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UFC Welterweight Division Fight
“The Irish Hand Grenade” Marcus Davis (15-4-0) vs. Chris “Lights Out” Lytle (26-16-5)
Marcus Davis was easily a fight or two away from a possible UFC Welterweight Title fight, but a loss to Mike Swick at UFC 85 halted everything. Prior to suffering the loss, Marcus Davis was on a six fight UFC win streak with victories over Forrest Petz, Shonie Carter, Pete Spratt, Jason Tan, Paul Taylor and Jess Liaudin. Marcus Davis rebounded from the loss by defeating Paul Kelly at UFC 89, then made a post fight request to fight in his home country of Ireland at the same event. Marcus Davis is known as “the Irish hand grenade” for a reason, with five victories coming by way of knockout. Chris Lytle has had an up and down run in the UFC with victories over Tiki Ghosn, Ronald Jhun, Jason Gilliam, Kyle Bradley and Paul Taylor, while suffering losses to Ben Earwood, Robbie Lawler, Karo Parisyan, Joe Rigs, Matt Serra, Matt Hughes, Thiago Alves and Josh Koscheck. Interestingly enough, Chris Lytle said he would fight Marcus Davis at this event in a post fight promo following his victory at UFC 89. Despite the nickname of “lights out” Chris Lytle has more victories by submission, with seventeen career victories by submission.
My Prediction: Marcus Davis
UFC Middleweight Division Fight
Jeremy “Gumby” Horn (80-18-5) vs. Rousimar “Toquinho” Palhares (8-2-0)
Jeremy Horn is in a very pivotal spot in his current UFC run in the UFC Middleweight Division, already suffering two straight losses in the division to Nate Marquardt and Dean Lister. Jeremy Horn is easily one of the most experienced fighters in MMA, competing in over a hundred and three professional fights. Jeremy Horn has been a title challenger before in the UFC, in which he suffered a loss to UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell in a UFC 54 title defense. Jeremy Horn will be looking to put the fight on the ground, with forty nine career victories coming by submission. Rousimar Palhares has had an interesting run in the UFC thus far with a victory over Ivan Salaverry at UFC 84, while suffering a loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 88. Before coming to the UFC in 2008, Rousimar Palhares built his MMA reputation overseas in the Fury FC promotion, where he holds victories over Flavio Luiz Moura, Fabio Nascimento and Daniel Acacio. Rousimar Palhares will be looking to put this fight on the ground, with six victories coming by submission.
My Prediction: Rousimar Palhares
UFC Middleweight Division Fight
Alan “The Talent” Belcher (13-5-0) vs. Denis Kang (31-10-1-2NC)
Alan Belcher has always been on the verge of a breakthrough in the UFC Middleweight Division, with victories over Jorge Santiago, Sean Salmon, Kalib Starnes and Ed Herman, with losses to Yushin Okami, Kendall Grove and Jason Day. Early in his career, Alan Belcher won the Extreme Fight League Middleweight Tournament defeating Travis Fowler, Roger Kimes and David Franks.. A victory for Alan Belcher over Denis Kang could easily make him a UFC Middleweight Title contender. Alan Belcher will be looking to use his striking skills to gain the victory, with seven victories coming by knockout. Denis Kang is making his UFC debut after a successful runs in PRIDE, DREAM, Pancrase and Spirit MC promotions. Denis Kang has fought a list of elite MMA fighters like Minoru Suzuki, Dennis Hallman, Joe Doerkson, Jason Miller, Andrei Semenov, Murilo Rua and Marvin Eastman. In a division where there isn’t many top contenders to challenge Anderson Silva, Denis Kang could easily become a top contender if he pulls out a victory over Alan Belcher. Denis Kang is a fighter who is comfortable wherever the fight ends up, with twenty seven victories coming by knockout or submission.
My Prediction: Denis Kang
UFC Light Heavyweight Division Fight
Mark “The Hammer” Coleman (15-8-0) vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (16-3-0)
Mark Coleman will be making his long awaited return to the UFC for the first time since UFC 18, which was over a decade ago. Following his initial UFC run, Mark Coleman primarily fought in PRIDE, where he defeated Ricardo Morais, Masaaki Satake, Akira Shoji, Igor Vovchanchyn in one night to win the 2000 PRIDE Grand Prix. Also, in his time with PRIDE, Mark Coleman fought Allan Goes, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Don Frye, Mirko Cro Cop and Fedor Emelianenko. In their first meeting, Mark Coleman defeated Mauricio Rua at PRIDE 31 after breaking his arm with a power bomb. Mark Coleman will be looking to use his ground and pound to gain a victory, with eight prior victories coming by submission. Mauricio Rua is a longtime veteran of the PRIDE promotion, where he fought Akihiro Gono, Quinton Jackson, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Alistair Overeem, Ricardo Arona, Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman and Kazuhiro Nakamura. Mauricio Rua made his UFC debut at UFC 76, losing a close battle to Forrest Griffin by submission in the third round. This will be Mauricio Rua’s first fight in over a year, so conditioning could become a factor in this fight. Mauricio Rua will be looking to use his striking skills to gain the victory, with thirteen victories coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Mark Coleman
UFC Light Heavyweight Division Fight
Rich “Ace” Franklin (24-3-0-1NC) vs. Dan “Hollywood” Henderson (23-7-0)
Although it hasn’t been advertised by the UFC, speculation suggest that the winner of this fight will be a coach on the UFC Ultimate Fighter 9. Rich Franklin is one of the most popular fighters in the UFC, following the MMA boom after the UFC Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale. Rich Franklin was on a three year undefeated streak in the UFC, before suffering his first UFC loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 64. Rich Franklin moved to the UFC Light Heavyweight Division after suffering a second loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 77. Rich Franklin made his UFC Light Heavyweight Division return at UFC 88 by defeating Matt Hamill by knockout. Rich Franklin will be looking to use his striking skills to gain the victory, with thirteen career victories coming by knockout. Dan Henderson spent a long time fighting in PRIDE before coming to the UFC, where he has found mixed success in three fights. Dan Henderson made his UFC return at UFC 75, losing a champion versus champion match to then UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton Jackson, then Dan Henderson lost another champion versus champion match to current UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva at UFC 82. Dan Henderson picked up her first UFC victory in over his decade against Rousimar Palhares at UFC 88 by decision. Dan Henderson is the only fighter in PRIDE history to hold two titles in two different weight classes at the same time, those titles were the PRIDE Light Heavyweight and Middleweight Titles. Dan Henderson will be looking to use his striking skills to gain the victory, with ten victories coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Rich Franklin
You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com
