Mike Swick vs Matt Brown
With his back against the wall, coming off a two-fight losing streak as well as an 18-month layoff, Mike Swick pulled off what was the feel-good story coming out of UFC on Fox 4 by knocking out DaMarques Johnson in the second round. This time he is matched up with the man with the "iron chin", Matt Brown. This is a fight seven years in the making. When Swick was on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, a young Matt Brown looked up to him, and wrote to him on Myspace. Swick never responded, and now they open a nationally televised card facing off in the Octagon.
Swick is a kickboxer who goes for the knockout, 8 of his 15 wins came via knockout. While Matt Brown has never been knocked out in 26 professional fights, he has been submitted nine times. Both fighters match each other stylistically, and this fight should provide good fireworks to start off the main card.
Shogun Rua vs Alexander Gustaffson
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua is a mixed martial arts legend, dominating in the Japanese promotion Pride from 2003-2007, before coming to the UFC. Rua has beaten a who's who of the sport, including Lyoto Machida, Chuck Liddell, and Rampage Jackson, with a strong right hook. The 25-year old Gustaffson is trying to get the first big win of what looks like a promising career. Gustaffson is coming in on a 5-fight winning streak, most recently beating Thiago Silva by unanimous decision. This looks like another can't miss fight, with the winner being in contention for Jon Jones' Light Heavyweight Title (along with the winner of February's Dan Henderson-Lyoto Machida matchup).
BJ Penn vs Rory MacDonald
This is another fight where a UFC icon is going up against a young up-and-comer looking to knock him off of his thrown. "The Prodigy" BJ Penn had his first UFC fight in 2001, when Rory MacDonald was still in middle school. Throughout his legendary career, Penn has held both the Welterweight and Lightweight Championships. MacDonald has made a name for himself, training with fellow Canadian Georges St. Pierre.
Instead of showing respect to a legend, like Gustaffson has, MacDonald has taken every opportunity to take a shot at the future Hall of Famer. After Rory called out BJ on Ariel Helwani's podcast, Penn agreed to fight his rival GSP's protege. After their fight, scheduled for September, was canceled because of a cut MacDonald suffered in camp, the two began trash talking. Penn said that Rory was scared, MacDonald responded that he's going to wind up killing Penn. BJ Penn took offense to Rory's comments on the preview show that "I am fighting to hurt him... not someone else's opinion", perhaps taking a veiled shot at BJ's UFC legacy.
With a lot of pent up frustration between these men, this is going to be a war. Even at this stage in his career, BJ Penn is one of the best strikers in the welterweight division, but his cardio is going to be questioned against the younger MacDonald. Penn has only been knocked out twice in his UFC career (by GSP and Matt Hughes), with his other six losses coming via decision.
Nate Diaz vs Ben Henderson
The Championship Main Event, has been overshadowed by the MacDonald-Penn drama, but it should be the best fight on the card. Coming off of two questionable decision victories against Frankie Edgar, Ben Henderson is trying to cement his legacy as UFC Champion. Nate Diaz, one half of the infamous Diaz brothers, is fighting just because he loves to kick people's asses.
Ben Henderson, the former WEC Lightweight Champion and current UFC title holder, is a good fighter in all-aspects of the sport, with a blackbelt in Taekwondo, a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and an NCAA All-American wrestler. Henderson's last six fights have ended in decision (5-1 record). Nate Diaz on the other hand is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, training with Cesar Gracie.
This is going to be a fun cat and mouse game, with Diaz looking for the submission (11 of his 16 wins have come via submission), but Henderson is an expert on the ground as well, not being submitted since his 3rd professional fight back in 2007.
With the Pacquiao-Marquez 4 fight later on Saturday, it's going to be a great night to gather your buddies up, order some pizza's from you favorite pizzeria, bring a case of beers, and enjoy a great night of fights. I'll be back to wrap it all up on Monday.
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua is a mixed martial arts legend, dominating in the Japanese promotion Pride from 2003-2007, before coming to the UFC. Rua has beaten a who's who of the sport, including Lyoto Machida, Chuck Liddell, and Rampage Jackson, with a strong right hook. The 25-year old Gustaffson is trying to get the first big win of what looks like a promising career. Gustaffson is coming in on a 5-fight winning streak, most recently beating Thiago Silva by unanimous decision. This looks like another can't miss fight, with the winner being in contention for Jon Jones' Light Heavyweight Title (along with the winner of February's Dan Henderson-Lyoto Machida matchup).
BJ Penn vs Rory MacDonald
This is another fight where a UFC icon is going up against a young up-and-comer looking to knock him off of his thrown. "The Prodigy" BJ Penn had his first UFC fight in 2001, when Rory MacDonald was still in middle school. Throughout his legendary career, Penn has held both the Welterweight and Lightweight Championships. MacDonald has made a name for himself, training with fellow Canadian Georges St. Pierre.
Instead of showing respect to a legend, like Gustaffson has, MacDonald has taken every opportunity to take a shot at the future Hall of Famer. After Rory called out BJ on Ariel Helwani's podcast, Penn agreed to fight his rival GSP's protege. After their fight, scheduled for September, was canceled because of a cut MacDonald suffered in camp, the two began trash talking. Penn said that Rory was scared, MacDonald responded that he's going to wind up killing Penn. BJ Penn took offense to Rory's comments on the preview show that "I am fighting to hurt him... not someone else's opinion", perhaps taking a veiled shot at BJ's UFC legacy.
With a lot of pent up frustration between these men, this is going to be a war. Even at this stage in his career, BJ Penn is one of the best strikers in the welterweight division, but his cardio is going to be questioned against the younger MacDonald. Penn has only been knocked out twice in his UFC career (by GSP and Matt Hughes), with his other six losses coming via decision.
Nate Diaz vs Ben Henderson
The Championship Main Event, has been overshadowed by the MacDonald-Penn drama, but it should be the best fight on the card. Coming off of two questionable decision victories against Frankie Edgar, Ben Henderson is trying to cement his legacy as UFC Champion. Nate Diaz, one half of the infamous Diaz brothers, is fighting just because he loves to kick people's asses.
Ben Henderson, the former WEC Lightweight Champion and current UFC title holder, is a good fighter in all-aspects of the sport, with a blackbelt in Taekwondo, a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and an NCAA All-American wrestler. Henderson's last six fights have ended in decision (5-1 record). Nate Diaz on the other hand is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, training with Cesar Gracie.
This is going to be a fun cat and mouse game, with Diaz looking for the submission (11 of his 16 wins have come via submission), but Henderson is an expert on the ground as well, not being submitted since his 3rd professional fight back in 2007.
With the Pacquiao-Marquez 4 fight later on Saturday, it's going to be a great night to gather your buddies up, order some pizza's from you favorite pizzeria, bring a case of beers, and enjoy a great night of fights. I'll be back to wrap it all up on Monday.
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