Before the summer of 2008, I was never really into the whole MMA thing. I thought it was a bunch of idiots going out there to physically hurt one another. I figured it was a sport for meathead pricks who had no respect for their opponent, and was looking to tear their arm out of its socket. I thought the ground game was a bunch of boring horse crap and that the small gloves were just begging to have someone die in the cage.
I can't even believe how wrong I was.
There was nothing else on TV when I decided to throw on an episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Forrest vs Team Rampage, and was pretty much hooked. But it wasn't until I bought UFC 86 which featured a Light Heavyweight Championship match between TUF coaches, Forrest Griffin and Rampage Jackson. What ensued was not only one of the greatest fights of the entire year, but it was the moment that I was absolutely, positively and irreversibly HOOKED on the entire world of mixed martial arts.
I honestly do believe that for every person on the fence about becoming a MMA fan, all they need to see is that one incredible fight. Once you see that one classic fight, you'll watch every single other fight you can get your hands on, just hoping to see that next Fight of the Year candidate.
Therefore, in addition to the Wrestling articles you'll find here on Smarks Anonymous, you'll also find a fair amount of MMA content as well. I hope that I can convince at least ONE person to check out a UFC event and get them hooked on the sport I love ALMOST as much as Professional Wrestling.
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UFC 120 takes place this Saturday night, free on Spike! That's one of the great things that the UFC does for its fans: there are usually a bunch of very good fight cards that they simply give away for free each year. This time around, we got Michael Bisping and Yoshihiro Akiyama as the Main Event, which is a Co-Main Event level bout even on PPV.
So without further adieu, here's how I see the fights going down this Saturday night.
MICHAEL BISPING vs YOSHIHIRO AKIYAMA
This, to me, is a very intriguing fight. Both Bisping and Akiyama have had recent, and in Bispings case, persistent setbacks inside the Octagon and I think we can definitely look forward to both men going out and really digging deep to try to pick up a huge win here. I think Bisping is going to look to keep this fight on the feet, and to do that against a World Class Judoka like Akiyama, he’s definitely going to have to stick and move, making sure that he makes the best of every punch thrown. One sloppy, misplaced hook could leave an opening for Akiyama to gain the clinch and use his impressive Judo to take this fight down. That’s not to say that Bisping is a slouch on the ground, but I think he’ll find it difficult to get out from under Akiyama should he end up on the bottom, especially if he is unfortunate enough to be caught in side mount or the full mount positions.
Both these men have more than the appropriate tools to take this fight, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Bisping will use his boxing to a great advantage. Akiyama has already proven to have a hard time handling a superior striker in a controversial decision victory over Alan Belcher at UFC 100.
Michael Bisping takes this one by unanimous decision.
DAN HARDY vs CARLOS CONDIT
Coming off a frustrating loss to Welterweight Champ Georges St. Pierre, look to see a truly invigorated and extremely motivated Dan Hardy. If Carlos isn’t careful, he’ll find himself out cold on the mat early. It says something about Hardy’s striking to think that even St. Pierre, who most consider to be one of the top pound-for-pound best fighters in the world, didn’t want any part of his heavy hands. That’s not to take anything away from Carlos, who has a very impressive record himself. The guy has twenty-five professional victories, eleven by knockout or TKO, thirteen by submission. Long story short: you’re not safe in any position against this son-of-a-bitch.
This fight literally has the potential to take home any of the three bonus cheques the UFC doles out at the end of their shows (Fight of the Night, Knockout of the Night and Submission of the Night, for any newcomers). Much like the Main Event, I see the strategies pretty clear cut: Hardy’s going to want to stand, Condit is going to want to shoot, take the fight to the ground and finish it from there. Judging by the fact that Hardy has most likely been working vigorously on his wrestling in preparation for a hopeful rematch with GSP for the Welterweight belt, I think he’s going to be able to keep this fight standing. While Condit clearly has the hands to stand with most people in the UFC, I don’t see him posing much of a threat to the superior striking he’ll see from his opponent.
Dan Hardy wins this out by second round KO.
JOHN HATHAWAY vs MIKE PYLE
I’m not going to lie here, I don’t know a ton about either of these fighters. What I do know about Hathaway is that he beat Diego Sanchez in his last fight, which is not the kind of accomplishment one can overlook coming into a fight. Obviously, this is MMA and anything can happen, but since coming to the UFC Hathaway has beaten quality opponents in Paul Taylor and Rick Story, making Pyle the clear underdog in this bout. Add in the fact that Hathaway has yet to taste defeat in his professional career, and things do NOT look good for his opponent.
Interestingly enough, the very things that appear to be stacking the odds firmly against Mike Pyle, are also working in his favour at the same time. The guy literally has nothing to lose in this fight. He is fighting a guy who has knocked off three high-quality opponents, has an unbeaten record and is the clear and overwhelming favourite. Pyle is going to thrust himself firmly into the Welterweight division elite with a win over Hathaway here.
I’m going to go with the underdog here: Mike Pyle wins. Since I am so unknowledgeable on these two fighters, I won’t embarrass myself with a prediction of the outcome.
CHEIK KONGO vs TRAVIS BROWNE
Following a fairly impressive win over notorious striker, Paul Buentello, Cheik Kongo will look to get himself towards the upper echelon of the Heavyweight division. In his last campaign for the title, he fell short twice in a row to two contenders, Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez, and he’ll be looking impress in this fight against Travis Browne. Kongo is legitimately superior on the feet as he is an accomplished kickboxer, so it should be interesting to see whether or not Browne decides to take a chance and stand with the dangerous Frenchman.
Something tells me that Kongo is going to be coming into this fight with something huge to prove coming off his failed attempt at climbing the ranks into title contention and is looking to not let opportunity slip out of his hands yet again. We are going to see an extremely motivated fighter inside the Octagon, and I’m not sure Travis Browne will be able to weather the storm.
Cheik Kongo takes this fight by first round TKO.
JAMES WILKS vs CLAUDE PATRICK
Wilks does NOT want to lose in his home country again. The “hometown advantage” didn’t work out for him at UFC 105 when he fell to Matt Brown by third round TKO, and he’ll be looking to make it up to his fellow Englishmen with an impressive performance. Whether or not he’ll be able to get passed 12-1, Claude Patrick (CANADIAN!) and his jiu jitsu, is another story.
While this will only be Patrick’s second UFC bout, but he is a BJJ brown belt, and looked impressive in his debut at UFC 115 when he stopped Ricardo Funch with a guillotine choke in the second round.
This is an interesting match-up where the combatants styles are very similar: both Wilks and Patrick are exceptional jiu jitsu practitioners, and one can only wonder if it will be the better grappler who prevails, or whether the similarities in the ground ground of the two will cancel each other out and we’ll see a stand up battle to the finish. This is the best part about the sport of mixed martial arts: literally anything can, and probably will happen.
In the end, I see James Wilks as the more motivated fighter, and we’ll see him take the fight by unanimous decision.
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JAMES McSWEENY def. FABIO MALDONADO
SPENCER FISHER def. KURT WARBURTON
MARK HOLST def. PAUL SASS
STEVE CANTWELL def. STANISLAV NEDKOV
VINICIUS QUEIROZ def. ROB BROUGHTON
CYRILLE DIABATE def. ALEXANDER GUSTAFSSON
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