Mixed Martial B0nes

A lot of us have been waiting for UFC83 to happen. The Ultimate Fighter 6 promised us a fight between the two coaches. We were really psyched to see Matt Serra face one of the greatest welterweights of all time and finally Matt Serra and Matt Hughes will fight for the Championship… err oh yeah! Make that Matt Serra and Georges St-Pierre. When will *that* fight happen? Who knows. I just hope we don’t get robbed out of a Forrest Griffin vs. Rampage fight too. For now, lets see what’s going to happen April 19th. Holy smokes! That’s tomorrow night. Whip out your credit cards and get your pay per view TV or Yahoo going. Or, if you’re feeling really adventurous, make a run for North American Frenchyland in Montreal, Canada where this event is being held.

Matt Serra Vs. Georges St-Pierre figures to be the marquee matchup of the night. Of course, that’s what we thought when GSP fought Hughes in UFC79. GSP completely discombobulated Hughes and we were all left wondering if that was the last we’d see of Hughes fighting in the Octagon. Serra missed that fight because of a back injury he received during training. I think we’re going to see a replay of that fight except just plug in Serra for Hughes and watch GSP just demolish Serra with an array of ground and pound with an arm bar or rear naked choke for good measure. GSP will be crowned Champ and then we get our long awaited fight between the leftover shells of men that will be Serra and Hughes.

Travis Lutter Vs. Rich Franklin These two are both trying to shake recent losses to the same guy from their memories. Anderson Silva handed them both a big “L” in their fight record. I’m kind of on Franklin’s side for this one since he fought more recently than Lutter in UFC77.

Nate Quarry Vs. Kalib Starnes I’m only able to give my thorough Newbie investigation results on this one: I just don’t like the way Kalib looks! He’s got a freaky wall-eye in his promo photo and “The Rock” just looks the part. Of course, Quarry’s a cheap lousy ripoff of the *REAL* Rock but we’ll see if we’re going to smell what he’s cooking!

Charles McCarthy Vs. Michael Bisping We haven’t seen McCarthy do anything since 2006. Bisping fought last year in UFC77 but lost. It was his first loss after four consecutive wins. I think he’ll get back on track and continue with a win over this event’s Couch Warrior.

Mark Bocek Vs. Mac Danzig I think *THIS* will be the fight of the night. Big Mac was unstoppable in TUF6 and I believe he’ll be a force to reckon with for years to come. Bocek won the decision in UFC79 but I don’t think he has enough meat stuffed in his colon to defeat the Mad Vegan Danzig. As a fellow veggie-freak myself, I’m pulling for Danzig to smack some green upside Bocek’s head. BTW, we’re still friends right Mark? I may have to buy him a bunch of beers if I ever meet him in person… sheesh!

We’ve gone through the undercard of UFC79 so now it’s time to see what the main card holds for us. We have the two obvious fights in Liddell v. Silva and Hughes v. GSP but there are others fighting on Saturday that have put themselves on the line for us.

This figures to be a great group of various battles. Where they start and how they end will be as unique as the men stepping into the octagon. OK, let’s cut the deck and deal out some of these aces!

• Soa Palelei vs. Eddie Sanchez will most likely be a short bout as Palelei hasn’t fought a live match in over three years. Sanchez has mixed it up with the likes of Cro Cop and Colin Robinson this year. The interesting thing about this match is the size of the two fighters: 265 lbs. At this weight, look for someone’s (sorry Soa!) eyes to roll to the back of their head at the end of the match.
• Rich Clementi vs. Melvin Guillard will most likely be the most tension filled one of the night. Each of these guys hate every one of the 155 lbs. of the other. This will be a classic standup (Melvin) vs submission (Rich) fight. Someone’s going to get decked and I’m thinking Guillard will be the one to go down.
• Lyoto Machida vs. Rameau Sokoudjou is a match featuring a wildman(Sokoudjou) against a veteran(Machida). Sokoudjou has become one the most exciting 205 pounders in the UFC in a very short time. Machida has fought at this level for a long time and will pull out the stops to confuse Sokoudjou. Having seen Sokoudjou in action makes me think he will come out on top for this one.
• Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva… OMFG!! This is the match that everyone is paying $40 on PPV for. What more can be said about this matchup other than, “Shut up and fight!” Liddell the standup/ground and pounder will have as much as he can take in Silva. I am a Chuck fan. I have Chuck teeshirts. Chuck is on my Tivo favorites… wait for it… wait for it… BUT I somehow think this will end badly for him. Silva has a pedigree a step above Liddell. I’m crossing my fingers for the Iceman but the AxeMurderer has so much game that he may end Chuck’s reign in the UFC at the top.
• Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre is one heck of a substitution for Hughes vs. Serra. They have both fought each other and they both have wins against each other. The winner faces Matt Serra for the Welterweight Title. This is just the “Interim” title fight. I have mixed feelings about this fight as the real bout was supposed to be Serra vs. Hughes. If Hughes lays an egg, the title shot will go to GSP. If GSP wins the title, TUF fans get the shaft. Any way, this is a premium match up and to predict this one is a toss up. I’ll go with Hughes. Somehow I think he will submit GSP and preserve his title shot. As a Newbie and a TUF fan I’m really hoping for this!