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UFC 115 Preview
09 Jun 2010
By Jamie Kennedy
Back in 2006 Rich ‘ace’ Franklin was King of the Middleweight Division, he had just knocked out Nate Quarry at UFC 56 in one of the most devastating shots I can think of; Quarry went down like an Axed tree; if it wasn’t so brutal it would have been comical. Also in 2006 Chuck ‘The Iceman’ Liddell was not just King of the Light Heavyweight Division but the most recognised face in all of Mixed Martial Arts. He was fresh off completing his trilogy against Randy Couture, with the scores 2-1 in the iceman’s favour. If this fight had of took place back in 2006 it would have been that generations (does 4 years count as a generation? In fight years I guess it does) “super fight”, anticipated just as much as Brock versus Fedor or Anderson Silva versus Georges St Pierre. Unfortunately this is 2010.
Since those glory days of 2006 both men’s careers have began to spiral in the other direction. Rich has been involved in some great fights but also had his face bludgeoned by a couple of Brazilian southpaw’s; twice by one of them. Chuck has been on the wrong end of a devastating KO on several occasions. In fact, when Shogun beat him it prompted UFC president and self proclaimed “number one Chuck supporter” to state that “The Iceman” was due to retire.
I can remember thinking as Chuck lay snoring out proverbial zz’s after Rashad Evans’ right hand had connected, “is this the same Chuck Liddell, once the most feared striker in all of MMA?” it was something that excited and saddened me at the same time. The Hyperbole around fighters like Chuck Liddell and Fedor around that time was so strong, one would be lead to believe they were manufactured rather than born, possibly in an industrial site in Siberia or a product of the Chernobyl fallout? The difference is that Chuck Liddell has aged badly fighting World Class talent and Fedor……..well that’s an argument for another day.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that this fight, as exciting as I’m sure it’ll be, is as relevant in the title rankings as Simon Cowell is to musical credibility. It could still be a very enjoyable fight and I fully expect Chuck to get back to winning ways. I don’t see Franklin having the power to knock out Chuck early in the fight and Chuck has always faired well against Southpaw’s. My prediction is a three round war with Chuck Liddell the victor.
Another Mixed Martial Arts legend on the card is Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic, who is facing the heavy hitting and completely insane Pat Barry. This could be an absolute war and again were this 2006 you’d never bet against “Crocop”. His left high kicks were a thing of legend, one of the most feared arsenals in the game. However as I also keep saying it’s….(you get it by now). My prediction is Barry by tko in the second round.
The only fight on the entire card that has any relevance in the title reckonings is a Welterweight match up between The Dane Martin Kampmann and The Brazilian Paulo Thiago. This could be a really good fight, both have great stand up, both have an even better ground game and both have shown to be as tough as a Glasgow hooker. Thiago for me is a top five Welterweight and I would love to see him rematch John Fitch, this is why I’m choosing him to get the “W” in this fight. I really like both fighters and I’m sweaty browed in anticipation for it but I feel Thiago will be that bit too much for the Dane.
In the heavyweight Division Gilburt “all is forgiven” Yvel takes on Ben Rothwell, in another fight that has the potential to be a brutal classic. Both are coming off losses, Rothwell to Cain Valasquez and Yvel to Junior Dos Santos, so it’s not like either have anything to be ashamed of but that being said Dana White and Joe Silva (UFC match maker) are unforgiving chaps (yes I see the Irony of the nickname I’ve given Yvel, it was more of a protest for Paul Daley than anything else) and it could spell the end of their stint in the UFC for the loser. As menacing as Yvel looks I just feel his step up to this level came at the wrong time and Rothwell will get the decision in this fight, maybe even the tko?
To complete the main card is Rory McDonald versus former WEC Welterweight champ Carlos Condit. The former is a much fancied submission specialist with strong Boxing and good power, who Sports an impressive 10-0 record consisting of 6 Submission victories and 4 by way of Knockout. Condit also a dab hand at the submission game, was once thought to be the man to compete with GSP the title of Worlds best Welterweight. It’s hard to argue against a fighter with a 10-0 record (all finishes) but Condit presents a gargantuan step up in competition for the young Canadian. I see McDonald as a very good prospect for the future but Condit overcoming his shaky start and getting his UFC career back on track with an impressive display. My prediction is a first round win for Condit by rear naked choke.
Other fights I’m looking forward to is, Evan Dunham versus Tyson Griffin and James Wilkes Versus Pete Sobotta. I’ll start with Griffin, Dunham first. How this fight is one the undercard I do not know? It could be the fight of the night, in fact it probably will be fight of the night (there I’ve just jinxed it). Dunham sporting a perfect record of 10-0, fresh off pulling off one of the most evil and “Hollywood” arm-bars I’ve ever seen against Efrain Escudero, goes into this fight as the underdog but I’ve seen enough of him to know he’s going to be a contender. Griffin is considered one of the brightest young talents in all of MMA and is fresh of a devastating win against veteran Hermes Franco, whom he knocked in impressive fashion. His only losses are too former Champ Sean Sherk and current Champ, Frankie Edgar, I’m sure he’ll always be around the elite of the division. That being said, I always pull for the underdog and I really like the look of Dunham so I’m going for the upset, Dunham by decision.
The only reason I have any interest in the Wilkes Versus Sobotta fight is because Wilkes is British, other than that I see this as a pretty pointless fight. It’s a complete miss-match and it’s gone completely under the radar. In fact I was wondering what they’d do with Wilkes after he was finished by Matt Brown at UFC 105 in Manchester? I guess the answer is to give him a “gimme” fight. Not that I’m disrespecting Sobotta or anything, he’s a tough guy and from a country that has a medieval attitude about our sport. He’s done very well to get to this level. The thing is that if anyone saw how Paul Taylor beat him like the ginger step child, they’d see exactly what I’m saying. I see Wilkes finishing this pretty quickly by Submission, which one? Take your pick.
All in all this is a Card that doesn’t have much relevance in the title reckoning but it could be a great night of fights and at the end of the day that’s all we truly require. I’m looking forward to hearing Bruce Buffer announce “The former UFC light heavyweight Champion of the woooorld, The Iceman, Chuck NNNNNNNNNNLLLLLidelllllllll” as it always induces the spine to tingles and gets the adrenalin pumping, he is after all the reason I became a fan of this great Sport.
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