Feeling the financial squeeze from the last four UFC fight cards? Well “Free February” will offer some relief. The UFC is serving up two free fight cards, UFN 17 and UFC 95. Both should provide MMA fans with a number of entertaining fights and you can’t beat the price.
UFC Fight Night 17 will feature the return of lightweight Joe Lauzon. He last fought at UFC Fight Night 15 where he beat Kyle Brady. Lauzon is attempting to get his career back on track after a TKO loss to Kenny Florian at UFC Fight Night 13. A win over Jeremy Stephens this Saturday night could propel “J-Lau” back into a fight with a Top 10 lightweight while a loss would be devastating to his career.
Also in action will be a rising heavyweight star Cain Velasquez. He faces Denis Stojnic, who is making his UFC debut. While Stojnic is relatively unknown to most MMA fans, he does fight at Golden Glory, where Alistair Overseem trains. Velasquez will look to confirm he belongs in the upper echelon of the heavyweight division and most fans will be looking for an early TKO victory.
Anthony Johnson is looking to continue to make waves in the welterweight division. His fight with Luigi Fioravanti could earn “Fight of the Night honors” as both men like to let their hands go. The most visible facet of this fight is the drastic height difference between the two. Johnson, at 6’2″, towers over his opponent Fioravanti, who stands at just 5’8″. Johnson looks to sneak into the Top 10 of an overly crowed welterweight division, which recently added WEC champion Carlos Condit.
Speaking of Condit, a fight between Carlos and Martin Kampmann is the main event for UFC Fight Night 18, which is set to take place in Nashville, Tennessee, April 1. UFN 18 offers fans another free fight card that sits between PPV cards UFC 96 and 97. Condit is an instant Top 10 welterweight and many would argue the same for Kampmann. This fight could produce fireworks as both fighters are good standing and on the ground. I could see either fighter winning by TKO or submission.
Coming off the heels of the “superfight” between George St. Pierre and BJ Penn is the speculation of another possible superfight between St. Pierre and reigning middleweight champion Anderson Silva. If both fighters successfully defend their respective belts, the fight could happen in early 2010, perhaps on the Super Bowl fight card that hosted this year’s superfight. Ultimate 2009, the New Year’s Eve show, also could be an option.
In other UFC 94 fallout, there doesn’t seem to be a clear direction for current lightweight champion BJ Penn. There has been chatter that BJ may retire but he has said a fight with Kenny Florian could come in June at UFC 99. Only BJ Penn knows if his heart is still in the sport after his beat down via GSP. Let’s hope he still has some fight left in him, and a title fight between him and Florian proceeds.
Also, there is talk that St. Pierre’s next title defense could come at UFC 99, this time against No. 1 contender Thiago Alves. UFC 99 is the company’s first trip into mainland Europe after several successful shows held in the UK and, more recently, Ireland.
Speaking with Tatame Magazine at the UFC 94 post-fight press conference, Thiago Alves said: “It’ll be a great fight. I’m very excited, I can’t wait … It’s going to be great. I’ll go there to knock him out.” For Alves to “knock him out,” he will need to figure out how to stop St. Pierre’s stifling take down offensive that no one in the welterweight division has prevented so far.
It will be interesting to see how the debate over who should face Rashad Evans is settled. The light heavyweight division clearly has two No. 1 contenders in Rampage Jackson and Lyoto Machida. After Machida’s first round dissection of Thiago Silva, his prominence in the division can no longer be denied. And you can’t take anything away from Jackson. If he beats Jardine in impressive fashion at UFC 96 he is just as worthy as Machida. Right now it appears that the nod will go to Jackson if he does in fact win.
A battle between Rashad vs. Rampage would likely go down at UFC 100 in July. The UFC can either shelve Machida until late 2009 or they could have him fight one more fight. Since a title shot for Machida seems inevitable the UFC may opt to give Machida a fight that he can impressively win while further increasing his marketability. Opponents who could accomplish this would be: Rich Franklin (who he has already beaten), Forrest Griffin, or the winner of the Chuck Liddell-Shogun Rua fight set for UFC 97.
The question seems to be: who does the UFC want to be the sacrificial lamb in Lyoto Machida’s assured climb to the top of the light heavyweight mountain?
In our last bit of news: Dana White seems to have finally acknowledged Fedor Emelianenko greatness. At least as much as Dana is capable of doing. In a new CBSSports.com article, White is quoted as saying:“Yes, he’s top five [pound-for-pound]. I say he’s top five. He can punch. I’ll say that.”A little over a year ago, White was quoted as saying; “Fedor Sucks. He’s not even a top five heavyweight.”
Perhaps back-to-back wins over former UFC champions Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski finally convinced him. Or maybe Dana is softening his stance in an attempt to open up negotiations with the man who many consider to be the best fighter in MMA history. MMA fans can only hope but shouldn’t hold their breath.
We are keeping it around a thousand words this week. Check back next Wednesday as we start to break down some of the matchups for UFC 95, which goes down February 21 in London, England.
