering his chin has been proven much more than Dan's.

Rampage is a very underrated fighter. He has excellent takedowns, excellent defense, and he can really do damage in the clinch. Henderson has proven in the last few fights that his style is basically roaming the ring and landing huge punches. His standup really isn't much but his huge guns looping at your face. I'm going to pick Rampage in this matchup via TKO/KO in the 3rd round.

THE BREAKDOWN: MIRKO "CROCOP" FILIPOVIC vs. CHEICK KONGO

Mirko will be coming into this bout with a 22-5 record, fresh off a loss to Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 70 via a brutal headkick in which CroCop later admitted that the ground game that Gonzaga used on CroCop led to blurriness in his vision and resulted in reacting late to the kick. After the initial shock of the loss, Mirko was quoted as saying he wasn't training very hard at all, and didn't train in a cage setting whatsoever. In response to his loss, Mirko has brought in Gilbert Yvel and Remy Bonjarsky as striking coaches and Dean Lister as a BJJ expert as well as setting up an Octagon in his basement. He will no doubt be heavily prepared to fight in the Octagon and most likely have his striking at 100%.

CroCop's resume is extensive and very impressive. He has beaten Josh Barnett three different times in his career, as well as devastated Wanderlei Silva in an openweight Grand Prix, beaten Coleman, Randleman, Aleksander Emelianenko, and eventually lost to decision to the great "Last Emperor" Fedor Emelianenko. The loss was still very impressive because Mirko's ground game shined in the matchup. He was able to fully avoid the brunt of Fedor's attack, but he did lack a crisp standup game in the fight. Fedor dominated the world renowned striker in the standup department during the 2nd and 3rd
rounds to cement the decision victory.

Mainly a kickboxer, Mirko has been training in Brazilian ju-jitsu, and his new trainer, Ivan Hippolyte, is a legendary Muay Thai champion. Could we possibly see Mirko add the knees to a clinch in the UFC? It's quite possibly he's added some big skills to his game with his already devastated standup kicks. He also has a very good boxing game. He's very quick, and moves in and out of range from his opponenet. Counter punching is his specialized way of boxing against opponents and it can be definitely seen in his fight against Wanderlei Silva in which he caught Silva with a stiff jab while Silva tried to aggressively move in on Mirko.

On the UFC 75 Countdown show, Mirko stated that in his last fight when Gonzaga knocked him out that "shit happens" and that's all he can really say about it. He looked to be training very hard in elbows, defense, and in the cage. He looks to be in better shape for this fight as well, and a bit bigger strength wise.

Cheick Kongo is 10-3 with a recent win over Assuerio Silva at UFC 70. He has been training out of the Fimeu Gym in Paris, in which in his UFC Countdown interview considers it to be one of the best gyms around. He has been training in MMA since he was 5 years old and began with Muay Thai, Kendo, and Karate. He also have some Greco-Roman wrestling training to supplement his standup game.

Kongo hasn't had many notable wins in his career. His last fight against Assuerio Silva was his most notable win and it was fairly lackluster. Kongo primarily kept the fight up, which was a good strategy, but had a few chances to rain punches down on Silva. He respected Silva's ground game and was fairly hesitant because of it. Kongo has been training at Big Bear with Bisping and Jackson, so we should most likely see some improved counter punching and striking from the French man.

PREDICTION

Mirko is coming into this bout off a devastating loss. He's most likely going to head to London, England with the mindset of showing the UFC what he worth and what he's improved on. Mirko's recent interviews and press coverage of his camp have only solidified the fact that he's serious about winning this matchup. Bringing in two premeir strikers and a world class ju-jitsu fighter who has seen the cage helps tremendously in his ground game and cage awareness. He also stated that he has been extensively working on elbows and defending against the elbows. His trainer, Ivan Hippolyte, is also a legendary Muay Thai fighter. He will be perfect practice for Crocop to get familiar with Kongo's style of fighting.

Kongo's best chance is to use his powerful striking to catch Crocop. Crocop has demonstrated numerous times that his boxing tactics are fairly crisp. He's a very quick jabber and moves in and out of range a lot. He also feasts on looping punchers. If this fight goes late and Kongo begins to gas, look for a straight punch knockout. Otherwise, I look to see Crocop win via a kick in the 1st or 2nd round

THE BREAKDOWN: MICHAEL BISPING vs MATT HAMILL

The hype surrounding this fight has grown and grown over the past few weeks in this much anticipated matchup between the TUF 3 contestants. Bisping obviously ended up winning the Ultimate Fighter. Hamill, on the other hand, was not allowed to fight after he suffered a concussion before the TUF 3 semifinals. He has stated numerous times that he thinks he would have won the Ultimate Fighter had he not been injured. This has fueled the fire between both of these competitors.

Bisping is primarily a kickboxer, but has a bit of ju-jitsu in his game along with some strong striking skills. He has won a good number of his fights via ground and pound, but hasn't been tested extensively in the Octagon. His last win was against Elvis Sinosic in which he did show some resilence in the ring. He took a heavy knee and recovered and also was able to pull away from being submitted in the 2nd round. He has a perfect 13-0 record in MMA, but did record a loss in a kickboxing match against Cyrille Diabate at one point in his career. Diabate was the man who suffered a head stomp loss to "Shogun" Rua in PRIDE at one point.

Training out of Big Bear with "Rampage" Jackson, Brandon Vera, and Cheick Kongo, look for much improved striking from Bisping. I imagine his trademark aggressive style and throwdown attitude will be seen throughout this fight.

Hamill is a completely different fighter than his counterpart. Hamill is a Division-III NCAA Wrestling Champion with some standard ground and pound abilities. His most recent victory was over Rex Holman, who was a Division-I Wrestling Champion at Ohio State. During his interview on the UFC Countdown show, Hamill said that fight was a turning point for him because it proved he could hang with wrestler with better credentials and win.

Hamill's training has been extensive in the boxing arena. He trains at his own gym in New York state and is taking full advantage of training with Kimdu Bethel, a 3x Boxing Champion,  according to Matt Hamill's website. It looks like he's stacked on the striking training to silence his critics. Hamill comes into this bout with a 3-0 record in MMA, but against very unproven opponents. It will be interesting to see how Hamill plans to counter Bisping's aggressive style along with his heavy hands.

PREDICTION

This very well could be the upset pick of the event. Hamill's wrestling ability is vastly superior to anything Bisping can offer on the ground. If Hamill can manage to get past an initial onslaught by Bisping or neutralize it with a takedown, he may be able to control the fight. Hamill has stated that during the show, he took all the training seriously and was criticized by Bisping for that. He also thinks because of that, and the fact that he manhandled Bisping in wrestling drills during the show that he will be able to takedown Bisping.

To be honest, I'm going to take a safe prediction and pick Bisping via TKO 1st or 2nd round. I will probably lay some money on the Hamill upset however because I feel he looked much stronger during his TV interview, and Bisping had flashes in the Sinosic fight where he could have lost, especially after the knee to the head. Bisping's standup may be so much improved that Hamill just won't be able to compete with it, and I'm sure "Rampage"'s camp trained him well in takedown defense. It will be a very interesting matchup to say the least, the classic ground fighter vs. standup fighter.

THE BREAKDOWN: HOUSTON ALEXANDER VS. ALESSIO SAKARA

Houston Alexander, out of Omaha, Nebraska, is coming off an upset victory over Keith Jardine at UFC 71. He showed the world that he had unbelievably heavy hands and was able to pound Jardine with punch after punch ending the bout just :48 seconds into the first round. Alexander is primarily a Muay Thai fighter with a heavy emphasis on Boxing. He also has stated in an interview with Gary Alexander of the Ultimate Podcast that he has a ground game that people will be very surprised with. Alexander just recently got back into the MMA game this year with a couple of wins in a smaller organization in March. He was on a layoff for 2 years before that but stated in an interview with UFCJunkie that he had fought over 200+ amateur MMA fights. Many call this "bullshit", but Alexander insists he fought a majority of them in Sioux City, Iowa.¹ 

Alessio Sakara comes into this bout off a win over Victor Valimaki at UFC 70 in a impressive first round knockout. Alessio is primarily a Brazilian ju-jitsu/Boxing fighter from Brazil. He also holds an amateur boxing record of 6-1, mainly fighting in Italy and Brazil.² Sakara comes into this bout looking to prove that Alexander is a fluke, but this matchup is proving to have the makings of a slugfest. Sakara is very good inside, scoring many heavy uppercuts against opponents. He has a good takedown defense and is great a dodging punches.

PREDICTION

This fight is definitely a decent test for Alexander. It isn't a step up in competition however. It really looks like the media hype over Alexander in his last fight has caused the UFC to be tentative in matchmaking Alexander. He should be tested though. Sakara has heavy hands, and some ground game to boot. Look for this fight to be a standup war, but Sakara may be able to really push the pace with his excellent boxing skills. This is another bout that may have the makings to be an upset. Alexander is favored to win slightly, but I believe Sakara's superior boxing skills and heavy inside presence may be able to lift him to the victory. I'd pick Alexander based on his power and extensive boxing experience, but you may want to make a play on Sakara to win. I'm going to go out on a limb and pick Sakara for the upset in the 1st round...

UPDATE: Sakara did an interview saying he was going to come out and just try to outbox Houston Alexander, so I'm picking Alexander via KO in the 1st round.

UNDERCARD BRIEFS

Paul Taylor vs. Marcus "The Irish Hand Grenade" Davis

Marcus Davis is quite the mystery. He compiled a 17-1 boxing record in the New England circuit before suffering a huge knockout loss that literally caused him to quit boxing. He then became excited for the new challenge that MMA presented and here we are now with Marcus sporting a 11-3 record with 4 fights under his belt in the UFC. Marcus sports impressive boxing skills and knockout abilities along with an 8 fight win streak leading into the fight with Paul Taylor. Taylor will be coming in with an 8-1 record and fighting on his home soil in England. He hasn't fought any huge names in MMA, but has fought recently some fighters with fairly decent records, a step up from the fighters he was going up against early. Taylor looks to have some power and ground skills, but he is definitely a fighter that looks to stand and fight. Davis has much more superior boxing. When you are considered one of the top boxers in the U.S. and on the verge of breaking into the big time like Davis once was, it's very hard to pick Taylor winning a standup fight. Davis via TKO/KO in the 1st.

Gleison Tibau vs. Terry Etim

Both of these guys have very good ju-jitsu backgrounds, but Etim is coming into this fight undefeated with 10 wins, 9 by submission. Etim also has only went into the second round 3 times in the 10 fights, winning most of his fights via submission in the first round. Tibau is fighting out of American Top Team, and is very versed in submissions as well. He does like to throw the leather though, and this makes me believe he is more of the complete fighter in this matchup. Etim hasn't fought very good competition, and wasn't that impressive in his last victory. Look for Tibau to finally show his skills on the ground in this fight. Tibau via submission in the 2nd.

Tomasz Drwal vs. Thiago Silva

Both fighters in this matchup have impressive records, but haven't fought really any top notch competition. Silva has just come off a win over James Irvin. Silva has some impressive standup skills and just like any fighter out of Chute Box, has great kicking ability with knockout power. Drwal also has impressive knockout ability, but did that against a lot of guys who've been knocked out a lot. Look for Silva's superior Muay Thai fighting and black belt in ju-jitsu to shine in this bout. If Drwal's standup actually stuns Silva, this fight can be won on the ground by Silva. Drwal has a puncher's chance in this bout with his knockout power though and may be worth laying a small bet on. I'm actually going to take Silva by submission instead of KO because I think he will try to avoid Drwal's standup. I watched a few of Drwal's fights and he won those via KO, but they were somewhat unimpressive in that the competition he fought was simply bad at defending themselves.

Naoyuki Kotani vs. Dennis Siver

Kotani is primarly a submission fighter with an impressive 13 submissions out of his 17 wins. He was able to take Tavarez the distance in his last bout in which he lost. It does prove that his escape techniques and style were able to fend off an excellent ju-jitsu fighter. Siver is also a submission fighter with some knockout power. His last bout was very unimpressive losing to Jess Liaudin via submission in the first round. Look for this fight to hit the ground quick, and for Kotani to win via submission in the 1st round. Siver seems to have a weakness against superior submission specialists, and Kotani has had some very good experience in the past against guys like Aurelio.

Anthony Torres vs. Jess Liaudin

Anthony Torres was a contestant on Ultimate Fighter 2, losing to Luke Cummo early in the show, but has since won his UFC debut over Pat Healy via submission by rear naked choke. Jess is coming into this fight with a 11-8 record, hardly impressive, but he is on a 4 fight win streak. Jess has some impressive ju-jitsu skills that don't compliment his record. Jess has also looked in much better shape in his current four fight streak than he has in previous fights. With that said, I think Liaudin comes in takes this via submission in the 2nd round.

Most writeups sourced Wikipedia.org for data, and various Google searches turned up videos on each fighter, Sherdog.com for fight records.