Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson
Yoshiyuki 'Zenko' YoshidaIn the first televised bout of the evening, top welterweight prospect Anthony Johnson will take on Judo specialist Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Anthony Johnson made his MMA debut in 2006, earning a 1st round KO victory over Jonathan Romero. He put together a 3 fight win streak before getting signed by the UFC and had an extremely impressive debut at UFC Fight Night 10, knocking out Chad Reiner just thirteen seconds into the first round. He had taken the fight on less than a weeks notice replacing an injured Steve Bruno. In subsequent UFC bouts Johnson was choked out by Rich Clementi but came back with an impressive KO victory over Tommy Speer.
Anthony’s next fight was against Kevin Burns on July 19, 2008 and ended in controversial fashion by TKO loss, in the third round. Johnson could not continue due to receiving a severe poke to the eye. Many believe that Johnson should have won the fight via disqualification. Johnson fought Kevin Burns again in a rematch on The Ultimate Fighter 8 finale. This time the outcome was different with Johnson winning the match by knocking Burns out via headkick. The knockout earned Johnson Knockout of The Night honors. Johnson defeated Luigi Fioravanti at UFC Fight Night 17 on February 7, by TKO via strikes at 4:39 of the first round. Even after his impressive stoppage of Fioravanti, Johnson apologized for his performance, calling himself "sloppy" and saying that although he was unhappy with the fight that night and had a lot of improving to do, he was still young and would only get better.
Yoshiyuki Yoshida made his mixed martial arts debut in 2005, defeating Akihiro Yamazaki via decision. He went 5-2 in his next 7 fights before entering the Cage Force welterweight tournament. In the opening round of the tournament, Yoshida defeated two-time interim Pancrase champion Katsuya Inoue by knockout. He went on to defeat Matt Cain in the quarterfinals and former Shooto champion Akira Kikuchi in the semi-finals of the tournament. In the finals, Yoshida defeated Dan Hardy by disqualification after being struck by a kick to the groin, becoming the first Cage Force welterweight tournament winner.
After the tournament Yoshida was offered a contract with the UFC. Yoshida made his debut in the UFC at UFC 84, choking Jon Koppenhaver unconscious by Anaconda choke submission. He was scheduled to meet Karo Parisyan in September at UFC 88 but Parisyan pulled out of the bout only two hours before the weigh-ins citing an injury. Yoshida then faced Josh Koscheck at UFC: Fight for the Troops on December 10, 2008, a fight which he lost by 1st round knockout. Yoshida won his last fight against Brandon Wolff at UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida on May 23, 2009 by guillotine choke in the first round.
Yoshida will have a big point to prove in this fight, as even though he won his last fight unfortunately a lot of fans will remember him as the guy who Josh Koscheck brutally KO’d at UFC: Fight for the Troops. Yoshida has some of the best throws in the UFC with his judo background providing him with an extremely solid base which enables him to decide where he wants the fight to take place. He has also shown decent stand-up skills with 6 of his 11 wins coming by KO. Despite this I don’t think Yoshida should look to test his stand-up skills against a striker the caliber of Johnson. Johnson is one of the biggest welterweights in the UFC & has been known to cut down from 200lbs. As well as having a strength advantage I expect Johnson to have a significant reach advantage in this fight. Yoshida’s best shot at winning this fight is to use his judo to get Johnson to the ground, where he can then look to expose some of Johnson’s weaknesses. Anthony on the other hand will look to use his explosive stand-up & size advantage to out-strike Yoshida, if he connects with a solid shot then I fully expect him to finish Yoshida in the early rounds.
My Prediction: Anthony Johnson via KO.
Joe 'Daddy' Stevenson
Spencer 'The King' FisherJoe Stevenson will take on Spencer Fisher in a lightweight bout as both fighters look to climb the rankings. Joe Stevenson made his MMA debut back in May 1999 at 16 years of age, defeating Joe Camacho via submission. He then went on to amass a record of 24-6-0 while capturing the 155 lb championship at King of the Cage as well as the 170lbs championship at Gladiator Challenge before getting chosen to participate on The Ultimate Fighter Season 2. On November 5, 2005 Stevenson defeated Luke Cummo by unanimous decision, winning The Ultimate Fighter 2 welterweight tournament. Joe then lost his first fight after The Ultimate Fighter to Josh Neer, prompting Joe to move down to the Lightweight division. After moving to Lightweight Joe went on a 4-0 win streak before challenging Lightweight champion BJ Penn for the undisputed championship. Just seconds into the first round, Penn knocked Stevenson down with a right uppercut. BJ then landed a devastating elbow to the head of Stevenson – opening up a serious cut. In the second round, Stevenson fought more aggressively but was still unable to stop Penn from securing a rear naked choke at 4:02 of the second round to end the fight. Since his loss to Penn Joe has defeated Gleison Tibau before losing back to back fights against Kenny Florian at UFC 91 via rear naked choke & Diego Sanchez at UFC 95 via unanimous decision.
Spencer Fisher fights out of the Miletich Fighting Systems camp and made his UFC debut at Ultimate Fight Night 2, scoring a second-round submission victory over Thiago Alves. He then defeated Aaron Riley in his next fight by TKO in the first round. Fisher was undefeated in the UFC before taking on Sam Stout on the undercard of UFC 58. Fisher took the fight on very late notice, reportedly cutting 20lbs in the final two days leading up to the match. Although Fisher seemed to land harder punches, Stout landed more, and came away with a controversial split decision. Fisher returned at UFC 60 against Matt Wiman and won by TKO in the second round, hitting Wiman with a flying knee that forced a stop the bout. Fisher was able to record another first round TKO at UFC 64 against Dan Lauzon. However his win streak came to a halt at Ultimate Fight Night 8, where he was defeated by Hermes Franca in round two via TKO (strikes).
At UFC 58 Fisher defeated Sam Stout in a re-match by unanimous decision. His next fight was a loss to Frankie Edgar by unanimous decision at UFC 78. Since this loss Fisher has put together 3 wins with his latest victory coming against UFC veteran Caol Uno at UFC 99 via unanimous decision.
This is a really tough fight to call as both fighters possess very similar skill sets. Both have extremely good wrestling with solid stand-up & ground games. Even though Spencer has a pretty good ground game, I think that Stevenson is just that little bit more skilled in terms of submissions. In fact I think that this would be Stevenson’s best opportunity to win the fight. Spencer has shown that when he gets caught up in exchanges he can leave an opening for his opponent to get the takedown. Joe will need to look out for any mistakes like this as it could be the key for him to get the victory. However if Joe fails to get the takedown, with these fighters being so similar we may experience a bit of stale-mate which could lead to the majority of the fight being a striking battle. Spencer’s strategy will be similar to his last fight, he will look to avoid going to the ground while trying to win the striking exchanges. I can’t see him KO’ing Stevenson, however he may be able to out-strike Joe and get a decision. At the end of the night though, after seeing Fisher get taken down by Uno in his last fight I think Joe will be able to catch him off guard and get him down before locking in the submission.
My Prediction: Joe Stevenson via submission.
Gleison Tibau
Josh 'The Dentist' NeerGleison Tibau and Josh Neer will be looking to get back to winning ways in this welterweight contest after both losing their last fights. Gleison Tibau had his first professional fight in 1999 against Rivanio Aranha, winning via decision after 3 rounds. Tibau went on to put together an impressive record of 13-2 before making his UFC debut against Nick Diaz. Tibau started strong and was taking Nick Diaz down efficiently using his Jiu-Jitsu, however in the second round he tired and lost by TKO due to strikes.
After the fight, Tibau took on Jason Dent at UFC 68. Tibau dominated the fight and won by decision. He then took a one fight hiatus from the company and returned defeating Jeff Cox. Tibau then took on undefeated British favorite Terry Etim, Tibau won the fight by decision. Tibau then had back to back loss to Tyson Griffin at UFC 81 and then to Joe Stevenson at UFC 86. He then scored back to back wins over Rich Clementi and Jeremy Stephens. In his latest fight at the TUF 9 Finale, Tibau fought Melvin Guillard. The fight ended with Tibau losing by split decision. The fight was very controversial as many thought Tibau won the fight.
Josh Neer began fighting mixed martial arts in 2002 at the Toad Holler Fight Club where he started and finished his amateur career with an official record of 11-0. Even though his official record only states 11 bouts he was actually 87-1 at Toad Holler Fight Club sometimes fighting two to three times a night. His only loss as an amateur was to Kevin Burns of the Des Moines Jiu Jitsu Academy.
After his successful amateur career Neer began his professional career on March 15, 2003 by knocking out Josh Kennedy. Neer then won twice and drew once before losing his first fight to Spencer Fisher by split decision. After losing to Fisher, Neer won his next ten fights, including the XKK (Xtreme Kage Kombat) Welterweight Championship. Neer signed with the UFC and lost his first fight to Drew Fickett by submission at the inaugural Ultimate Fight Night. Neer fought his next three fights outside the UFC and went 2-1 before going back to the UFC. He submitted Melvin Guillard at Ultimate Fight Night 2 and beat Joe Stevenson, who won the Welterweight division of The Ultimate Fighter 2 at Ultimate Fight Night 3. Neer then lost his next two fights, to Josh Burkman at UFC 61, and by submission to Nick Diaz at UFC 62. Once again out of the UFC, Neer went 6-1 in his next seven fights before returning to defeat Din Thomas at UFC Fight Night: Florian vs Lauzon. In his next fight he lost to Nathan Diaz in the main event at UFC Fight Night: Diaz vs Neer, but followed that defeat with a win at UFC Fight Night: Lauzon vs Stephens over The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs Team Serra winner, Mac Danzig, by triangle choke in the second round. In his most recent bout, Neer lost a decision to Kurt Pellgrino at UFC 101.
Both of these fighters will be looking to re-bound from losses in their last fights which could make this fight very interesting. I expect this fight to be more of a classic grappler vs. striker bout what with Gleison’s excellent BJJ, he will surely look to get the fight down to the ground as soon as possible whereas Josh will look to use his superior striking to try & get the KO. Unfortunately this tactic doesn’t always work, as seen in Neer’s last fight against Kurt Pellegrino, even though Josh was the better striker he got taken down at will and was kept there for basically the whole fight which cost him the decision. Now Gleison should look to use this blueprint come fight night, he is one of the biggest welterweights in the UFC along with Anthony Johnson and if he can get Neer to the ground then it will be very difficult for Josh to get back up. Josh will surely have been working on his takedown defence since we last seen him and he will have a major point to prove. If he manages to stuff the Brazilian’s takedowns then he has a very good chance at pulling off the KO.
My Prediction: Josh Neer via KO.
Cain Velasquez
Ben RothwellIn the co-main event of the evening rising heavyweight prospect Cain Velasquez will put his undefeated record on the line against tough veteran Ben Rothwell. Rothwell began fighting in 1999 at the age of 17, he won his first 4 professional fights before suffering the first loss of his career to future UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia. Ben then put together a 6 fight win streak before dropping a decision to Mike Whitehead. Rothwell re-bounded from the 2nd loss of his career by winning his next 3 fights before going on to what has been the worst spell of his career to date by going 3-3 in his next 6 fights. 2 of these 3 losses were by way of KO, the first time Ben had been KO’d in his career.
After his fight with Dan Christison, Rothwell went on to have a 13 fight win streak which saw him go undefeated in the IFL. This impressive streak convinced Affliction to sign him to fight Andrei Arlovski at their Affliction: Banned event. Rothwell more than held his own against the former UFC champion but got caught in the 3rd round & lost the fight via KO. In his most recent fight Ben defeated Chris Guillen via TKO in the first round.
Cain Velasquez is a former 2-Time All-American collegiate wrestler from Arizona State and a Junior College National Champ at Iowa Central Community College. He made his professional MMA debut in October 2006 against Jesse Fujarczyk on the Strikeforce: Tank vs. Buentello card, Cain stopped his opponent in just under 2 minutes via TKO due to punches. He followed up his successful debut with another 1st round TKO victory this time over Jeremiah Constant before being signed by the UFC to fight on their UFC 83 card against Brad Morris. Cain kept up his 1st round knockout streak as he stopped Morris just after 2 minutes into the bout. His next fight came against UFC veteran Jake O’Brien, in what was expected to be a tough test for Velasquez turned out to be a relatively easy fight which Cain ended in impressive fashion with another 1st round TKO. Cain’s latest fight was against Denis Stojnić at UFC Fight Night 17. The fight was stopped in round two with Velasquez earning the victory improving his professional record to a perfect 5-0 with 5 KO’s. Cain went the distance for the first time in his career in his latest fight at UFC 99 as he defeated Cheick Kongo via unanimous decision.
Cain Velasquez came through a tough test in his last fight & showed a lot of heart as he defeated dangerous striker Cheick Kongo. However, even though Cain got the victory, a lot of new questions were raised about the rising prospect as many people expected him to finish Kongo. Despite landing numerous shots Kongo was able to last until the final bell, which now has people questioning Cain’s one punch KO power. Also during the few standing exchanges Kongo seemed to rock Cain on a couple of occasions , despite all of this Cain still controlled Kongo for the whole fight with effective ground and pound. Ben Rothwell may prove a little more difficult to control on the ground than Kongo so I expect Cain to opt for a different tactic in this fight, as long as Cain doesn’t get wild in the striking exchanges then he should be able to out-strike Rothwell with his quicker hands and if he can hurt Ben then there’s an opportunity to take the fight to the ground. Rothwell’s best tactic in this fight would be to try to get Cain on his back, and see how he reacts from this position, Rothwell tends to weigh in right on the 265lbs heavyweight limit & it would be extremely difficult for Cain to escape if Rothwell got top control. Cain will also need to be wary of Rothwell’s power, as one mistake and it could be light’s out.
My Prediction: Cain Velasquez via TKO.
Lyoto 'The Dragon' Machida
Mauricio 'Shogun' RuaIn the main event of the evening Lyoto Machida will defend his Light Heavyweight belt for the first time against fellow Brazilian Mauricio Rua. Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua started his career in 2003 at the Meca World Vale Tudo event in Brazil. On his debut, Rua fought Rafael Capoeira, knocking him out with a head kick in the first round. Rua went 4-0 before getting his first taste of defeat at the hands of Renato Sobral on September 6, 2003 by submission. Despite this loss Rua was immediately signed by Pride to fight at Bushido 1 against Akira Shoji winning via TKO in the first round after landing some vicious stomps, which is something that would later become on the things Shogun is best known for. Following his debut victory Shogun went on to win his next 3 Pride fights all in the 1st round before entering the Pride Middleweight Grand Prix tournament in 2005. His first opponent would be Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, whom he had challenged after Jackson won a controversial split decision over his brother, Murilo "Ninja" Rua, at Pride 29. Rampage was the heavy favourite going into the fight but Rua dominated the action from the beginning, breaking Rampage’s ribs in the process with knee strikes and ending the fight in dramatic fashion with soccer kicks to the face in the first round.
Rua's next fight in the tournament would be against the highly regarded Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, younger brother of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Once again labeled as the underdog, Rua was able to upset the odds and edge out a unanimous decision against Nogueira. On August 28, 2005, Shogun cemented his place in MMA history when he won the 2005 Grand Prix tournament by defeating Alistair Overeem and Ricardo Arona, both by TKO in the first round. Rua’s next fight was at PRIDE 31 as a Heavyweight against Mark Coleman. The fight was stopped when Rua dislocated his elbow following a takedown by Coleman in which he landed awkwardly. After suffering the 2nd loss of his career Shogun dropped back down to the light heavyweight division and put together a 4-0 win streak, it was around this time that the UFC bought out Pride and Shogun ended up signing a lucrative deal to come and fight in America with the UFC.
His UFC debut was against Forrest Griffin. Coming into the fight Shogun was widely considered as the best light heavyweight in the world and was a heavy favorite to win. After struggling to adjust to his new surroundings in the 1st round Rua became exhausted during the second round and was unable to keep pace against Griffin. With only 15 seconds remaining in the fight Griffin locked in a rear naked choke after Shogun repeatedly gave up his back and came away from the fight with a submission victory. In his 2nd and most recent UFC fight Shogun was given a rematch with Mark Coleman at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland. Shogun defeated Coleman via TKO with 24 seconds left in the 3rd round but looked unimpressive in victory after running out of gas in the 2nd round & failing to finish Coleman off after he himself had gassed out in the 1st round. In his most recent bout Shogun KO’d UFC legend Chuck Liddell in the 1st round as he showed glimpses of his former self.
Lyoto Machida had his first MMA fight in May 2003, defeating Kengo Watanabe via unanimous decision at NJPW: Ultimate Crush. He fought fellow UFC competitor Stephan Bonnar in his second fight, defeating The Ultimate Fighter finalist via TKO due to a cut. In only his 3rd professional MMA fight, Lyoto took on the 12-0 UFC veteran Rich Franklin and defeated the future Middleweight champion in the 2nd rounds with strikes. Machida continued his undefeated streak, putting together an 8-0 professional record before getting a chance to showcase his skills at UFC 67 against Sam Hoger. Machida defeated Hoger via unanimous decision and won his next 2 UFC fights before facing the highly touted Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at UFC 79; Sokoudjou was making his UFC debut and had gathered a lot of attention after stopping both Ricardo Arona & Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in PRIDE. It was during this fight that Lyoto earned the first stoppage of his UFC career, securing an arm triangle choke in the second round and submitting ‘The African Assassin.’
This win earned Machida a shot at Tito Ortiz at UFC 84; Machida frustrated Ortiz in the opening round by countering Ortiz’s strikes while defending the former champion's takedown attempts. In the final seconds of the third round, Machida landed a flying knee to the body of Ortiz and knocked him down. As Machida moved in to finish the fight, Ortiz almost locked in a triangle choke but Machida managed to escape and win a unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the bout 30-27. Machida’s next fight took place at UFC 94 against fellow unbeaten Brazilian Thiago Silva; Machida controlled the first round scoring various takedowns & trips before managing to KO Thiago in the final second of the first round to earn himself a shot at Rashad’s title. Lyoto fought Rashad for the belt at UFC 98 and finished the former champ in emphatic fashion with a KO in the 2nd round.
Lyoto Machida has looked unstoppable in his last few fights, which is why it’s no surprise to see that he’s the favourite for this bout. Shogun is still one of the top light heavyweights in the world however, he seems a lot less effective in the UFC than he did in Pride, where he was allowed the use of his favored soccer kicks. Combine this with the fact that he has had two major surgeries in the last couple of years and this could be a very tough night for him if he comes into the fight with the wrong tactics. Machida’s style is all about countering his opponent whereas Shogun is the complete opposite as he tends to fight more aggressive & likes to pressure his opponent from the first round. We haven’t really seen him do this much in his early UFC fights as his conditioning didn’t really allow him to after his surgery, however, he is beginning to look more like his old self each time he steps inside the octagon. I think Shogun’s best strategy to win this fight will be to close the distance and attempt to get into a clinch with Machida, Shogun has some brutal Muay Thai and if he is able to get close enough to use it then he could end up surprising Lyoto. Machida’s strategy on the other hand should be pretty similar to his other fights, he should look to counter Shogun’s wild looping strikes with straight punches & kicks. Machida’s timing is world class, he has the unique ability to move in quickly, strike his opponent & then move out of range before his opponent has a chance to land a strike of their own. As much as I like Shougn, I think this will be a really difficult fight for him to win, his style seems to be made for Machida’s and at the end of the night I can see Machida countering one of Shogun’s strikes to KO the former Pride champion and remain unbeaten.
Prediction: Lyoto Machida via TKO.
