JWGunslinger
Warrior Forever
Main Card (PPV)
Lightweight Benson Henderson (c) vs Frankie Edgar
Lightweight Donald Cerrone vs Melvin Guillard
Middleweight Jake Shields vs Ed Herman
Middleweight Yushin Okami vs Buddy Roberts
Featherweight Justin Lawrence vs Max Holloway
Preliminary Card (FX)
Featherweight Dennis Bermudez vs Tommy Hayden
Middleweight Jared Hamman vs Michael Kuiper
Bantamweight Ken Stone vs Erik Perez
Bantamweight Dustin Pague vs Chico Camus
Preliminary Card (Facebook)
Featherweight Nik Lentz vs Eiji Mitsuoka
This saturday the UFC goes to Denver Colorado's Pepsi Center for a legendary Lightweight Championship rematch and a great card overall promising plenty of action. The night starts off with a Featherweight fight between.....
Nik Lentz vs Eiji Mitsuoka
After some bad luck at 155 both of these guys have decided to try their luck 10 lbs lighter in hopes of getting back to their winning ways. From late 2009 to mid 2011 he went on a 5-0-1 run beating the likes of Rob Emerson and Tyson Griffin. Since then he has lost two and a no contest and looks to avoid being cut with a win in his FW debut.
Mitsuoka has spent the majority of his career fighting in Japan in promotions like Pride, Deep, Segundo and Dream. He's got loads of experience and has wins over the likes of Gleison Tibau, Joachim Hansen and Rodrigo Damm.
Lentz is a pure wrestler, that base is what got him into MMA and the reason he's been successful in the UFC. He's not exciting but he gets his job done unless he's facing top of the food chain guys, and odds are he'll do the usual here. Now Mitsuoka's main forte is his submission game, with 11 of his 18 wins coming by tapout. As long as Lentz can stay smart and in base positions he should be safe, but if he gets too comfortable he may get caught in something. Lentz via Decision
Dustin Pague vs Chico Camus
TUF 14 Alum Pague has had a mediocre stint in the UFC since being one of the most exciting prospects on the reality show, most notably with his performance against Louis Gaudinot. But going 1-2 since then he hasn't exactly delivered since his debut, he'll look to be a little more impressive against UFC newcomer Camus.
Chico hasn't done too much in his career so far, but he's a mildly impressive scrapper. Should be an exciting enough fight, if Pague is smart he'll take a dec.Pague via Decision
Ken Stone vs Erik Perez
WEC vet Ken Stone will look to put a win streak together here to build on his recent win over Dustin Pague. After a tough KO loss to Scott Jorgenson in his UFC debut he's been improving alot and should take care of this fight pretty easily.
Perez is a talented mid level grappler who has picked up most of his wins by submission including his debut against John Albert at the TUF 15 Finale. Stone should avoid the submissions of Perez and cruise to a dominant decision.
Stone Via Decision
Jared Hamman vs Michael Krupier
Hamman has traded wins and losses since his debut at UFC 105 and every fight of his has been fight of the night worthy, and two of his 5 have actually won that award. He's a decently well rounded fighter training with Vladimir Matyusheko and Antoni Hardonk at VMAT, but he always looks for a good brawl and often finds one.
Krupier is a Dutch import making his second appearance in the UFC with an 11-1 record, his only loss coming from the hands of Rafael Natal at UFC 143. He's a Judo and BJJ practitioner holding black belts in both arts and has finished all his fights aside from his one decision loss.
Krupier will be a tough test for Hamman but if he pressures him with his usual pace and works that varied attack he has in his win over CB Dolloway he should be able to take the win. Hamman via Decision
Dennis Bermudez vs Tommy Hayden
This one should be as close to a squash as you can get, Hayden's record of 8-1 looks impressive at first glance with all his wins by TKO or Submission but the level of competition isn't much to get excited over. The one tough guy he's faced was Fabricio Camoes and that didn't go well at all, he got outclassed and subbed by the BJJ wiz in one round.
Bermudez was very exciting and talented on TUF 14, he made it to the finals where he lost to Diego Brandao but nearly won the contract in an impressive effort. He then fought standout Pablo Garza and put on another great performance, dominating him with his powerful wrestling and crisp ground and pound.
Bermudez will once again put on a takedown clinic and ground and pound this guy into the canvas. Bermudez via TKO
Justin Lawrence vs Max Holloway
Although both of these guys haven't been around very long they are both very exciting and promising young prospects. Lawrence made a name for himself on the first live Ultimate Fighter, with exciting and dynamic wins over James Krause and Christiano Marcello in the house and at the finale won the Knockout Of The Night and Fight Of The Night in a great fight with John Cofer.
Holloway had a rough UFC debut against Featherweight standout Dustin Poirier, where he was submitted in the first round but he bounced back with a win over Pat Schilling at the TUF 15 finale.
Both are dynamic young fighters but I think Lawrence has the edge here and should finish him in a fun exchange. Lawrence via KO
Yushin Okami vs Buddy Roberts
Yushin was supposed to be facing Rousimar Palhares originally which would have been a little more exciting but now he's facing Buddy Roberts and it should be another boring trip to the judges for Okami. He has been a contender in the division for years but for the first time in his UFC career is coming off two straight KO losses to Anderson Silva and Tim Boetsch. He'll be coming in needing a win here against recent newcomer Roberts. Buddy made his debut last month against Ciao Maghales and picked up a nice upset win. He'll need to do the same in this fight but unfortunately for him it's very unlikely. Okami via Decision
Jake Sheilds vs Ed Herman
Jake Sheilds looks to get back to his dominating ways in his return to Middleweight against Herman. Sheilds was one of the top middleweights and welterweights in the world a year or two back, wins over Yushin Okami, Carlos Condit and Dan Henderson. However after falling short in a welterweight title fight against Georges St. Pierre at UFC 129 he dropped another fight to Jake Ellenburger by a devastating KO. He has since picked up a win against Yoshihiro Akiyama but he'll try his hand at MW for the first time since he came to the UFC.
Herman is riding a nice hot streak after being out of action for many months due to a knee injury at UFC 102. But he's riding a 3 fight win streak with two subs and one TKO. I believe Herman is being overlooked by just about everyone in this fight, he's got much better striking and is competent enough to survive the ground with Sheilds. I see Herman with the upset.
Herman via TKO
Donald Cerrone vs Melvin Guillard
Two friends will take to the cage when lightweight contenders and Jackson's MMA standouts Cerrone and Guillard face off saturday. Cerrone was on the ride of his life last year, riding a 6 fight win streak with 4 of those in the UFC he was the hottest contender in the division. Then he had a terrible fight against Nate Diaz where he shut down mentally and provided little offense, since then he has an even hotter fire inside him not only to get to a title shot but to get back to Diaz for a rematch. He recently dominated Jeremy Stephens and won a decision and now he'll look to destroy Guillard and get one step closer to what he wants.
Guillard was on a hot streak of his own a while back, putting together a 5 fight win streak in the promtion and looking absolutely unstoppable. Then he ran into a jab from Joe Lauzon and got caught in a choke, and then the same happened in his next fight against Jim Miller. He has since gotten back to winning with a decision win over Fabricio Camoes where his submission defense and overall ground game looked massively improved. He'll need it against Cerrone who's wins have mostly come by submission.
This fight will not be boring, that is for sure. But the way it goes all depends on Cerrone, if he wants he can sub Melvin without too much of a hassle. But if he gets it in his mind that he wants a brawl or a knockout it will make this fight alot more interesting and give Melvin a bigger chance of getting the win. Cerrone has a great chin but Melvin does have amazing power, if Cerrone is cocky about his ability to take a shot it may cost him, but if he's smart he has the striking ability to put the softer chinned Guillard to sleep.
Cerrone via Submission
Lightweight Title Fight: Benson Henderson vs Frankie Edgar
In the third straight set of rematches for the lightweight title Ben Henderson will take on former Champion Frankie Edgar. Henderson was one of the biggest stars in the now defunct WEC, taking the title and taking out formidable opponents such as Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone. Then in what would have been his final title defense before the organization was absorbed by the UFC he lost his belt to Anthony Pettis. That loss made him grow and lit a fire under his ass to get back to his dominanting ways. Since then he's won 4 straight against top competition and most recently winning a decision over Frankie Edgar and winning the coveted Lightweight Title.
Before his title defense against Henderson at UFC 144 Edgar had just knocked out the one man he'd lost to, and defended his title for the third time. He was riding high with a record of 9-1-1 and wins over the likes of Gray Maynard, BJ Penn(2x) and Sean Sherk. But that all came to an end in a hard fought loss to Bendo, and he's dying to get back the belt he believes is truely his.
Frankie Edgar is no joke but his loss to Henderson was not as close as he believes, and I see it going alot like it did last time. Henderson is too athletic and powerful for Edgar to bully with his combos and I believe that Ben may even submit Edgar when he goes for a takedown, Ben's Guillotine is his best submission and he knows now that he'll have the opportunity to catch him in it. Odds are though Edgar's heart and determination will keep him in the fight, but won't do enough to get him the win. Henderson via Decision
