Facebook Card
UFC 141 starts off with two high-octane 145 pound fighters as Diego Nunes meets Manny Gamburyan. Most people remember Gaburyan from The Ultimate Fighter but since those days he has made quite a home in the featherweight division, even taking a crack at Jose Aldo. Nunes on the other hand was derailed before his title shot by Kenny Florian but remains one of the more dangerous fighters in the division. Both men like to push the pace with diverse strikes and fast pace scrambles, should be very rewarding for fans tuning in early. Matt Riddle is another fighter with a TUF background kicking off the card against Luis Ramos. Neither man has an exceptional record nor have they done anything recently to get excited about but both, particularly Riddle, have shown flashes in the past and possess immense potential. This is likely a pink slip fight, which means there is potential for someone to step up and give a performance to remember. At 155 pounds Efrain Escudero is back after what some thought was a premature release. He brings his wrestling and improved versatility to the cage against Jacob Volkmann who looks like a banker but fights like a monster. Volkmann is on a four-fight win streak and hasn’t lost since fighting at 170 against Martin Kampmann. Escudero has a lot to prove if he is going to stay in the UFC because Volkmann has serious momentum, serious grappling skills, and will seriously hurt you. Finally, the Facebook card ends with Dong Hyun Kim (pictured), who was at last sighting losing a number one contender’s fight to Carlos Condit, and Sean Pierson. Pierson has had an inconsistent career but he has a chance at the biggest win of it against Kim, who is extremely well rounded and excels at controlling the pace and location of the fight. I do not expect any of the Facebook fights to be particularly boring and fighters like Gamburyan, Nunes, Kim, and Volkmann have an opportunity to take a quiet step into a big fight early in 2012.
Spike TV Card
Ross Pearson has an odd popularity, or at least an odd ability to get premier spots on fight-cards. His fight against Junior Assuncao is somewhat underwhelming. It features Pearson, coming off a lose and winning just one of his last three fights, against Assuncao who despite being on a seven fight win streak hasn’t really defeated anyone of much stature. I am just being honest because the fact of the matter is that this fight will probably present an interesting style match-up that I expect to end somewhat early. Pearson throws to take heads off and would love to end it early but Assuncao can be a wizard if he gets you to the ground. Whoever controls the location early might be able to snag a quick win so don’t sleep on this just because I am honestly a bit unimpressed with it for this spot. Anthony Njokuani (pictured) vs Danny Castillo could not be more simultaneously different and similar to the previous fight if it was carefully constructed as a doppelganger to steal the show. In short, it means about as much in terms of major moves in the lightweight division, that is almost nothing immediately, but it should be a high-octane fight with no reason to suspect a quick finish. I am always generally ok with Castillo as that dude seems to love to fight. He isn’t the best in the world and I don’t expect him to emerge as such at UFC 141 but you know he is game to come throw down and entertain. Njokuani is a really dynamic athlete with great reach for the weight-class. He quite simply has not been able to hit his stride and find consistency but will be looking to build off a big win over Andre Winner. The fun thing about both the fights on this portion of the card is that they feature dynamic fighters that have a knack for putting on a show.
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