The Ultimate Fighting Championship has done it again.
This week, the company will provide fans with two awesome cards as it presents UFC Fight Night on Wednesday on SpikeTV and then UFC 76: Knockout on pay-per-view Saturday.
Wednesday’s card is headlined by a lightweight bout pitting Din Thomas against Kenny Florian while Saturday’s card will feature former UFC light heavyweight Champion “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell facing “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine and one of my favorite fighters, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, battling Forrest Griffin.
Here are my predictions and brief analysis (I’ll spare you the extended version) for the main card bouts of UFC Fight Night. I’ll be back with the same for UFC 76 on Friday.
Pete “Drago” Sell vs. Nate “The Rock” Quarry
-While Sell has been active over the past few years, Quarry hasn’t. He hasn’t fought since suffering one of the most brutal knockouts in UFC history at the hands of Rich Franklin back in November of 2005. He makes his return to the Octagon against a tough opponent whom he defeated back in August 2005 in what many (myself included) considered to be an extremely early stoppage. While I think Quarry would defeat Sell on most occasions, I don’t consider this to be one of them, as the ring rust will catch up with Quarry, and Sell will hand him a second round TKO defeat.
Nate Diaz vs. Junior Assuncao
-The winner of The Ultimate Fighter 5, Nate Diaz, gets his first shot at proving he belongs in the UFC against another jiu-jitsu practitioner, Junior Assuncao. This fight should, like many of the fights contested in the UFC’s lightweight division, be spectacular and exciting. Since Diaz is the rising star here, they wouldn’t give him anyone they didn’t think he could handle, so I’ll go with Diaz to end the fight in the third round with a rear naked choke.
Terry Martin vs. Chris “The Crippler” Leben
-Leben looked like a legitimate contender in the UFC’s middleweight division before he ran chin-first into now-UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva back in June 2006. Since then, Leben has had some tough luck winning just one of three fights. And the UFC isn’t doing him any favors in making this fight, as Martin has extremely heavy hands and has looked very impressive in his two fights in the middleweight division. Martin is going to hand Leben his bus ticket out of the UFC with a TKO win in the first round.
Din Thomas vs. Kenny Florian
-In the evening’s main event, two potential contenders for the UFC Lightweight Championship battle in a fight that will see the winner come closer to a title shot. Thomas is a seasoned veteran while Florian is still learning and getting better with each passing fight.
This will be a fast paced and exciting fight, there’s no doubt in my mind. I can’t imagine either fighter being able to finish each other. While many have picked Florian to take this fight, I think Thomas is on a roll and will take this one by unanimous decision.
See you Friday!
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