UFC 114 takes place Saturday at 10pm est. It will culminate in one of the biggest grudge matches in mixed martial arts when Quinton "Rampage" Jackson takes on "Sugar" Rashad Evans.
The night starts off with Diego Sanchez' return to the welterweight division when he takes on English up and comer John Hathaway. Both fighters are high energy guys who love to push the pace. Diego will be looking to make an impression in his return to the 170 pound division. Expect fireworks from this fight.
The following fight is between Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Jason Brilz. The original fight was between Nogueira and Forrest Griffin, but Griffin had to pull out due to a shoulder injury. Look for Nogueira to dominate wherever the fight goes, before finishing him late in the first round.
Heavyweight prospects then go to war as Todd Duffee takes on Mike Russow. Both are very powerful heavyweights that show a lot of promise. Duffee is coming off a seven second knockout of Tim Hague and Mike Russow is coming off of a three round battle with Justin McCulley. Once again expect fireworks.
Michael Bisping and Dan Miller will both look to get back to their winning ways. Bisping will need to keep it standing, while grappling ace Dan Miller will want to take it to the mat immediately. Experience and quickness on the feet may spell victory for Michael Bisping.
In the main event, a non-title fight with the most animosity of any pairing in some time. Rampage Jackson will take on Rashad Evans in a match that should have happened months ago. Both fighters look great in their camps as shown on the UFC Primetime series. Rampage is taking his training "seriously" for the first time and Rashad is training like crazy as usual. There's so much bad blood that you won't want to blink. Both fighters have great power and possess great chins. Look for this to stay on the feet and fists to fly for three rounds. Also don't expect this to be a rivalry that gets squashed in the post fight.
Also remember to tune into Spike TV for the preliminary bouts. Amir Sadollah takes on Dong Hyun-Kim and Efrain Escudero takes on Dan Lauzon.
I'm really really excited for Rampage/Evans 2. This fight has been really well marketed and has a lot of animosity behind it. I probably won't be able to order it, but I'll be checking Sherdog every 15 minutes for fight updates.
ReplyDeleteYeah I'm super excited for it. It's not a rematch though, they never fought after that season of Ultimate Fighter. This may be the fight of the year if the build up culminates like I think it will.
ReplyDeleteI thought they fought before a Rashad won for some reason. I guess my novice knowledge of the sport is gleaming now...
ReplyDeleteI don't see this fight ever hitting the mat. This is going to be a stand and bang. Neither of these guys want to end the fight with a submission. They are both looking to stand and knock the other guys jaw into the crowd.
I think the only thing that's for sure, this fight is going to be vicious and aggressive.