Dublin Ireland – Dreams will come true this Saturday night as The Ultimate Fighting Championship conquers Dublin, Ireland’s O2 arena with UFC 93 ‘Franklin vs. Henderson’.
The historic main event will feature two former middleweight champions as Rich ‘Ace’ Franklin and Dan ‘Hollywood’ Henderson will finally lock it up, but as light heavyweights. The co-main event will see the return of UFC hall of famer Mark Coleman, as he attempts to end a three year grudge with Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua.
The night’s main card will also feature the UFC debut of Denis Kang as he takes on Alan ‘The Talent’ Belcher. ‘The Irish Hand Grenade’ Marcus Davis will slug it out with Chris ‘Lights Out’ Lytle and Rousimar ‘Toquinho’ Palhares takes on Jeremy Horn.
Since the UFC’s acquisition of Japan’s PRIDE Fighting Championship we’ve had the pleasure of seeing dream matches that were once figments of our imaginations. Franklin vs. Henderson is truly a wish coming true.
Let’s take a trip back to the year 2005. Here in the states, Rich Franklin had just beaten the late Evan Tanner for the UFC middleweight championship and on the other side of the ‘pond’; Dan Henderson just defeated Murlio Bustamante for the PRIDEFC belt. Both champions shared equal success within their respective organizations, but the question of who would win a fight between the two always arose. That four year question will finally be answered this Saturday night!
Undefeated as a light heavyweight, Rich Franklin (24-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC), is coming off an impressive victory over Matt Hamill at UFC 88. He was able to stay on his feet during the fight and punished Hamill with his versatile striking. He faced a strong wrestler in Hamill and Dan Henderson is no different.
The iron-jawed Henderson (23-7 MMA, 3-2 UFC) possesses an Olympic caliber wrestling background and has one of the most feared right hands in the ‘biz’. He was also victorious at UFC 88 with a dismal decision victory over Rousimar Palhares. At the tender age of 38, ‘Hendo’ is need of a big win within the UFC if he expects to earn another title shot. The same can be said about Franklin as he isn’t getting any younger and needs to rack up a few more wins in order to earn a title shot; most likely as a light heavyweight.
Franklin’s stand up is more polished and complete as he mixes it up with punches and kicks. He has also showed an abundance of composure throughout his career as he has escaped numerous fight ending submissions. His ground game is also grossly underrated as he relies on his striking to end fights. Franklin must stay out of the Muay Thai clinch of Henderson’s and away from his wild haymakers. I don’t see Henderson taking this fight to the ground as he has shown weaknesses to jiu-jitsu with nearly half of his losses coming way of submission.
If Franklin is able to dodge the right hand of Henderson, he should out work him for the decision victory.
The winner of this fight will coach opposite of Michael Bisping on the next ‘Ultimate Fighter’ USA vs. UK.
In a rematch to their controversial 2006 Pride 31 match, UFC hall-of-famer Mark Coleman returns the octagon to settle the score with former Pride star Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua.
At the time Rua was riding an eight-fight win streak with notable wins over the likes of ‘Minotoro’ Nogueira, Ricardo Arona and Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson. The victory over Arona set up the bout with Coleman. The fight didn’t last long as Rua dislocated his elbow ending the fight and earning a TKO victory for ‘The Hammer’.
The 44-year-old Coleman (15-8 MMA, 6-3 UFC) has not fought since 2006 where he was submitted by Fedor Emelianenko and is well past his prime. His strengths are his power and ground and pound. However his ground game or to say his ground defense has been suspect as fifty percent of his losses have come by submission. He may be stronger than Rua, but that’s about it.
The always exciting ‘Shogun’ debuted against Forrest Griffin at UFC 76 back in September of 07. Rua (16-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) came into that fight as the top ranked light heavyweight, but looked soft and displayed none of the qualities that made him a star in Japan. He would later reveal that he had a damaged ACL and had successful surgery after the fight.
If Rua comes into this fight healthy, he shouldn’t have any problems winning this fight. His stand up is far superior to Coleman’s and if the fight goes to the ground he is a BJJ black belt and should sink in a submission. Both fighters might have first round jitters, but the second round will be Rua’s as he wins via submission.
Canada’s favorite Korean, Denis Kang makes long awaited UFC debut as he faces Mississippi’s Alan Belcher.
Kang (31-10-1) has been always considered one of the best fighters not fighting in the UFC. While in Japan, he was on a tear for four years racking up twenty-one wins with no losses from 2002 to 2006 while in Japan. However in his last six fights he is 3 and 3 with his latest victory being over Marvin Eastman.
The American Top-Team fighter is explosive standing up and on the ground as holds a BJJ black belt. He is a veteran fighter looking to make a name for himself with the U.S. fans. A decisive victory over Belcher would strengthen his status as a top-ten middleweight.
The always cocky Belcher is a talented Muay Thai specialist with razor sharp elbows and powerful knees. He is quietly climbing the middleweight ladder with his latest victory over Ed Herman.
This fight should be an entertaining stand up war. The stand up game is a wash, but Kang gets the edge on the ground. The X factor will be whether Kang can pop his UFC cherry before he gets knocked out by Belcher. If Kang can shake his nerves; his hand will be raised with a decision victory.
A veteran of over 100 fights, Jeremy Horn is looking to rebound from two straight losses against BJJ ace, Rousimar Palhares. Palhares last fought Dan Henderson at UFC 88 and came up with the short end of the stick losing a decision. Both fighters are most comfortable on the ground, but Horn was submitted in his last two fights against Dean Lister and Nate Marquardt respectively.
This may be the last hurrah for Horn within the UFC and the 100 plus fights have taken their toll on the 33 year-old. Palhares is simply too strong and too young for the crafty veteran. Palhares will lock in a rear-naked choke within three minutes.
The first fight of the main card could be the most explosive fight of the night as Marcus Davis and Chris Lytle will slug it out.
These two welterweights have been in some of the most entertaining fights in recent memory. Both have promised to keep this fight standing, but plans always change once you catch one in the grill.
Both fighters have a boxing background, but seem to throw the technical side of boxing out the window. Lytle has a huge heart and a solid chin, but never seems to have a solid game plan. Davis usually has a great game plan, but rarely uses it. If Davis uses his footwork and comes at Lytle from differing angles he should earn a decision victory; giving his countrymen a reason to drink!
Should be one hell of a slobbernocker and maybe ‘fight of the night!’
PRELIMINARY CARD
• Alexandre Barros vs. Martin Kampmann
• Antonio Mendes vs. Eric Schafer
• Thomasz Drwal vs. Ivan Serati
• Tom Egan vs. John Hathaway
• Denis Siver vs. Nate Mohr
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