Was this the fight of the year for last year?

Hard to find a fight that was more exciting:

Roger Huerta vs Clay Guida

UFC 81 Preview and Predictions

Date: Feb. 2, 2008
Location: Las Vegas, Nev.
Venue: Mandalay Bay Events Center
Broadcast: Pay-Per-View

MAIN CARD (TELEVISED)

* Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir - Mir is a jiu jitsu specialist most well known for turning Tim Sylvia into a lefty for a few months. That said, he only has a couple of ways he is gonna win this fight. Mir doesn’t have strong stand-up skills but he would be effective if he is able to use a jab and leg kicks in order to disrupt Lesnar and keep him from being effective with his boxing. If he does that, he will force Lesnar to go for the takedown and try to ground and pound for the win. Lesnar may think that plays to his strength but it would be playing into Mir’s hands. Lenar may think his wrestling is the mutts nuts but without a couple of years training in how to effectively use it in someone’s guard it will be a matter of time before Mir is able to sneak in a sub. Lesnar’s best chance at winning is to use boxing skills as well as a good clinch game with dirty boxing mixed in to brutalize Mir. Will Lesnar’s ego talk him into thinking he can beat Mir on the ground? I think so, I’m picking Mir by a sub in round 2.
* Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Tim Sylvia (for interim heavyweight title) - Timmy gets a decision win here. He should be able to use his immense seize to avoid Nog’s takedowns. It will be a boxing match from there and and Tim will use his reach to win the stand -up. Syvia by decision.
* Ricardo Almeida vs. Alan Belcher - This fight is a classic striker vs Jiu Jitsu match-up. Almeida’s resigning to the UFC is a sad commentary on the shallow talent pool at 185 in the UFC. He’s basically a burn-out case from the old days who hasn’t fought in several years, but someone at Zuffa must think he is the answer to what is ailing the middleweight division. Belcher is a kickboxer who hasn’t shown much prowess at MMA but has some middling success using his striking skills. I’ll take Belcher.
* Jeremy Horn vs. Nate Marquardt - Horn is a submission based wrestler/grappler who was once one of the better 185er’s ou there but at this point in his career is a “name” guy to stick on the card to give the appearance that something interesting is going on. I’m not fooled. Add to this Nate Marquardt. Folks on the PP MMA forum call Tim Sylvia the Big ZZZzzz but Marquardt makes Big Tim look like excitement personified. Marquardt put on one of the most boring fights in televised history vs Ivan Salaverry. He was so boring he was relegated to the undercard for the next year even though he was fighting some good 185er’s. He went undefeated only to get royally pwned by Anderson Silva. I’ll take Marquardt, boring doesn’t necessarily mean not effective.

PRELIMINARY CARD (NOT TELEVISED)

* Tyson Griffin vs. Gleison Tibau - hey look, someone with an actual future ahead of them on the undercard. Tyson Griffin is an up and comer in the lightweight division and unlike a certain Mr Huerta, he’s actually fightin folks you’ve heard of. He’s beaten Uriah Faber, Bang Ludwig, Clay Guida, along with a close loss to Frankie Edgar. He is fighting Gleison Tibau, who is a jiu jitsu guy. Griffin handled bjj fighter Thiago Tavares in his last fight, and I think he will again use his striking and superior wrestling to overpower Tibau in the guard.
* Kyle Bradley vs. Chris Lytle
* Marvin Eastman vs. Terry Martin- If it were up to me Eastman would enter the ring to the tune of “Don’t Stop Believin” while Martin would come in to “Any Way You Want it” and they would be fighting for the Steve Perry Memorial championship…. because these two guys are the very essence of Journey - men. As long as they keep puttin on undercards these guys will have food on the table.
* Tim Boetsch VS. David Heath
* Rob Emerson vs. Keita Nakamura

IFL adds bouts to Feb 29th Card

The IFL has announced a few new match-ups for their Feb 29th Card from The Orleans Casino in Las Vegas:

185 lbs
Benji Radach (XtremeCouture) vs Leopoldao Serao (Team Mario Sperry)

It will be Benji's wrestling and striking against a mainly submission guy. Gotta take Benji in this one,..... but then against I said that with the Horwich fight too.

205 lbs
Lew Polley (XtremeCouture) vs Alexandre Ferreira (Team Mario Sperry)

Polley is 6-0 and has fought for American Top Team and looks like he is now with XtremeCouture. 5 Submissions, 1 TKO

Ferreira is 15-5 and has represented Brazilian Top Team. Didn't fight from the end of 01' to the end of 05'. Big Time submission guy. At 5' 7 and 205 is built like a bowling ball looking to take you down and tap you out.

Here is the Up to Date card:

185lb Title Fight
Matt Horwich vs Tim Kennedy

Team Quest Vs Sharock's Lion's Den
Fabio Scherner(TQ) vs Roy Nelson (LD) for the Heavyweight Title
Ryan Schultz(TQ) vs John Gunderson (LD) for the Lightweight Title
Tba vs Pat Healey (LD)

Team Mario Sperry vs Xtreme Couture
Marcello Salazar vs TBA
Serao vs Radach
Ferreira vs Polley

Undercard
Ian Loveland (TQ) vs Dennis Davis (XC)

No TV for the card has been announced at this time.

Leben Sakara added to UFC 82

According to UFCMania .com Chris Leben vs Alessio Sakara has been added to the undercard for UFC 82. The addition of Leben is yet another high profile addition to an undercard that is becoming quite crowded. Here is the card so far:

Confirmed main card:

* Anderson Silva Vs. Dan Henderson
* Heath Herring Vs. Cheick Kongo
* Yushin Okami Vs. Evan Tanner

And the rest of the card:

* Jon Fitch vs. Chris Wilson
* Andrei Arlovski vs. Jake O'Brien
* Diego Sanchez vs. David Bielkheden
* Chris Leben vs. Alessio Sakara
* Josh Koscheck vs. Dustin Hazelett (Preliminary Bout)
* Luke Cummo vs. Luigi Fioravanti
* Jorge Gurgel vs. John Halverson

Is There a method to the seeming madness afoot with this card? Loading up with names on the undercard may mean that the UFC has possibly come close to a deal with CBS, one that has been long rumored. Initial discussions were thought to be to move the UFC 81 PPV card to network TV but that deal stalled. Subsequently, the idea was floated of airing some of the prelim fights from that card on CBS as a taster/ barker show for the PPV. While that didn't happen for UFC 81, the names being unveiled for 82 seem to set off alarm bells that something is definitely in motion.

Whither Matt Lindland?

As we role into 2008, one has to wonder if Matt Lindland will continue his fade into Bolivian as it relates to the 185 lb division. Over the span of his career I think landland has always been among a handful of the best fighters at 185 but it has been harder and harder to argue that point as time has gone by. Over the past couple of years Lindland has either been taking fights out of his weight class for a pay day (Rampage, Fedor) or when he has fought in the division he has faced guys that look like all the tread is off the tire (Newton, Horn). Matt has intimated that he wants back into the UFC and that would provide some intriguing matchups. Lindland's greco clinch vs Anderson Silva's Muay Thai would be interesting, as would the Lindland - Franklin fight that never materialized during the re-introduction of middleweight title. Even if he isn't able to get back in Dana's good graces, there are plenty of fights at 185 outside of the UFC that would re-affirm his status as a top guy at 185. The UFC may have 205 on lockdown but there is more quality fighters outside of the UFC than in it at 185. This isn’t a Fedor situation where you have to presumptively be in the UFC in order to have matches of any consequence. On the domestic scene, he could deal with either HDNet fights or EliteXC to put on some attractive fights at 185. Frank Trigg, Mayhem Miller, Robbie Lawler, Phil Baroni or Murilo Ninja Rua are some of the higher profile fights he could make. Hell, even Strikeforce has some attractive options at 185 in Sanitago or Prangley. If he is willing to take his game overseas, he could match-up with the like of Denis Kang, Akiyama, Misaki, or some of the other K-1 185er's like Manhoef or the Donger. The sand is slipping through the hourglass for Matt, and he needs to either shit or get of the pot if he is to be remembered as anything more than a guy who never really reached the heights of greatness at 185, losing to Murilo Bustamante in his only shot at Middleweight glory. IF Lindland follows his form of late, though, we are more likely to see him cut to 170 to fight than see him have a competitive fight at 185.