Its time for that MMA Review. UFC 93 is coming up and I must admit that it’s a tough card to read. The reason that I say this is that UFC 92 was excellent with two title changes and UFC 94 pits GSP and B.J. Penn, the fight of the year and maybe of the decade and Thiago Silva vs. Lyota Machida, an excellent light heavyweight match as well. Furthermore, the Affliction event next weekend feature Arlovski vs. Fedor, a tremendous fight in its own right.
In the end, I may not order UFC 93 because I’m trying to save some funds but I will probably end up checking it out.
The two main fights on the card are interesting though. The fight between Mark Coleman and Shogun Rua. Both guys have to prove a lot to me in this one.
Coleman is a legend, tremendous wrestler, fights hard and all of that stuff. However, the man is 44 years old and hasn’t fought in two years. Mentally, the desire and skill may be there but the physical part concerns me. Also, Coleman can’t just continue to get takedown after takedown and expect a decision.
Rua has a lot more to lose in this fight than Coleman. Only two or three years ago, Shogun was the top light heavy in the world. However, injuries and lack of adjustment to the cage really messed him up. Finally, losing to Forrest Griffin was the culmination of all of these bad things. Now he’s coming off major knee surgery to fight a guy that has beaten him before, granted it was due to a stoppage for an injury.
I would like to see Coleman make a run and spring the surprise upset but you have to go with Rua via decision. Shogun is better in every aspect of MMA than Coleman accept wrestling. Coleman is too one-dimentional however, including striking.
The main event is Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson. This fight, similar to Nogiera vs. Couture, Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell and currently Aoki or Gomi vs. Penn or Urijah Faber, should have happened years ago. Silva and Liddell fought and now we see this fight between two of the better middleweights in this decade not named Anderson Silva battle as light heavys.
Both of these guys would probably prefer to fight at middleweight but Silva is looming there and both guys have lost to the guy. The winner of this one will be in the next edition of the Ultimate Fighter and fight Michael Bisbing as a middleweight in a USA vs. Great Britain edition of the show. Actually looking forward to that.
OK, on to the fight. Both guys are skilled, former champions, been in the main event before, so nothing should faze them. Franklin is good at all elements of the game. I like seeing him as a light heavyweight, it gives us new fights to see him in as fans. He’s going to have to move around because Henderson likes the takedowns and has heavy hands. Rich needs to turn this into a boxing/kickboxing match.
For Hendo, he’s going to have to connect with those heavy hands and test Franklin’s chin, which we’ve seen from the Silva fights can be weak. Hendo didn’t look strong in his last fight against Palhares and needs to impress in this one to stay relevant in the UFC.
I’m going to take Henderson via decision in a less than exciting fight.
Here’s MMA Live below. Next week, I’m going to post my top-five walkout songs if I was ever fighting. Expect a lot of hard rock and instrumentals.
In the end, I may not order UFC 93 because I’m trying to save some funds but I will probably end up checking it out.
The two main fights on the card are interesting though. The fight between Mark Coleman and Shogun Rua. Both guys have to prove a lot to me in this one.
Coleman is a legend, tremendous wrestler, fights hard and all of that stuff. However, the man is 44 years old and hasn’t fought in two years. Mentally, the desire and skill may be there but the physical part concerns me. Also, Coleman can’t just continue to get takedown after takedown and expect a decision.
Rua has a lot more to lose in this fight than Coleman. Only two or three years ago, Shogun was the top light heavy in the world. However, injuries and lack of adjustment to the cage really messed him up. Finally, losing to Forrest Griffin was the culmination of all of these bad things. Now he’s coming off major knee surgery to fight a guy that has beaten him before, granted it was due to a stoppage for an injury.
I would like to see Coleman make a run and spring the surprise upset but you have to go with Rua via decision. Shogun is better in every aspect of MMA than Coleman accept wrestling. Coleman is too one-dimentional however, including striking.
The main event is Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson. This fight, similar to Nogiera vs. Couture, Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell and currently Aoki or Gomi vs. Penn or Urijah Faber, should have happened years ago. Silva and Liddell fought and now we see this fight between two of the better middleweights in this decade not named Anderson Silva battle as light heavys.
Both of these guys would probably prefer to fight at middleweight but Silva is looming there and both guys have lost to the guy. The winner of this one will be in the next edition of the Ultimate Fighter and fight Michael Bisbing as a middleweight in a USA vs. Great Britain edition of the show. Actually looking forward to that.
OK, on to the fight. Both guys are skilled, former champions, been in the main event before, so nothing should faze them. Franklin is good at all elements of the game. I like seeing him as a light heavyweight, it gives us new fights to see him in as fans. He’s going to have to move around because Henderson likes the takedowns and has heavy hands. Rich needs to turn this into a boxing/kickboxing match.
For Hendo, he’s going to have to connect with those heavy hands and test Franklin’s chin, which we’ve seen from the Silva fights can be weak. Hendo didn’t look strong in his last fight against Palhares and needs to impress in this one to stay relevant in the UFC.
I’m going to take Henderson via decision in a less than exciting fight.
Here’s MMA Live below. Next week, I’m going to post my top-five walkout songs if I was ever fighting. Expect a lot of hard rock and instrumentals.
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