Or, UFC 93 Let's Get Shogun A Win, or UFC 93 Yes Mark Coleman Is Still Alive, or UFC 93 Coleman After Steroids... Lots of different names for this one.
Dennis Siver Vs. Nate Mohr (Lightweight)
Silver won once and lost twice in the UFC. Dennis is a German fighter with lots and lots of submissions to his name (7 of 12).
Nate Mohr is also 2-1 in the UFC loosing his last fight to Manny Gamburyan by ankle lock. Nate likes to KO people with most of is wins coming that way.
Dennis likes to submit people, while Nate likes to be submitted. ALL of Nate's 5 losses come from submissions. Nate has a puncher's chance, but not much of one.
Silver by RNC first round.
Tom Egan Vs. John Hathaway (Welterweight)
Tom Egan... I know nothing about him. The UFC web site has him at 4-0, Sherdog has 3-0. UFC web site says that he is a BJJ blue belt and a kickboxer. This will be his first fight in the UFC.
John Hathaway is 9-0, and this will also be his first fight in the UFC. Hathaway comes from England's biggest production, Cage Rage, and seems to amassed a respectable record. He likes to keep the fight standing winning 6 by some form of KO, but he has a RNC win to his name, so he may have some ground skill as well.
I don' think that Tom really has a chance here. John has fought the better opposition in the bigger show. John by KO second round.
Tomasz Drwal Vs. Ivan Serati (Light Heavyweight)
Tomasz was knocked out by Thiago Silva in his last fight in the UFC. No real fault of his own... Thiago knocks everybody out. Tomasz is a Polish fighter with mostly KOs to his name.
Ivan Serati is an Italian fighter, making his debut in the UFC. He is 2-1 in Cage Rage, and his only loss comes to Vitor Belfort.
Interesting match up. Ivan certainly has the big show experience, but Tomasz has been in the UFC before, fighting a top level opponent. I think that Tomasz wins this one.
Tomasz by KO second round.
Eric Schafer Vs. Antonio Mendes (Light Heavyweight)
Red Schafer after defeating many opponents in the BJJ tournament circuit is back in the UFC. Eric won in impressive fashion over Houston Alexander by arm triangle choke last time he was in the UFC. Eric is a BJJ guy and wins his fights by dominating the ground position.
Antonio is yet another one of Thiago Silva's victims. Silva knocked Antonio out in Antonio's last fight in the UFC. Antonio is a Brazilian guy who trains with *cough* European Top Team.
Schafer needs to get his guy to the ground to win, and it seems as if Antonio can handle himself on the ground. I think that Schafer will be able to control the ground game, but I don't think that he will be able to submit Mendes. Eric by Decision.
Martin Kampmann Vs. Alexandre Barros (Welterweight)
Kampmann looked great in the UFC in his first four fights... then he ran in to Nate Marquardt and a big head kick. Nothing really you can say about that other than Kampmann, who is a great kickboxer, got caught.
Barros makes his debut in the UFC coming out of the Gracie Barra Combat Team. Barros has been fighting mainly in Brazil, and looks to win or loose by decision....
Kampmann is looking to redeem himself after a disappointing loss. Barros has his first fight in the UFC. Both will be very motivated to win. The advantage here, I think, is Kampmann's. The guys out of Gracie Barra are really known for their BJJ, not really anything else, including take downs. I think that Kampmann will easily stuff Barros' takedowns keep the fight standing, and finish it there.
Kampmann by KO first round.
Marcus Davis Vs. Chris Lytle (Welterweight)
Marcus Davis is 7-1 in the UFC with 5 of his wins coming before the final bell. Marcus is winning by submission, and KO showing that he is not the boxer that showed up at the TUF house so long ago.
Chris Lytle won his last fight in the UFC by decision over a very well matched Paul Taylor. Taylor and Lytle threw leather and smacked the living crap out of each other. While the fight did not end decisively, Chris walked away with the "W."
This should be an interesting fight. Both of these guys like to stand up. I think that the edge goes to the Mark Dellagrotte trained Davis. His kickboxing has just been super sharp lately. The edge on the ground, if it goes there, I think goes to the better wrestler Lytle, however I don't think that Lytle will be able to submit Davis. At most Lytle will control the position, preventing Davis from getting to his feet.
I think this fight will go with an exchange on the feet, and a take down by Lyte. The first round will end with Lytle on top, but not having done much damage. Second round will go much the same, but I think in the third the ref will get tired of the lay and pray, and force stand ups. That is when Davis will take over.
Davis by KO late third round.
Jeremy Horn Vs. Rousimar Palhares (Middleweight)
Jeremy has looked very bad in his last few fights. He lost by Guillotine Choke to both Dean Lister and Nate Marquardt. I don't know if the fire is gone, of if Jeremy just can't get the training that he needs, but he just does not look like the same fighter ever since he moved to Salt Lake City.
Rousimar Palhares lost to Dan Henderson by decision in his last fight. Before that he retired my friend Ivan Salaverry. Palhares is a good BJJ guy, and very tough.
I don't know if the UFC just wants to kill Jeremy or if they just want him to retire. After loosing two fights by choke, they throw him to a monster like Palhares??? Dana hates the Omaha boys.
Palhares by triangle first round.
Alan Belcher Vs. Denis Kang (Middleweight)
Alan won his last fight in the UFC by split decision over the on again off again Ed Herman. Alan wins all sorts of ways, but mostly by KO. Alan also finds interesting ways to loose... He was the guy Kendal Grove choked out with a Brabo Choke.
Denis Kang finally makes the switch from the Japanese/Korean circuit to the UFC. Kang is an ATT fighter that has made his name with decent stand up and a very aggressive go for broke ground style. Will he retain this in the UFC where winning is so much more important than in Japan? I hope so. Denis knocked out Marvin Eastman in his last fight in his native Canada.
This is a neat fight that could have big potential for the UFC IF Kang wins. Denis is a huge draw in Korea, and he could headline a show there if the UFC wants to get in to the Asian market. If Kang looses, we could just see him fade away.
I don't think that Kang is loosing here though. Kang by RNC first round.
Mark Coleman Vs. Mauricio Rua (Light Heavyweight)
Mark Coleman was one of the first wrestlers to use the new strategy of "Ground & Pound." His style has not changed since.
Rua lost his last fight to Forrest Griffin way back in 9/2007. A long time ago. Before the Griffin fight, where he looked slow and awkward, Rua's style was in the standard Chute Boxe mold, SMASH SMASH SMASH. Rua was seen doing crazy kicks and huge stomps. In the Griffin fight, he looked like he did not want to be there.
This fight is a rematch of one that was held in PRIDE back in 2/2006. Mark hit Rua with a huge take down and Rua landed on his arm. The arm broke at the elbow leaving it in a very strange position. So Coleman won that fight. That should not be the case here. I don't know what Joe Silva, the UFC match maker, was thinking. Bring Coleman back???? What the hell for?? I can think of three fighters of this MMA generation who would be willing to fight Rua. Matt Hamill would be a good comeback fight for Rua. What would be better for Shogun than a guy who only throws straight punches and drops his hands after ever one?? A Machida/Rua fight would be awesome. Even a Rua/Tito Ortiz fight would be fun. Seriously Coleman?? They must want Rua to win. That, and I don't think that Coleman can do anything anymore with out the steroids.
Rua by KO first round.
Rich Franklin Vs. Dan Henderson (Light Heavyweight)
After a successful return to the 205 division with a KO win over Matt Hamill, Rich Franklin is back for more. Rich is a good stand up fighter, with OK, but rarely seen ground skill. Rarely seen because the last time Rich won by submission was way back in October of 2004 with an armbar win over Jorge Rivera.
Dan Henderson has had his share of problems in the UFC. He lost his first two fights right off of the bat, a decision loss to Rampage Jackson, then loosing by RNC to Anderson Silva. He came back to win a decision over Rousimar Palhares.
Dan likes to keep the fight standing, and that is good news for Rich. Rich loves the stand up game and has the solid boxing skill to win the majority of his fights there. Dan has a huge right hand that he throws early and often. I don't think that Rich will take Dan down, and I am pretty sure that Rich will use his reach advantage to keep Dan from taking him down. That just leaves the stand up game, and Rich should win that one. I don't think that he will be able to finish Henderson, but I don't think that he will loose either.
Rich by decision.
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