ANTRIM’S NORMAN PARKE has been forced to wait a little bit longer for his fully-fledged UFC debut as his opponent John Tuck was forced to pull out through injury.
It’s been a disappointing week for the Bushmills man as no new match-up was made despite him staying put and cutting weight in case anybody became available to fight him. Instead all eyes fall on the much anticipated UFC debut of former Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez as he takes on Ben Henderson for the UFC belt.
Strikeforce imports feature prominently on the main card as former heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier welcomes Frank Mir back to the organisation while Nate Diaz faces Josh Thomson and Matt Brown comes up against Jordan Mein.
Awesome foursome of fights
It has been a long time coming but this weekend Gilbert Melendez finally gets to thrown down in the UFC. One of the most well decorated fighters in the history of the now defunct Strikeforce organisation, Melendez has perhaps been the biggest fighter outside of the UFC for the last number of years. The fact that his debut is a title fight is testament to this.
His match-up against Ben Henderson promises to be a very even affair as both fighters are very well matched. Both are strong wrestlers with top notch stand-up games who would cancel each other out on the ground, so it’s hard to see where this fight could be won or lost.
With so little between them, any advantage could prove to be the difference and “Hendo” shades it in the cardio stakes. While Melendez will look to make a statement on his debut, Henderson has proven in his two fights against Edgar that he can go deep and survive, so expect more of the same come tonight.
YouTube credit: TheAzyunyh5
Like Melendez, Daniel Cormier has been up there with the best fighters not under the UFC banner but that is finally about to change when he faces Frank Mir. This bout was due to take place in Strikeforce but after it folded it was a no-brainer to take it over to the UFC.
Cormier is unbeaten in eleven and his almost unrivalled wrestling skills means that Mir will have to think twice about taking him to the ground. This should leave Cormier to expose an ageing Mir on the feet and should be the start of a title tilt for DC.
YouTube credit: Jaxson Fearing.
Best of the rest
Josh “The Punk” Thompson faces a baptism of fire in his UFC debut as he takes on a Nate Diaz still smarting from a comprehensive beating from Ben Henderson. Thompson is perhaps most famous for his trilogy of battles against Diaz’s training partner Melendez in which he won one and lost two. Diaz will have the inside track from Melendez on the best way to approach this fight although Thompson just has to look at Ben Henderson’s tactics against Diaz to see what his best route to victory would be.
Doubts have always floated around Thompson regarding his injury status and a fully fit version of him has a very good chance of the upset here. However, Diaz is a wounded animal and will no doubt be going all out to get the win and should be able to capture it through his relentless aggression. Matt Brown and Jordan Mein complete the main card.
