On August 28th, 2009 two living legends of a mixed martial arts will finally cross paths. The fight will be the culmination (to this point) of two epic careers belonging to two of the sports most beloved fighters. These represent two different archetypes of what MMA has been over the last 10 – 15 years. One is an American wrestler who has been at the top of the leading state side MMA organization and the other is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace who climbed to the panicle of Japanese MMA. While the fight is not for a title or even a title shot, the significance is not lost on the mixed martial arts world. The card also features a number of fantastic fights that will compliment the exceptional main event.
Brandon Vera vs Krizysztof Soszynski
This fight was originally suppose to include Matt Hammill, but the UFC favorite new replacement guy stepped in again to take on Vera when “The Hammer” got injured. I was a little skeptical of Soszynski when he was on The Ultimate Fighter because I couldn’t figure out what all the hype was about. Fortunately, he turned things around once he got regular UFC fights and looked really impressive in his last few outings. Brandon Vera has been up and down as of late, with more down than up. Coming off of a relatively impressive win against an unimpressive opponent, Vera will look to build some momentum but that will be no easy task. The Truth had a lot of trouble with Keith Jardine’s awkward stand up style and Soszynski could present the same problem. While we hear so much about Vera’s ground game, we are yet to see it and know he will be facing someone who can hold his own once the fight hits the floor. Soszynski is improving with every outing and it is tough to tell where he will be at a true disadvantage, but Vera’s stand-up is the most likely option. The winner of this will likely secure a solid opponent up the 205 ladder and become that much more relevant in the title hunt.
Chris Leben vs Jake Rosholt
I don’t know why I like this fight so much but I do. Rosholt vs Leben will represent a classic style clash between the striker and the wrestler. I have been less than impressed with the blue-chip Rosholt to this point. He is clearly talented but I am not sure he is ready for this level. Rosholt’s stand-up is porous and he leaves himself open to submissions on the ground. I suspect Leben will be able to keep it on the feet and hit Rosholt almost at will. If Rosholt can get this fight to the ground, he should be able to do some damage and control Leben there. Both of these fighters have proven to have concrete chins, meaning this fight will likely not be too quick, regardless of who controls the location of the fight. If Rosholt has worked enough on the other (not wrestling) aspects of his game, this could be a contender for fight of the night.
Demian Maia vs Nate Marquardt
Holy Crap…. I am excited for this fight. Maia is nothing short of wizard like on the ground and every time we think he is going to really be tested, he demonstrates that he is actually getting better at implementing his BJJ into MMA. Marquardt has looked almost unstoppable since he lost to Silva; I don’t even have to address his loss to Leites. I think he is one of the top 185 pounders in the world, easy. I also think he presents a real problem for Maia who had some issues with the scrappy McDonald. Marquardt should have better wrestling and better BJJ than McDonald presented Maia with. He should also have more power and dangerous stand-up. One cannot ever count out Maia’s ability to submit an opponent though. One mistake and Maia takes your arm home or you lose oxygen to your brain. At the end of the day, no one really knows the limits of Maia so it would be hard to pick the winner even if I was in the business of picking winners. I like the match-up regardless. We are going to find out what Maia is made of and get a little closer to figuring out what is next for Anderson Silva.
Thiago Silva vs Keith Jardine
This is one of those fights that I hate to know someone will lose. I have really grown to respect Keith Jardine through his last hand full of fights. He is a tough guy and has proven he won’t back down from anyone. Thiago Silva on the other hand has been a fighter I have been behind for a long time. I like his style and his attitude. He is very confident in himself and his ability. Machida’s style was tailor made to finish Thiago. However, Silva’s style may be tailor made to give Jardine headaches. Jardine has had problems with aggressive fighters and I expect Silva to push the pace in this fight Both fighters love to stand and bang so I doubt we are going to see much of either fighters ground game unless it is ground-and-pound. I think there are a lot of contender’s for fight of the night and if I didn’t suspect that this would end in the first (maybe second) I would pick it hands down. If they go the distance, watch out for a serious brawl.
Randy Couture vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
What can you say about this fight? I covered its significance above but there seems to be a general feeling of fear in the MMA community that this fight will be lackadaisical. The more I think about this fight the less I fear that issue. I am actually quite convinced that this fight could steal the show if both guys enter in shape. Randy Couture is going to be hard to catch in a submission and hard to outstrike. Big Nog will be hard to knock out or put in a rough enough spot to get a stoppage. The style match-up and tendencies of each fighter might make for a really fun back and forth brawl. Both guys are smart enough to have a feeling out process but business savvy enough to start swinging before too long. While both fighters are considered long in the tooth, neither has really given us much reason to give up on them. Like the last fight, it is unfortunate that one of these athletes has to lose. Couture and Big Nog will likely be seen again but this fight is pretty close to a must win for both, making it as significant as virtually any main event this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment