Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann
Nate “The Great” Marquardt
Nate Marquardt will be making his first appearance since losing a controversial split decision to Thales Leites when he takes on top middleweight prospect Martin Kampmann. Both of these fighters are known for their excellent submission skills with Nate getting 15 of his 26 wins coming via submission & Kampmann getting 10 of his 17 wins via submission. Although their records suggest that both fighters prefer the ground game, they are equally comfortable on their feet, especially Kampmann who has won many Thai Boxing tournaments. The momentum in this fight will clearly be with Kampmann who is currently on a 9 fight win streak with some wins over top competition in his last couple of fights and he will be looking to make another step up in this bout to prove that he is one of the elite fighters in the middleweight division. With Marquardt getting a disappointing loss in his last fight, Nate needs an impressive win if he wants to stand a chance at getting the re-match against Anderson Silva that he so badly wants. Nate definitely has the experience advantage in this fight and he’ll need to use every bit of it to defeat Kampmann, although Nate is very well rounded, his main strength are his submissions and if he wants to beat Kampmann then his best opportunity will come if he can get Martin to the ground. Kampmann however should look to keep the fight standing where I feel that he has a slight advantage over Nate, with his Thai boxing experience and KO power, if he manages to connect with Nate then we could very well see Kampmann’s hand being raised at the end of the night & another contender for Anderson Silva’s middleweight title may have emerged.
My Prediction: Martin "The Hitman" Kampmann via KO
Dan “Hendo” Henderson
Rousimar “Toquinho” Palhares
In the second middleweight bout of the main card former Pride Middleweight & Welterweight champion Dan Henderson takes on up and coming Brazilian middleweight Rousimar Palhares. This is an extremely tough test for Palhares who is coming off of an impressive submission victory in his debut against Ivan Salaverry. It was in this fight that Palhares showed the world just how good his submissions are when he armbarred Ivan, who himself is no joke when it comes to the ground game. In this fight however we will get to see just how good Palhares’ all round game is as Henderson is sure to put the pressure on and test the Brazilian. This fight may very well be the most important fight in Henderson’s career to date, as a loss in this match could very well lead to his release from the UFC, who have shown recently that they are not afraid to make roster cuts if a fighter isn’t winning. After losing a decision to Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and then getting submitted by Anderson Silva, Henderson needs a win to get his UFC career off the mark and back on track. With Olympic level wrestling, excellent submission defence and vicious KO power in his right hand it’s difficult to see Henderson losing this match, that being said Palhares does possess world class BJJ and a mistake by Dan on the ground could result in the upset of the night. Palhares best tactic in this fight will be to get Henderson to take him down, as it’s going to be extremely difficult for Rousimar to take down an elite wrestler like Dan, he can then look to work for submissions from his guard. Henderson will probably be looking to test Palhares stand-up ability early on in this fight, look out for Henderson to try and connect with his big right hand; if he can get one clear shot with his right then Palhares could be in for an early night. I doubt Henderson will want to take Rousimar to the ground in this fight but if he isn’t successful in the stand-up he may be forced to go for the take-down, which could give Palhares an opportunity to pull off the submission upset. With so much riding on this fight for Dan I can’t see him making too many mistakes and he should be able to defeat the Brazilian if he can remain focused.
My Prediction: Dan Henderson via KO
Karo “The Heat” Parisyan
Yoshiyuki “Zenko” Yoshida
The main welterweight bout of the night sees two of the best Judo practitioners in MMA today face off. Karo ‘The Heat’ Parisyan will be looking to get back into the title mix as he looks to bounce back from a disappointing performance against Thiago Alves, in order to do this he will have to defeat Yoshiyuki Yoshida who will be making only his 2nd appearance in the octagon after submitting Ultimate Fighter contestant Jon Koppenhaver 56 seconds into the 1st round. Parisyan is mainly known for his excellent Judo, which he has adapted over the years to make it some of the most effective in all of MMA today. In Yoshida however Karo will be coming up against someone who has a style that is almost identical to his own, in that Yoshida too has developed his Judo to become extremely effective. This will be an interesting fight as neither fighter has ever been decisively stopped; Karo will have the experience advantage going into this fight what with this being his 12th fight in the UFC. However Yoshida showed no nerves in his debut fight and he will be looking to make a statement in this fight to prove that he belongs in the UFC. I think that Yoshida’s best strategy in this fight will be to try and pick Karo apart with his strikes, Yoshida is a lot more technical with his striking whereas in past fights Karo has been known to be a little wild with his striking, attempting to throw wild haymakers and looking for that big KO punch that often doesn’t come. If Yoshida can remain calm and use his technique then he could be on his way to a decision victory. Karo will want to get the takedown in this fight so he can use his dominant position to turn up the heat and try to stop Yoshida, if Karo is unable to get the takedown in this fight then it could be a long night for the Armenian.
My Prediction: Yoshiyuki "Zenko" Yoshida via decision
Rich “Ace” Franklin
Matt “The Hammer” Hamill
Rich Franklin will be looking to get another win under his belt in this fight as he moves back up to the light heavyweight division. He will be taking on Matt Hamill, who made his name on The Ultimate Fighter Season 3. Hamill has amassed a 4-1 record since The Ultimate Fighter 3 with his only loss coming in his fight against Michael Bisping at UFC 75, the loss was highly controversial as many feel that Hamill had done more than enough to earn a unanimous decision victory over Bisping. Hamill possesses top level Greco-roman wrestling skills and very few fighters are able to stop him when he goes for a takedown, since training with Tito Ortiz, who became Hamill’s mentor while he was on the show, Matt’s all round skills have improved considerably & he is now able to hold his own standing as well as on the ground. Rich Franklin will be making a comeback to the light heavyweight division in this fight after getting decisively stopped on 2 separate occasions against middleweight champion Anderson Silva. He will now be looking to make a name for himself in what is probably the deepest division in the UFC. Rich has good all around skills, as he has shown many times in his middleweight bouts in the octagon, although one of his main attributes that he won’t be able to use as effectively now that he is in the 205lbs division is his strength, Hamill is no small light heavyweight and he should be able to more than match Franklin for strength. Rich’s striking should be his main focus in this fight as I feel that he is much more technical than Matt with his punches and he should be able to pick apart holes in Hamill’s stand-up, even though Hamill’s has grown as an MMA fighter, he can still be a little too reliant on his wrestling base. Saying that though it is this precisely this wrestling base that Hamill will need in order to get Franklin to the ground, where he can use his excellent balance to control Rich while using his ground & pound to try and force the stoppage. One of the deciding factors in this fight could very well turn out to be just who comes into the fight in better shape, Rich is known to be a cardio machine and he very rarely runs out of gas, Hamill on the other hand has slowed down in previous fights in the latter rounds, will this change now that he has Tito Ortiz in his corner, who is known for getting his fighters into excellent cardio shape? At the end of the day I think that Franklin may just prove to be a little too well rounded for Matt and should come away with the victory.
My Prediction: Rich "Ace" Franklin via decision
Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell
“Sugar” Rashad Evans
The main event of the evening sees light heavyweights Chuck Liddell & Rashad Evans face off in a battle that could very well decide who challenges Forrest Griffin for his newly won light heavyweight belt. Liddell will be taking part in his first fight in 9 months after a hamstring injury forced him to withdraw from UFC 85, the event which this fight was originally supposed to take place on. Prior to that fight Liddell won an impressive decision victory over Wanderlei Silva. Evans will also be taking part in his first fight of the year as he returns to action after not having had a fight for over 10 months, although unlike Liddell this lay-off wasn’t due to injury, but due to opponents pulling out of scheduled bouts. The big question in this fight will be how is Liddell’s injury going to hold up, is he back to 100% or will there be some after-effects from the surgery that he’s had? Liddell is known for his excellent takedown defence & it will be interesting to see whether this injury has had any effect on his defence at all, if it has then Liddell could be in trouble as Rashad is a very good wrestler and he will not hesitate to try and take down Chuck if he senses a weakness. Rashad’s best shot at winning this fight if he can’t get Liddell down is to follow the same game plan that Keith Jardine used in his fight against Chuck, he should stay at distance and try to throw leg kicks at Chuck to try and keep The Iceman off balance so that he can’t get all of his power into his punches. Of course this strategy also carries a lot of risk as The Iceman only needs one shot to put Evans to sleep and one mistake is all it will take for Evans’ unbeaten streak to be over. Chuck’s strategy will probably be the same as most of his fights; he will look to stop Rashad’s takedowns while using his looping punches to try and catch Evans off-guard from unorthodox angles. It will be interesting to see whether the Iceman’s age plays any part in this fight, he is now 38 years old & father time catches up with all athletes sooner or later (except Randy Couture.) Even though Chuck has declined slightly in his last couple of fights I still think that Liddell will end up having too much power for Evans to handle as he hands Sugar his first loss.
My Prediction: Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell via KO
