THE UFC EVENT this week includes the return to action of two genuine legends of the sport as well as the first bantamweight title fight ever to be held by the UFC.
UFC 132 will have to go some way, however, to top the action-packed event held in Pittsburgh last Sunday. The UFC on Versus 4 started on a sour note after Dana White had pulled Nate Marquardt from the card and unceremoniously dumped him out of the organisation just 24 hours before he was due to fight.
The whole affair was shrouded in mystery as the UFC was prevented from discussing Marquardt’s medical records due to independent state laws. Nate has since disclosed that he was on hormone replacement therapy as he had a testosterone deficiency disorder and his testosterone levels were too high so he was stopped from fighting.
Chaell Sonnen is currently banned as a result of a similar situation. At best it was a genuine administrative mistake on Marquardt’s part, at worst it is an underhand form of cheating. I’m sure there will be more to come from this story as the weeks progress.
The Marquardt affair threatened to overshadow the whole event but thankfully the action inside the Octagon got everyone talking about the sporting aspect of things once again.
Joe Lauzon’s fight against Curt Warburton was the pick of the pre-lim fights as Lauzon dropped the Englishman early in the first before trying to take his arm home with him. He eventually won the fight via a vicious kimura.
Charlie Brenneman upset Rick Story after taking the fight on 24 hours notice and Matt Mottrione looked impressive once more as he knocked out Christian Morecraft in the second round.
Joe Rogan described Cheick Kongo’s ko of Pat Barry as one of the most “impressive comebacks in UFC history”. It has to be seen to be believed.
Faber and Cruz meet in a title bout once more
Urijah Faber remains the first and only man to have beaten the current bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz back in the WEC in 2007. That was when both men fought at featherweight and since moving up Cruz has looked almost unstoppable on his way to the pinnacle of the division.
Cruz is technically the better striker and might look to finish the fight early as Faber has great conditioning and a lot of experience in the championship rounds. Faber will look to move forward as he always does and could look to his wrestling to grind out the win.
The old warhorse Wanderlei Silva is back in the Octagon again this time taking on TUF 1 competitor Chris Leben. Despite his popularity, Silva’s advancing years has meant that he is not the force he once was in Pride, and he does sport a losing record in his UFC career. This has the potential to be a stand-up war as the two aren’t afraid to stand and bang, but my money would be on the younger man to claim the win.
For old times’ sake
The Huntington Beach Bad Boy Tito Ortiz returns after another injury – which have blighted his later career – and he faces Ryan Bader. Bader lost last time out against current superstar Jon Jones and Ortiz has failed to win any of his last five fights.
Dana White has confirmed that if Ortiz is beaten his UFC career will be over and this could be the last time we see Ortiz in this organisation. Bader is a very strong favourite to send Tito into retirement but MMA is a funny old game and the always focussed Ortiz will be giving everything as he wants to continue fighting.
The main card is topped off with Carlos Condit and Dong Hyun Kim and Denis Siver takes on Matt Wiman. Coverage starts a 1am Sunday morning, on ESPN.
