UFC on FOX: Five Fights to Watch to be An Informed Viewer

While only one fight will be shown on FOX, there are still some significant matchups. Today we'll take a look at five fights you should watch not only because they are good fights, but because they speak to what the fighters can do. Someitmes for the better, sometimes for the worse.

Cain Velasquez vs. Cheick Kongo at UFC 99

This fight is unique in that it's the one fight in which Cain looked vulnerable. For Dos Santos fans, it's also foreboding. If Kongo, a relatively mediocre HW could catch Velasquez, why won't Junior, who is a much better boxer? While I think it's a fair point, it's also worth noting the incredible difference between this fight and UFC 110.

Cain had never displayed himself to be a consummate striker. Early on, he showed himself to be a savage in the clinch, but nothing to indicate he could strike at a distance. It wasn't until his absolute shredding of Nog that he showed real versatility. While I give Junior the advantage on the feet, I don't think the Kongo fight is a fair place to gauge his chances.

Cain was still a blue chip prospect at that point. And besides, if you can think of a more brutal punch to land and not KO someone, I'd like to see it. Cain's chin is phenomenal. I love both fighters in this weekend's HW tilt, but I've gotta believe Cain's ability to take punishment and go five rounds at the pace he maintains will be a factor.

Junior Dos Santos vs. Joaquim Ferreira at MTL Final

If we want to look at the respective fighters at their most vulnerable, perhaps it's fair to consider Junior's only loss. As with Cain vs. Kongo, it's an unfair gauge if you're looking to play the betting game. This fight was very early on Junior's career.

While Dos Santos has yet to be put on his back, it's still interesting to see how he reacted. Against Ferreira, he still showed decent takedown defense:JDS excels at using the limp leg, and being able to scramble. In fact, when Junior is put on his back, it's actually pretty impressive to see him flick Joaquim, a really good black belt, off of him. Really, it's Junior's mistake that costs him in his only loss because instead of scrambling to his feet, he jumps into Joaquim's guard.

It's difficult to use either fight to judge how the match this Saturday will play out, but they're revealing in their own way. For Cain, we've seen how he reacts to getting hit, for better and for worse. For Junior, we see what's capable of when put on his back, for better and for worse.

Clay Guida vs. Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC 117

I can't think of a fighter who closely resembles Ben Henderson off the top of my head. But I think the Dos Anjos match tells us a few things about Ben's chances.

For one, it's worth noting that Dos Anjos made this fight very competitive. Like Henderson, Dos Anjos is a highly active fighter, both on the feet, and on the ground. In addition to having a killer instinct. Guida is typically at his most vulnerable when he can't dictate the pace or find his rhythm. Dos Anjos is not at the top of contender list, but still found success against Guida by virtue of giving as much as he took.

Opponents tend to land more when Guida has trouble finding success with the takedown. it's how he got stuck into wild exchanges with Roger Huerta, and Diego Sanchez. Can Ben replicate their success and potentially fight Edgar in Japan in February?  

Ben Henderson vs. Jamie Varner at WEC 46

Similar to Varner, Guida is a fighter that primarily wrestles, and has good raw power on the feet. Unlike Varner, Guida isn't a headcase...or at least he's not a headcase in a way that negatively affects him inside the cage. To say nothing of the fact that Guida doesn't crumble under pressure so much as he crumbles when he's forced to embrace it. 

At WEC 46, Ben made comfortable work of Varner. He used calculated, varied striking (at one point landing a fairly brutal snap kick to Jamie's face) to earn the victory, and should he do the same this weekend, I wonder what kind of success he'll have trying to decipher Guida's awkward head movement. Henderson will likely benefit if he takes a more measured approach. But then again watching him go into beast mode against Jim Miller, and I think it doesn't matter how Ben fights: he just needs to show up and be the superior fighter that he is...once again smacking down another UFC LW underestimating just how good the WEC LW division actually was. Guida is on record as saying "I've fought better". No offense Clay, but how many of those better fighters did you beat?

Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Kazayuki Miyata

Because you can watch the fight as fast as you can say "As God as my witness, he is broken in half!"

Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto vs Kazuyuki Miyata 5/3/06 (via ACL720)