Turd Ferguson
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Main Card (PPV)
- Middleweight Championship: Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen
- Interim Bantamweight Championship: Urijah Faber vs. Renan Barao
- Light Heavyweight Bout: Forrest Griffin vs. Tito Ortiz
- Middleweight Bout: Cung Le vs. Patrick Cote
- Welterweight Bout: Dong Hyun Kim vs. Demian Maia
- Bantamweight Bout: Ivan Menjivar vs. Mike Easton
- Featherweight Bout: Chad Mendes vs. Cody McKenzie
- Lightweight Bout: Gleison Tibau vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
- Lightweight Bout: Melvin Guillard vs. Fabricio Camoes
- Middleweight Bout: Costa Phillipou vs. Riki Fukuda
- Lightweight Bout: John Alessio vs. Shane Roller
This is without a doubt, the biggest and most anticipated card of the year. That's all that needs to be said.
The main event pits Anderson Silva against his biggest challenge he's ever faced in his UFC Career, Chael Sonnen. As we all know, the last time they squared off, for four and a half rounds, Chael laid on the worst beating Silva has ever taken inside the Octagon and was two minutes away from winning the Championship and pulling off the upset of the century. Alas, it was not to be as Chael's Achilles Heel, the Triangle, bit him at the absolute worst time. Anderson Silva escaped with the title that night, but the question always remained: What would happen if they ever fought again?
We'll find out come July 7th. Silva excelled against the last wrestler, he faced, Yushin Okami, but Okami abandoned the gameplan a minute into the fight and inexplicably tried kickboxing with Silva with predictable results. Chael Sonnen is still the best wrestler in MMA, and as far as I'm concerned, Silva still is not going to be able to stuff Chael's takedowns and he's going to struggle with Chael on top of him again. People can say all they want that Silva's going to knock Chael out, but the fact is that Chael has one of the best chins in MMA. He has never been KO'ed. He'll take a beating, and he'll get cut, but he won't get KO'ed. As far as I'm concerned, Silva is going to need the Hail Mary triangle again. It's been two years since they've fought. Chael has been training with the Cesar Gracie Jiu Jitsu camp and with Vinny Magalhaes. I think it's a foregone conclusion that Chael might have learned how to defend against a triangle correctly by now. The heat between these two is very real, there's nothing manufactured. Silva does not want this rematch and he needs a decisive win for his legacy in this fight. It's not going to happen, and furthermore, he's ALREADY MAKING EXCUSES. We're going to have a new champion, and Silva's reign of terror will end.
The co-main event was set to be a rematch between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber for the Bantamweight Championship until Cruz tore his ACL. An Interim Championship bout was set up, and it should be a barnburner. Faber is going to be the favorite, and it's obvious the UFC wants him to be the champion of the division. Barao is going to have other plans for him though, and I believe he's going to pull off the upset. Barao trains with Jose Aldo, who laid out the blueprint to not only beat, but destroy, Faber. Barao reminds me a lot of Aldo, where he has deadly striking, and has enough to put you away on the feet. Faber needs to get this fight to the ground, with his wrestling advantage, but even then, Barao definitely has the ability to submit Faber off his back. This is a very dangerous fight for Faber, and while he's a smart fighter, you have to wonder how preparing for Cruz for at least 3 months to being forced to switch it up for an absolute killer like Barao is going to affect his preparation for this fight. I believe Faber falls short again in his quest for a title, getting KO'ed by Barao late in a Fight of the Year candidate.
In what might be a Last Hurrah for both fighters, the trilogy between Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz will come to an end. Tito has already stated win or loss, he's retiring. Forrest, who looks like he might not have much left, might be in the same boat. He was never the same after Anderson Silva had his way with him.
I think Tito took their last fight in what was a razor-thin decision. And although Forrest is going to look to stand and trade with him, I believe Tito's going to look to get this fight to the ground and be successful. Forrest doesn't have much of a chin left, don't forget. I think Tito gets this to the ground in the middle of the first, imposes his gameplan, and finishes him in the second.
Cung Le vs. Patrick Cote should be a fun fight, but man, I was looking forward to seeing Franklin fight Le. Le might be a fun fighter to watch, but Cote is still a legit middle of the pack gatekeeper who never should have been cut in the first place. This is going to be a really competitive fight. Cung was on his way to upsetting Wanderlei and was doing some major damage. I see Cote scoring the late KO, with Cung's cardio failing him.
Dong Hyun Kim vs. Demian Maia isn't really a fight I'm looking forward to and I'm a Maia fan. Maia has completely forgotten that he's good... really, really, really good at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Maia seems content to strike with his opponents. He's not a kickboxer. DHK is a boring fighter. I want to say Maia takes this by submission... but eh.
The prelims should be a lot of fun. Menjivar and Easton are both on major rolls right now and this fight could decide the next contender at 135. Chad Mendes returns after losing to Aldo to take on Cody McKenzie. Could Mendes find his way into a McKenzie-tine? I believe it's very possible. Khabib N. is a very decent prospect but throwing him into the deep end against an accomplished fighter like Gleison Tibau could be a major mistake. And on the surface, Fabricio Camoes looks like a gimme for Guillard, but the fact is that Guillard has horrendous submission defense, and Camoes is a BJJ specialist. Phillipou is going to try to prove he's a contender, but he's taking on a tough wrestler in Riki Fukuda (Japanese for "Poor Man's Okami).
) and fire from the disappointment of coming so close in the last fight and losing will make him the same animal as last time but harder to finish. Also Anderson's alleged knee injury this time around may come into play, but hopefully it's good to go come fight night because it would suck to see him go out on an injury TKO. I'm gonna call Chael by what he was so close to getting last time, a toss em around punch em up decision.