Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
“The Natural Born Killer†Carlos Condit (24-5-0) vs. Rory “The Water Boy†MacDonald (10-0-0)
Carlos Condit has had an interesting run in the UFC, defeating Jake Ellenberger and suffering a defeat to Martin Kampmann. Carlos Condit is the final WEC Welterweight Champion, defeating Kyle Jensen, John Alessio, Brock Larson, Carlo Prater and Hiromitsu Miura in WEC competition. Carlos Condit also had a successful run in the Rumble On The Rock promotion, defeating Ross Ebanez, Renato Verissimo and Frank Trigg, while suffering a lone defeat to Jake Shields. Despite competing in the UFC for over a year, this fight will mark the UFC pay-per-view debut of Carlos Condit. Carlos Condit started off his professional MMA career in impressive fashion, with an eight fight undefeated streak that had lasted over two years. Carlos Condit also competed internationally in the Pancrase promotion, defeating Koji Oishi, Takuya Wada and Tatsunori Tanaka, while suffering a lone defeat to Satoru Kitaoka. Carlos Condit will be looking to put the fight on the ground, with thirteen victories coming by way of submission. Rory MacDonald is currently undefeated in UFC competition, with a victory over Michael Guymon at UFC Ultimate Fight Night 20. Rory MacDonald is a longtime veteran of the King Of The Cage promotion, defeating Ken Tran, Quinton Moreno, Yoon Heo, Kajan Johnson, Clay French, Elmer Waterhen and Nick Hinchliffe. Of his ten professional MMA fights, none have gone to a decision for Rory MacDonald, which speaks to the fighters finishing abilities. Despite competing in professional MMA for nearly five years, Rory MacDonald has only had three fights outside the King Of The Cage promotion. Rory MacDonald has also fought in the Rumble In The Cage promotion, defeating Jordan Mein by submission. Rory MacDonald will be entering the fight riding a ten fight undefeated streak, which has lasted over four years. Rory MacDonald will be looking to put the fight on the ground, with six victories coming by way of submission.
My Prediction: Carlos Condit
UFC Heavyweight Division Fight
Ben Rothwell (30-7-0) vs. Gilbert “The Hurricane†Yvel (36-14-1)
Ben Rothwell has had an unsuccessful run in the UFC, suffering a defeat to Cain Velasquez at UFC 104 in October 2009. Ben Rothwell is a veteran of the International Fight League, defeating Krzysztof Soszynski, Bryan Vetell, Wojtek Kaszowski, Devin Cole, Matt Thompson, Roy Nelson, Travis Fulton and Ricco Rodriquez. Prior to debuting in the UFC in late 2009, Ben Rothwell had fought other UFC veterans like Tim Sylvia, Mike Whitehead, Kerry Schall, Dan Christison, Krzysztof Soszynski, Ricco Rodriquez and Andrei Arlovski. Ben Rothwell also competed in the debut event for Affliction MMA, losing to Andrei Arlovski by knockout. Ben Rothwell started off his MMA career in impressive fashion, with a four fight undefeated streak that had lasted over seven months. Ben Rothwell will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with seventeen victories coming by knockout. Gilbert Yvel has had an unsuccessful run in the UFC, suffering a defeat to Junior Dos Santos at UFC 108 in January 2010. Gilbert Yvel also competed in the final Affliction MMA event, suffering a defeat to Josh Barnett by submission. Gilbert Yvel also competed in the PRIDE promotion, defeating Gary Goodridge and Akira Shoji, while suffering defeats to Vitor Belfort, Kazuyuki Fujita, Igor Vovchanchyn, Don Frye, Jeremy Horn, Ikuhisa Minowa and Roman Zentsov. Gilbert Yvel also has an odd distinction to remember throughout his MMA career, as he has suffered three MMA losses via disqualification. Despite competing in professional MMA for over thirteen years, Gilbert Yvel only made his North American MMA debut at Affliction: Day Of Reckoning in January 2009. Gilbert Yvel started off his professional MMA career in impressive fashion, with a nine fight undefeated streak that had lasted over a year. Gilbert Yvel will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with thirty one victories coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Ben Rothwell
UFC Welterweight Division Fight
Paulo Thiago (13-1-0) vs. Martin “The Hitman†Kampmann (16-3-0)
Paulo Thiago has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Josh Koscheck, Jacob Volkmann and Mike Swick, while suffering a lone defeat to Jon Fitch. Paulo Thiago also went undefeated in the Jungle Fight promotion, defeating Leonardo Pecanha, Paulo Cavera, Ferrid Kheder and Luis Dutra. Early in his MMA career, Paulo Thiago win the Grand Prix Planaltina tournament by defeating Marcone Marcone, Diogo Almeida and Igor Maux. Paulo Thiago started off his professional MMA career in impressive fashion, with an eleven fight undefeated streak that had lasted over four years. Despite competing in professional MMA for nearly five years, it took four years for Paulo Thiago to make his North American MMA debut. Paulo Thiago will be entering the fight riding a two fight winning streak, which has lasted nearly eight months. Paulo Thiago will be looking to put the fight on the ground, with eight victories coming by way of submission. Martin Kampmann has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Crafton Wallace, Thales Leitas, Drew McFedries, Jorge Rivera, Alexandre Barros, Carlos Condit and Jacob Volkmann, while suffering defeats to Nate Marquardt and Paul Daley. Martin Kampmann also competed in the European Vale Tudo promotion, defeating Toni Vivas and Xavier Foupa-Pokam. Martin Kampmann started off his MMA career in impressive fashion, with a four fight undefeated streak that had lasted over a full year. Martin Kampmann also went undefeated in the Cage Warriors Fighting Championships, defeating both Matt Ewin and Damien Riccio. In an interesting career note for Martin Kampmann, it has been over four years since the fighter has competed outside of the UFC. Martin Kampmann will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with seven victories coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Paulo Thiago
UFC Heavyweight Division Fight
Mirko Cro Cop (26-7-2) vs. Pat “HD†Barry (5-1-0)
Mirko Cro Cop has had an interesting run in the UFC, defeating Eddie Sanchez, Anthony Perosh and Mostapha Al-Turk, while suffering defeats to Gabriel Gonzaga, Cheick Kongo and Junior Dos Santos. Mirko Cro Cop also had a long run in the PRIDE promotion, defeating Kazushi Sakuraba, Heath Herring, Igor Vovchanchyn, Dos Caras Jr., Ron Waterman, Yoshihisa Yamamoto, Hiromitsu Kanehara, Shungo Oyama, Aleksander Emelianenko, Josh Barnett, Kevin Randleman, Mark Coleman, Ibragim Magomedov, Ikuhisa Minowa, Hidehiko Yoshida and Wanderlei Silva, while suffering defeats to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Kevin Randleman, Fedor Emelianenko and Mark Hunt. Mirko Cro Cop had also fought in the DREAM promotion, defeating Tatsuya Mizuno by way of knockout. Mirko Cro Cop will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with twenty victories coming by knockout. Pat Barry has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Dan Evensen and Antonio Hardonk, while suffering a lone defeat to Tim Hague. Pat Barry had also fought in the Combat USA promotion, defeating Mike Delaney, John George and Simon Diouf. Of his six professional MMA fights, none have gone to a decision for Pat Barry, which speaks to the fighters finishing abilities. It has been over eight months since Pat Barry last had an MMA fight, so cage rust can become a factor in the fight. Pat Barry started off his MMA career in impressive fashion, with a four fight undefeated streak that had lasted nearly a year. Pat Barry will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with all of his victories coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Pat Barry
UFC Light Heavyweight Division Fight
“The Iceman†Chuck Liddell (21-7-0) vs. Rich “Ace†Franklin (25-5-0)
Chuck Liddell has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Noe Hernandez, Paul Jones, Jeff Monson, Kevin Randleman, Murilo Bustamante, Amar Suloev, Vitor Belfort, Renato Sobral, Tito Ortiz, Vernon White, Randy Couture and Wanderlei Silva, while suffering defeats to Jeremy Horn, Randy Couture, Quinton Jackson, Keith Jardine, Rashad Evans and Mauricio Rua. Chuck Liddell is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, defeating Randy Couture at UFC 52 to win the title. Chuck Liddell also had a short run in the PRIDE promotion, defeating Guy Metzger and Alistair Overeem, while suffering a lone defeat to Quinton Jackson. Despite competing in twenty eight professional MMA fights, only six of them have been outside of the UFC. It has been well over a year since Chuck Liddell has had an MMA fight, so cage rust can become a factor in the fight. During those fourteen months off, Chuck Liddell did take time to compete on Dancing With The Stars, but didn’t win the competition. Chuck Liddell will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with thirteen victories coming by knockout. Rich Franklin has had a successful run in the UFC, defeating Evan Tanner, Edwin Dewees, Jorge Rivera, Ken Shamrock, Nate Quarry, David Loiseau, Jason MacDonald, Yushin Okami, Travis Lutter, Matt Hamill and Wanderlei Silva, while suffering defeats to Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson and Vitor Belfort. Rich Franklin briefly coached opposite of Chuck Liddell on the UFC Ultimate Fighter 11, following Tito Ortiz’s departure from the reality show. Rich Franklin is a former UFC Middleweight Champion, who defeated the late Evan Tanner at UFC 53 to win the title. Rich Franklin started off his MMA career in impressive fashion, with a twelve fight undefeated streak that had lasted over three years. In MMA fights outside of the UFC, Rich Franklin had competed against UFC veterans Marvin Eastman and Lyoto Machida. Rich Franklin will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with thirteen victories coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Rich Franklin
You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com
