Tonight is going to be quite a time for UFC fans, because it's that time that comes usually about twice a year, when the organization puts on a free fight night card to precede the premier of an Ultimate Fighter season. Fight Night cards don't normally deliver a card of this magnitude, but tonight will break away from that norm with fireworks expecting to fly from bell to bell
Cole Miller vs. Ross Pearson
The televised card gets started off with a bang as Ultimate Fighter winner Ross Pearson looks to build on the impressive start to his UFC career as he takes on fellow alum Cole Miller. This scrap has fight of the night written all over it.
Ross Pearson definitely has the weapons to deliver real knockout blow, pun intended, to Cole Miller, but will he be able to finish him? Miller, in his two UFC losses, has shown that he doesn't necessarily have the best "chin," getting knocked out by both Jeremy Stephens and Efrain Escudero. His saving grace with those two losses is the fact that both of those guys pack an extremely heavy punch, something that Pearson hasn't shown.
Ross is a very technical and crisp striker, which could also give Miller problems. For Pearson to win, he will need to keep it standing and maybe clinch with Miller and use his Muay Thai. He will need to be weary of Miller's range as well as his ground game. If Miller can get it to the ground, he could very easily submit the Brit. Fireworks...
Jim Miller vs. Gleison Tibau
This next fight is going to be an absolute war of attrition. Both fighters possess nearly the same strengths in their ground attack, but possess dissimilar builds. Tibau, one of the bigger lightweights, is known for his ability to bully his opponents with his size. He will look to do this from the sound of the bell and take Jim Miller down. He possesses decent enough stand-up to stand with the New Jersey native, but will need to get it to the mat if he wants to finish this fight.
Think of Miller as a smaller Tibau, substituting some of the jiu-jitsu for wrestling. Miller has shown, like his brother, to be a very scrappy fighter that is game wherever the fight ends up. He has also shown quite a few holes in his stand-up when he fought Gray Maynard. Luckily for him this time around, he won't have near as bad of a time with Gleison's boxing. The key for him is to keep the fight on the feet, and try to keep Tibau at bay with his jab. If he does end up on the ground, he needs to use his wrestling to try to get up.
Efrain Escudero vs. Charles Oliveira
This fight is going to be another size battle, as the much bigger, more powerful Escudero will look to impose his will using his brute strength and wrestling. He will need to be extremely cautious if he does decide to take the fight to the ground, because he is dealing with an absolute submission ace in Oliveira. Efrain has shown that he has good submission ability, but also showed a weakness in his defense during his fight and eventual submission loss to Evan Dunham. In his fight with Dunham, he was dealing with a much better and stronger wrestler than he will be against Charles Oliveira. He will need to just pick his shots and throw power punches while shrugging off takedown attempts.
If Oliveira can get this fight to the ground, he should be able to submit Efrain. It looks like his main means to get him down will be by pulling guard. He's a very lanky fighter, and that definitely plays into his advantage when trying to pull guard. Charles needs to stay weary of Efrain's power and avoid any looping punches, and maybe try to clinch with him against the cage. Submission seems to be the only way he beats Efrain, but his chances are pretty good.
Note: This fight will be at a catchweight of 159 pounds after Efrain failed to make weight.
Nate Marquardt vs. Rousimar Palhares
Now for the main event. This is the kind of fight mentioned above, that just breaks the norm of what a Fight Night card usually produces. Both men are probably only two wins a piece away from a title shot. Marquardt is coming off a disappointing loss to Chael Sonnen where he seemed to have his eyes opened. Nate has gone back to the basics, saying he's training more with his ground game than he did prior to the Sonnen fight. He will need to be very weary of takedowns against Palhares, who is known for powerful slams. Nate looks to be the more well rounded fighter, and has a lot more weapons at his disposal than Palhares.
Rousimar's cardio has also been called into question on occasion. He will need all of that he can get against a machine like Marquardt. He has also shown that he doesn't have much in the way of stand-up. He's looked shaky on his feet against Jeremy Horn and Dan Henderson. His one way of winning this fight will be to wrap up one of Marquardt's legs and do what he's known best for. Otherwise, he will likely be battered by Nate.
Look for this one to go really only one way. Marquardt will use his wrestling and strength to ward off almost all, if not all of Palhares' takedown attempts and beat him up on the feet. He could also reverse the roles and take Rousimar down and work some ground and pound, which has been known to be effective when Palhares fought Dan Henderson. A nice win for Marquardt to cap off an exciting night of fights and to give way to a new crop of prospects to show their stuff on the Ultimate Fighter.
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