Two Great Cards, Two Great Nights, Two Championship Fights!
The Zuffa organization has fallen into the perfect storm this weekend as Stikeforce tries to steal their thunder by signing Fedor as the UFC/WEC already had its answer set. No, not bringing back Tito and Vitor (which I salivated over), but the fact that two huge fight cards were already signed, sealed and just waiting to deliver.
On Staurday night at UFC 101, the UFC’s Lightweight Championship fight will pit BJ Penn against Kenny Florian a fight all MMA fans have been dying for, for over two years now. With Penn fully healthy after his embarrassing lose to GSP and KenFlo having 18 months to ponder what it would be like to hear Bruce Buffer say “and now your new UFC lightweight champion of the world,” the fireworks are ready to fly, but they wont come in the form of fists. This bout is going to be a jiu-jitsu fan’s wet dream! Two guys who would be training in bjj as a hobby if life hadn’t led them to MMA. This will be two guys rolling faster than an avalanche just waiting to see who will be the skier to make the mistake and get gobbled up by the run away snow ball. As much as Kenny wants to hear the aforementioned quote, it isn’t going to happen. BJ wins this one in the third by rear naked choke and Florian is left to seek out Joe Stevenson to see what to do next.
On Sunday night Miguel Torres defends his belt against top contender Brian Bowles on the WEC 42 fight card. Two fast paced, high powered, action packed fighters who are a combined 44-1 in their highly illustrious careers. Although both guys have knockout power there is a reason that Torres is considered a top pound for pound fighter in the world. Miguel takes his gold back home with him and sits back to see ‘who’s next.’
Those are the two title tilts, but these shows have some other great bouts as well. The UFC 101 results will also show Anderson Silva tested by a man who is stronger and more aggressive than anyone he has ever fought in Forrest Griffin. If the Spider wins maybe it’s time he takes a run at friend and former teammate Lyoto Machida, but if the cards fall on Forrest’s side he has to be considered a top contender for the 205 crown.
On the WEC side of things you can look forward to seeing Jeff Curran back in action, as well as Leonard Garcia and Dominick Cruz. These men are all trying to break into the top 3 contenders of their respective weight classes, while a loss could truly put them on the brink of banishment from Zuffa.
Although these cards were planned months ago, honestly, how much better could this be for the UFC to put the recent news of Fedor behind them and the rest of the MMA fandom. Here’s to two great fight cards for just one PPV price!
By Greg Vorse
ProFighting-fans.com Staff Writer
A Fan’s View from his Couch