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Nick Diaz gets up close and personal with Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos. Jeff Chiu/AP/Press Association Images
TKO

Un-caged: Return of the Bad Boy

This weeK: Nick Diaz makes yet another return to the UFC and Roy “Big Country” Nelson takes on a diminished Mirko Filipovic in a bid to save his UFC career.

THE CURRENT STRIKEFORCE welterweight champion, Nick Diaz, will resume his love-hate relationship with the UFC this weekend when he takes to the octagon to face BJ Penn.

Incredibly, the bout will mark the third time Diaz has returned from exile, an occasion both he and his opponent will be hoping to mark in memorable fashion.

Elsewhere on the card, Matt Mitrione will look to maintain his unbeaten UFC record when he takes on the formidable Cheick Kongo, while Roy Nelson takes on Mirko Filipovic in a fight that could spell the end for the loser.

Diaz v Penn: too close to call?

Yet again the UFC serves up an intriguing main event, and everyone is having trouble calling it. Examining the fight on paper, it’s not difficult to see why.

Diaz has one of the strongest stand-up games in the whole of MMA and, while Penn has trained with the likes of Floyd Mayweather Sr. in recent months, I think the Californian still has the edge in this department.

By contrast, the Hawaiian native has one of the most feared and respected BJJ skillsets in the sport and, although Diaz’s is more than comfortable on his back, Penn definitely has a slight advantage here.

Penn’s fitness has been called into question before, but his renewed focus, in evidence in recent fights, have made it clear that stamina is unlikely prove decisive.

That said, I’m going to have to plump for Diaz: his superior reach and amazing ability to recover quickly after being rocked could leave the Hawaiian with too much to handle.

Either way, it’s going to be a war.

Best of the rest

In the night’s other big attraction, Roy “Big Country” Nelson and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic face off in a bid to rescue their UFC careers.

Nelson was widely ridiculed for his performance last time out against Frank Mir, when his lack of fitness became apparent as early as the fight’s second round.

“Cro Cop” is in the latter stages of his MMA career and, despite calls for him to retire after back to back defeats, he gets one more chance to show he still has what it takes at the top level.

Nelson comes into the fight a slight favourite to take the win, and it will be interesting to see if his new diet and fitness programme have finally brought him level with the other guys in the heavyweight division.

Filipovic will provide him with a stiff test and no doubt pepper him with his trademark kicks, but I fancy “Big Country” to KO the Croatian and, in doing so, hammer the final nail into his UFC career.

In the other heavyweight fight of the night, Matt Mitrione puts his unbeaten record on the line against Cheick Konga in what will looks set to be a stand-up battle.

The hard-hitting Kongo will provide a decent step up in competition for Mittrione, but I think a fight on the feet will suit the American: he is the quicker of the two. He will, however, have to work hard to avoid the Frenchman’s fists.

This event is another well stacked card and there are some good fights in the preliminaries too.

Keep an eye out for Dennis Siver and Donald Cerrone locking horns, as well as Tyson Griffin’s drop to featherweight against WEC veteran Bart Palaszewski.

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