THE UFC HAS a distinctly South American feel about it this weekend as Rio de Janeiro prepares to host UFC 134, Silva Vs Okami II.
It’s the first time that the MAA stronghold of Brazil has hosted a UFC event in over 12 years and with a Brazilian to cheer on in all but one of the fights on the card, the frenzied home fans have a lot to shout about.
Nearly 5,000 rabid fans descended on the open workout on the famous Copacabana Beach earlier this week to catch a glimpse of such fighters as Forrest Griffin, Yushin Okami and Brendan Schaub.
Predictably, the biggest cheers were reserved for the Brazilian fighters as Shogun Rua, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Luiz Cane all went through a light workout in front of the fans.
The fighter all the fans had come to see was current middleweight champ Anderson Silva. He puts his title on the line against Okami, the last man to beat him.
Despite being five years in the making, the rematch between the two had threatened to be overshadowed by the ramblings of Chael Sonnen, who is cornering Okami.
His well-documented comments on Silva, and indeed on Brazil in general, have served to crank up the hype for the fight, something that the quiet and reserved Okami has failed to do on his own.
Their last fight ended in controversial circumstances and despite the proclamations from Sonnen of an Okami win, I strongly fancy Silva to banish any lingering doubts over his last defeat, and finish Okami within the distance.
This is what happened first time round.
“Every fight a possible classic”
Shogun Rua is looking to bounce back from his devastating defeat by Jon Jones last time round as he takes on the always durable Forrest Griffin in a matchup the would usually have headline status.
Griffin will be looking to avoid a repeat of what happened to him the last time he faced a Brazilian and while “Shogun” is no Anderson Silva, I think he is better than Griffin in most departments and should overcome the wily American. Expect a war.
Brendan Schaub is the UFC’s current legend-killer and after seeing off Cro-Cop and Gabriel Gonzaga in his last two fights, a win over one of the Nogueira brothers will put him up there with the heavyweight contenders.
Antonio Rodrigo’s career has inevitably begun to slow down and this has the feeling of one last hurrah for one half of the most famous families in MMA.
After his last defeat at the hands of Cain Velasquez, many believed that Minotauro’s time had come to hang up the gloves. It’s hard to see how the younger and faster Schaub can be troubled by the lion-hearted warhorse. I just hope Nogueira doesn’t take too much punishment, although we all know how much he likes a good battle.
TUF season nine winner Ross Pearson will have a tough job trying to get past unbeaten prospect Edson Barboza. Barboza has four KO’s, two TKO’s and a submission victory on his 8-0 record and the Sunderland man will have to utilize his crisp stand-up style if he is to have any chance of victory.
Luiz Cane and Stanislav Nedkov make up the main card.
When looking through the whole card, it’s not hard to see why this is one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the year.
