The UFC is heading back across the pond for UFC 89 which will take place in Birmingham, England. Of course no UFC event taking place in the U.K would be complete without Michael “The Count” Bisbing. Bisbing will be taking on the charismatic Chris “The Crippler” Leben in the nights main event. This should be a great night of fights, with the card full of some promising up-and-comers and those who really need a win to keep their careers in tact. Let’s take a look at how I see these match-ups going down.
MAIN EVENT
Michael Bisbing vs. Chris Leben
I’m really looking forward to this fight, Bisbing is coming off 2 TKO victories over Jason Day and Charles McCarthy. With all due respect to the aforementioned Day/McCarthy,Chris Leben is a notch or two above them. Bisbing will not be able to bully Leben around as he has his last two opponents, that said, Leben isn’t all that quick on his feet and may have a hard time keeping up with the much quicker Bisbing. If this should turn into a slug-fest it’s a no-brainer, I’ll take Leben, If it hits the ground, my money is on “The Count”.
Prediction: Bisbing will taste defeat for the first time in his hometown (in the UFC) as “The Crippler” lands one of his fight ending hay-makers.
Keith Jardine vs. Brandon Vera
Will the roller-coaster ride that Jardine has been on continue? He better hope so, for this fight anyway. For every big win Jardine gets, it seems as though he loses one just as bad. He’s seems to win when he’s the underdog, the problem is I’m not sure he’s the underdog in this one. Brandon Vera is coming off a lackluster unanimous decision victory over UFC newcomer Reese Andy. Before that, Vera was TKO’d by Fabricio Werdum in what many think was an early stoppage. This is a very big fight for both men, a loss wont get them bounced from the UFC but it certainly will not help their standing in what is a division that continues to get deeper. I expect a stand-up war from these two, with Vera’s reach, I give him an advantage there and although Jardine is a very strong guy, Vera was fighting in the heavyweight division until recently so he’s used to fighting stronger men. Based on what we’ve seen as of late, Jardine’s chin maybe questionable but he always bounces back from devastating losses with very good performances and solid game-plans (thanks to Greg Jackson). Vera on the other hand, has not been close to putting forth the type of dominating performance we were accustomed to seeing.
Prediction: The win-one-lose-one reutine Jardine’s been on will continue, Jardine by unanimous decision.
Luiz Cane vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
Sokoudjou has not impressed since he entered the UFC, lossing to Lyoto Machida by submission but defeating Kazuhiro Nakamura by TKO. Neither fight showed us the dominating fighter we witnessed in his PRIDE days. Luiz Cane is better on the ground than Soku but getting Soku down is another story. In the clinch, Soku’s strength and Judo you would think would give him the advantage, and it may but Cane has pretty good muay thai and a longer reach, meaning Cane’s knees could play a big part in the outcome.
Prediction: This is a tough one to call but Soku will disappoint again, Cane will emerge as a threat in the light heavyweight division.
Chris Lytle vs. Paul Taylor
Lytle may be coming off a loss to Josh Koscheck in which he got dominated, but with the amount of blood he shed, he never gave up and showed tremendous heart. Taylor is the kind of guy that just keeps coming at you and has great cardio, which always makes for a dangerous opponent. This has the makings of fight of the night. Don’t expect this fight to hit the ground.
Prediction: Lytle is better than I think most give him credit for, I’m picking him by TKO in this one.
Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis vs. Paul Kelly
I believe Davis threw down the gauntlet for this fight when he said something to the affect of ‘whoever takes the other one down first is a p#@sy.” This is essentially the same type of fight as Lytle/Taylor, in that this will be a stand-up war but Davis always has the ability to go for a submission should things not go his way standing. Of course if Davis does take down Kelly that would make him, in his words a p@#sy but who’s going to say that to him.
Prediction: Hey a wins a win and I think Davis takes this one by submission.
So in what I think will be a great night of fights, I’m picking the Yanks to run the table here. In case the night doesn’t live up to your expectations, just wait a week for UFC 90. Hey at least we didn’t pay for it.
