Semmy Schilt defeated Brice Guidon - Unanimous Decision
Sergei Kharitonov defeated Mark Miller - KO
Errol Zimmerman defeated Jerome Le Banner - TKO

This post was originally published at jiMMA.

On Saturday night, Sheila "The German Tank" Gaff ran over Jennifer Maia at Cage Warriors Fight Night 4 in Dubai in just ten seconds. With the win, she advances to the final of a four woman 125lb tournament and faces the winner of Aisling Daly and Rosi Sexton later this year.

For Gaff, that was her sixth knockout and tenth career finish out of ten career wins. The knock out has been surrounded by controversy though as people worry that she took advantage of Maia's lowered guard, when she was looking to touch gloves and knocked her out with a sucker punch. I do not think that is a perfectly accurate picture of what happened.

Now, I would argue that Gaff did nothing wrong. It goes without saying that she did not break the rules, but I also do not think she did anything cheap. They touched gloves at the start of the fight and Gaff seems to walk across the cage looking ready to do business, with her guard up. Any study of Gaff would surely have led Maia to realise that it is worth keeping your guard up right from the bell because the German always starts quickly.

The second part of Gaff's defense, is that the punch she lands is not the one that does any damage. Maia does not seem rocked at all by it and looks to clinch with Gaff. Rather than this being the defensive maneuver of a bewildered or shocked opponent, Maia clearly attempts to pull Gaff's head down to land knees. This is when Gaff lands the knockout blow.

I do not think it is that controversial, but plenty of people seem unhappy about it. What do you think? Hit the comments section below with your thoughts.

One Fighting Championship has released the official fight card for its third inaugural event on March 31 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The card features some of Asia's and the World's top fighters, such as Eddie "The Magician" Ng, Tatsuya "The Crusher" Kawajiri, Zorobabel Moreira, Eduard Folayang, Ole Laursen, Masakazu Imanari, Yodsanan Sityodtong and Melvin Manhoef. Fight fans will also get the opportunity to see Singapore's very first female MMA Fighter, Nicole Chua, in action.

Furthermore, the One FC-DREAM partnership will allow fighters from the Japanese organization to come over and show their skills in the One FC cage. Fans will get the chance to see world-class fighters compete in Sunny Singapore!
However, fans may be disappointed that Renato "Babalu" Sobral will not be gracing the ONE FC cage with his presence.

Sobral was originally scheduled to face Melvin Manhoef, but will now instead serve as a wrestling coach for Team Wanderlei in the coming edition of the UFC's TUF: Brazil. One Fighting Championship released a statement a few days ago that the former Strikeforce light heavyweight Champion will fight in a future One FC event.

With that said, here's a breakdown of the entire card:

Danny van Bergen vs. Richie "Hell Boy" Whitson
A professional fighter since 2004, van Bergen has competed primarily in Europe. He has also fought in famed organisations such as Cage Wars Championship and M1-Global.
The former KSW Tournament semifinalist, who currently competes as a lightweight, has already fought 19 times in his career.
Now that van Bergen has won his last two fights by submission, he'll be looking to carry on that wave of momentum as he prepares to face Team Quest's Richie Whitson.
But by all standards, Whitson is no slouch. The 26-year-old has won 11 out of his 13 professional MMA fights, in which he has finished seven of his opponents. Furthermore, he has only gone the distance five times. "Hell Boy" recently had a 1-1 stint with Maximum Fighting Championship, where he won his debut fight by decision before succumbing to a rear-naked choke submission loss at MFC 31 last year.

Jiang Long Yun vs. Yodsanan Sityodtong
Yodsanan Sityodtong needs no introduction. Perhaps one of the best boxers to have ever made the transition to Mixed Martial Arts from Boxing, the former WBA Super Featherweight Champion will no doubt be the favourite heading into this fight.
After knocking out 47 of his 58 opponents in professional boxing, Sityodtong made his MMA debut last September at One FC's debut event. He faced a former South African Muay Thai Champion in Daniel Mashamaite. Sityodtong impressed pundits and fans alike, by delivering a spectacular flying knee to end the fight via TKO.
Jiang Long Yun, on the other hand, will have to set up the barricades in this fight. The Chinese international has won three of his five professional MMA fights. One of his most recent fights was against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist, Leandro Issa, although he lost the fight via submission.

Quek Kim Hock vs. Juan Wen Jie
Not too much is known about the fighters mentioned above, but they'll certainly be looking to make a good impression when they go head-to-head on March 31.
Juan Wen Jie, who trains out of Singapore's very own Impact MMA, has won several accolades thus far. He won the All Styles Martial Arts Championship in 2007 and the International Muay Thai Championship Qualifiers in 2007 and 2009. The Singaporean also serves as a coach in Impact MMA.
Quek Kim Hock has also won several regional/national boxing championships of his own. So with a boxer and a Muay Thai specialist on either ends of the cage, do not expect this fight to hit the mat.
This bout has Fight of the Night written all over it and could easily turn into slug-fest.

Jeet Toshi vs. Nicole Chua
Along with having a chip on her shoulder, Nicole Chua will be looking to follow Radeem Rahman's footsteps by representing Singapore as its first ever female Mixed Martial Arts fighter.
Nicole will perhaps look back at her Muay Thai roots when she enters the cage against Jeet Toshi. Although it is well-known that Nicole has been improving in all aspects of her MMA game, the Singaporean native will still, no doubt, want to keep this fight standing.
Moreover, with the likes of grappling maestro Shinya Aoki training at Evolve MMA, one cannot simply underestimate the ground game of Nicole Chua.
Jeet Toshi, on the other hand, is a seven-time National Kickboxing champion. Toshi has only fought once professionally in her career. She decisioned Pooja Mehra in her debut at Full Contact Championship 5.
It'll be interesting to see if Toshi would be looking to take this fight to the ground. Nonetheless, it's worth noting that both women are efficient strikers, and fans may very well expect fireworks from this fight.
This bout will also mark the debut of Women's MMA in One Fighting Championship!

Masakazu Imanari vs. Kevin Belingon
Perhaps one of the best fighters that Japan has ever produced, Masakazu Imanari is the favourite to win this fight. "The Master of Leg-Locks," as he's so commonly referred to, is well-known for his unorthodox style of fighting. Moreover, Imanari has fought for numerous promotions, including DEEP, PRIDE FC, DREAM and Cage Rage.
However, Imanari will looking to bounce back from a disappointing decision loss to Antonio Banuelos when DREAM held it's New Year's event late last year. It's also worth noting that Imanari has not suffered back-to-back defeats in nearly eight years.
It's no secret that the "Ashikan Judan" will look to pull guard before attempting a submission. Imanari has also never been submitted in all of his 36 professional fights.
And that brings us to Kevin Belingon, who is perhaps currently one of the top ten flyweight prospects in the world. The reigning URCC flyweight champion currently holds a perfect 9-0 record and poses a huge threat to his more experienced opponent.
Belingon trains with a mixture of URCC champions at Team Lakay, and will be looking to keep his unbeaten record intact when he steps into the cage on March 31.
A well-rounded fighter, Belingon will hope to make his excellent cardio count should the fight go all three rounds.
Imanari is undoubtedly Belingon's toughest challenge to date. How will he respond to the unorthodox style of Imanari? Will Belingon be in shallow waters should the fight go to the mat? All these questions will be answered when the cage door closes on March 31!

Jian Kai Chee vs. Eddie Ng
One of the "poster boys" for this event, Eddie "The Magician" Ng will be looking to improve his record to 5-1, when he takes on Malaysia's very own, Jian Kai Chee.
The 25-year-old Hong Kong native already has two KOs and two submissions to his credit. His most recent win came at One FC's debut event, where he knocked out Chun Bo Yuan in just 45 seconds. Throughout all of his five fights, Eddie has never made it past the first round.
Ng's upcoming opponent, Jian Kai Chee, will be heading to the cage with a 3-3 record. He is 3-2 in his past five fights and will be looking add his name to the winners column when the fight ends.
Eddie Ng will no doubt be Jian Kai Chee's toughest opponent to date.

Melvin Manhoef vs. Yoshiyuki Nakanishi
As a former Cage Rage light heavyweight champion, Melvin Manhoef has been up there with the best, facing the likes of Tim Kennedy, Robbie Lawler, Mark Hunt, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Gegard Mousasi, and the list goes on and on.
Manhoef is known for his aggressive style of fighting. His bout with Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos will be remembered by MMA maniacs for years.
However, for the first time in his career, Manhoef will enter the cage on a three-fight losing streak. And his upcoming fight is not any easier, as he will be taking on the current DEEP light heavyweight champion, Yoshiyuki Nakanishi.
Nakanishi, who is currently on a two-fight win streak, has finished eight of his 13 opponents and has only gone to a decision thrice. In this fight—only his second one outside of Japanese shores—the Japanese superstar will look to carry on this wave of momentum, as he looks to upset the odds against Melvin Manhoef.
It's no secret that Manhoef will most likely keep this fight standing as he has 23 KOs out of his 24 wins.
Expect the fighters to let their fists do the talking.

Yuya Shirai vs. Fabricio Monteiro
Yuya Shirai will be heading into this fight on a two-fight win streak. The Japanese fighter defended the DEEP Welterweight strap in his last fight and managed to decision Taisuke Okuno in Tokyo, Japan.
Shirai has won seven of his last 10 fights, while facing the likes of Che Mills, Paul "Semtex" Daley and Jason High.
Now he will be facing an opponent who loves the ground game as much as he does.
Fabricio Monteiro will be looking to showcase his Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu skills on March 31. The Brazilian, who currently trains at Evolve MMA, has won numerous BJJ accolades and tournaments.
Monteiro, however, hasn't been doing very well in his MMA career lately, picking up only one win in his past six fights. He has lost his past two fights, both of which resulted in stoppages.
On a side note, it'll be interesting to see whether the Singaporean crowd will bear witness to a grappling clinic.

Eduard Folayang vs. Ole Laursen
Ole Laursen will be fighting for the second time in the One FC cage after suffering a defeat at the hands of Felipe Enomoto. Laursen showed lots of heart and desire but eventually forced referee Matt Hume to stop the fight late in the second round after Enomoto applied a rear-naked choke.

Laursen has fought for various promotions including K-1 and Martial Combat. But Laursen's upcoming opponent may be his toughest to date. URCC Welterweight Champion, Eduard Folayang, has 11 wins and five KOs to his credit. The Filipino has won nine of his past 10 fights, which makes him a huge favorite heading into this bout. Folayang has also fought in One FC before, when he marked his debut with the organization with a win over A Sol Kwon. Both fighters will be looking forward to showcase their skills on March 31 and will most certainly be looking to win Fight of the Night honors, too.

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. TBA
Please check back soon for updates.

Felipe Enomoto vs. Zorobabel Moreira (Main Event)
The main event pits fighters who are coming off of impressive wins. The two Mixed Martial Artists are highly talented and will be looking to wow the Singaporean crowd on March 31.

As a holder/winner of many championships and tournaments, Zorobabel Moreira will no doubt try to implement his terrific ground game on his opponent. Training out of Evolve MMA in Singapore, sources have claimed that Moreira has been improving his Muay Thai skills, too.

Moreira has won five of his past six fights and has only gone the distance twice in his MMA career. Enomoto, however, broke his recent two-fight losing streak by submitting Ole Laursen last month. The 29-year-old will be looking to make it two wins in a row on March 31. Moreover, Enomoto has also fought the likes of Rich Clementi and TUF 14 alumnus, Akira Corassani.

When the UFC switched over from Spike to FX as their central free programming partner at the top of the year, plenty of us wondered how quickly the UFC's audience from Spike would carry over to FX, if at all.

But the results have been positive. Initially there was a rather marked decrease from ratings of comparable shows on Spike, but as the schedule has progressed, it appears that the UFC is quickly re-establishing itself on FX. After the jump are the average ratings for the five free shows that have aired on FX so far, including three Prelim Specials and two Fight Nights.

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Heres a quick post for kicks, If Hollywood for whatever reason wanted to make a movie about Nick Diaz, which current actor could play him? The idea popped in my head and i honestly could not think of any actor to play him, so i wanted everyones input (and for kicks, who could play his brother Nate?). While you can answer seriously, the more bizarre and funny the response and pics, the better it is for everyone

This FanPost was edited and promoted to the front page by Cory Braiterman

Photo by Esther Lin via MMA Fighting

I think the whole MMA community can unite in agreement that UFC 144 was a great card. I personally missed the Mizugaki fight and most of the Fukuda-Cantwell fight, but everything else that I saw, I liked. Correction, I LOVED it.

The thing I liked more than the great knockouts, the back and forth fights, and the incredible comebacks was that there were so many upsets on this card. I don't pay attention to upsets betting-wise, but in terms of rankings... there were certainly more than usual. I personally love it when guys win and shake up the rankings, so let's take a look.

Bantamweight - Unranked Chris Cariaso defeats #12 Takeya Mizugaki via Unanimous Decision.

From what I understood, this was a decision most saw the other way, and Dana F. White gave Mizugaki his win bonus. That being said, the Bloody Elbow play-by-play noted that it was a 'close fight' after the first two rounds and they scored round 3 for Cariaso...so I feel Cariaso's upset is worth mentioning, even if it wasn't the best call by the judges.

Middleweight - #23 Tim Boetsch defeats #3 Yushin Okami via Knockout.

God bless Tim Boetsch for going for it like he did. Too often you see fighters down two rounds in a 3 round fight essentially stop trying to really change the fight in the 3rd. Boetsch was down two rounds, and had nothing to lose. He was either going to drop a decision or get finished. His only option for victory was to get a finish himself, and he came out in the 3rd, went for broke, and made it happen. Hats off to him.

Heavyweight - #22 Mark Hunt defeats #12 Cheick Kongo via Knockout.

Mark Hunt's MMA career is illustrated by a few high peaks and low valleys: He lost his first fight, followed it with a 5 fight winning streak, then suffered 6 straight losses and has now resurged with 3 straight victories. The fights that the UFC were contractually obligated to give him were his last chance to make something more of his MMA career, Hunt knew that and has risen to the occasion beautifully.

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"All the world’s a stage." – William Shakespeare

Although many MMA fans have distanced MMA from the spectacle of professional wrestling, MMA, and all other sports for that matter, is a show. MMA is a performance and fights are not just about two men (or women/other) entering a ring or a cage to beat the hell out of each other for sport. From Tito Ortiz’s heartfelt post-fight interviews after getting his first win in five years and his subsequent losses to Rashad Evans and Lil Nog to Jose Aldo’s electrifying celebration in the crowd of his home country Brazil, the stories and the emotional scenes that capture these stories mean so much more than the fights themselves.

At UFC 144, these stories were on full display. Takanori Gomi made his triumphant return home. Mark Huntcontinued his miraculous UFC run with another devastating knockout for nostalgic fans worldwide. Tim Boetschmounted a stunning comeback that made Joe Rogan squeal in ecstasy. Quinton Rampage Jackson made us all revel in the past with the Pride theme ushering him into cage and a vintage Slampage slam while Ryan Baderreigned us back into the present with his dominant performance. And Ben Henderson put the exclamation point on a magnificent show and his improbable career with his Lightweight Championship victory over Frankie Edgar.

All of these fights (and the fights I didn’t mention) were fantastic performances of real human dramas, but Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto’s performance was particularly moving. After a rough1-4 five fight stretch including back-to-back UFC losses, Yamamoto needed a win and the UFC’s return to Japan was supposed to be his return to form. With thousands of Japanese fans cheering him on, Kid Yamamoto took center stage in his fight against Vaughan Lee, and for a brief moment, Yamamoto looked like the old Kid. Midway into the first round, Yamamoto delivered a thunderous right hook that sent Lee reeling against the fence. Smelling blood, he pounced and poured on the punches, but Lee defended his head (unfortunately, for Kid fans, he didn’t need to defend his body at all) and survived to stagger Yamamoto with a powerful knee that swung the momentum to his favor. Lee continued his assault with a brutal combo that put Yamamoto on the defensive. Yamamoto desperately took Lee down, but Lee quickly attacked with a triangle. Yamamoto managed to wriggle free, but Lee did not relent and transitioned into an armbar.

Tap. Tap.

The referee stopped the fight and the camera focused on Lee as he walked away and celebrated his well-deserved victory. "Thump. Thump. Thump." In the background, Yamamoto pounded the mat furiously as he slumped on his knees in defeat.

As glorious as Gomi’s and Boetsch’s come from behind wins and Henderson’s five round championship victories were, Yamamoto’s defeat was as tragic as those moments were wonderful. The scene captured a range of feelings and the real and stirring art in mixed martial arts: Lee at his highest high with Yamamoto at his lowest low behind him. The fallen great releasing his frustration on the mat. The passion and desire to get the elusive win he needed to save his career and the poignant reality of coming so close only to have it ripped away. The raw emotion. While the young, dynamic Kid would have dominated a fighter like Vaughan Lee, in defeat, Kid Yamamoto moved me in a way that a flashy knockout never could and truly delivered his most beautiful performance.

This article was originally published at JIMMA.

The UFC's first event on Fuel is happening this Wednesday night and features an important bout between Jake Ellengerger and Diego Sanchez. Jake Ellenberger has been making waves in the division and is seen by many as one of the pack pushing for a title shot, should Carlos Condit decide to defend his belt without waiting for the return of Georges Saint-Pierre. Diego Sanchez is an interesting character with a non-stop aggressive style. In recent years he has been battling various demons in his life and his nickname change from "The Nightmare" to "The Dream" is supposed to represent a changed man. Either way, this is one of those fights where to powerful forces collide and the consequence will surely be an explosion.

UFC on FUEL TV: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger (LIVE) 2.15.12 (via fueltv)

Recent History

• Diego Sanchez has had two Fight of the Night victories in a row, most recently against Martin Kampman.

• Ellenberger is on an impressive 5 fight win streak, including a huge scalp in Jake Shields.

Styles

Ellenberger is massive at 170lb. He has an immensely powerful wrestling style and manages to bully most other fighters. In recent years he has shown a diverse and powerful striking skill set too, as we saw with his brutal knockouts of Jake Shields and Mike Pyle.

Diego Sanchez has one of the most famously intense styles of fighting in MMA today. He pushes a pace that almost nobody can deal with and is wild and almost reckless in his aggression. He is on a bit of a decision streak at the moment, going the distance in his last three fights, but his fights are exciting nevertheless. Sanchez is an accomplished wrestler and submission grappler and loves to use those skills to control a fight, but he is just as likely to use his wrestling to keep the fight standing for a brutal scrap.

Head to Head

Jake Ellenberger's nickname is the juggernaut and it is pretty appropriate. When he is moving forward he is nigh on impossible to stop. Sanchez is something of an indomitable force himself and that is what makes this fight so interesting and exciting. Sanchez has an unstoppable pace and intensity and Ellenberger has unstoppable power and physical domination.

With Ellenberger the bigger, stronger fighter, it may well be him who manages to dominate the wrestling and clinching. For Sanchez, the key will be staying on the feet and attempting to pick Ellenberger apart with sharp boxing. That is where Sanchez will have a problem. He loves to move forward and make fights messy. I wonder if he will have the discipline to stay away from Ellenberger's big bombs and powerful wrestling and I wonder whether he has the skills and footwork too.

To me, it seems like Ellenberger is a huge favourite as he is likely to be the one who controls where the fight takes place and the pace of the action. This more or less takes away Sanchez's main advantage.

Prediction

Ellenberger will dominate but Sanchez is tough to put away. Ellenberger by unanimous decision.

via t1.gstatic.com

[Image via cdn1.sbnation.com]

Poor Carlos Condit. Despite climbing his way up the ranks, executing a masterful gameplan in a thrilling title fight, and claiming the UFC Interim Welterweight Championship, the only thing the mixed martial arts world can talk about is Nick Diaz. And in a sense, that's exactly why the UFC can't afford to let him go.

It takes a special kind of fighter to arrest the public's interest after losing the biggest fight of his life. It takes another kind to have the MMA media hanging on every breaking event that surrounds him, especially when he's known for his mystique. Where Condit's bland, "I'm just so happy to be here" personality leaves him ignored, Diaz and his vigorous distain for rules and common sense has fans, promoters, and fighters alike wondering where this amazing circus will end.

But now that Diaz has tested positive for marijuana, some are saying that this may mark the stopping point for Diaz's career. Dana White's succinct note of disapproval aside, Keith Kizer and the Nevada State Athletic Commission could fine Diaz a massive amount of money and suspend him for entirely too long. Some MMA pundits like Bloody Elbow's Tim Burke say that Diaz should just be released by the UFC altogether:

If Dana White has any sense, he will cut ties with Diaz once and for all. White loves to say that MMA will become the biggest sport in the world one day. He's not going to get there any time soon by continually enabling fighters that can't follow simple rules, fighters that actually flaunt their ability to get around those rules beforehand. Unfortunately, the anti-hero has sunk his hooks into the hearts of fans with money in their wallet, and the mighty dollar rules all when it comes to the UFC. You'll see Nick Diaz in the [Octagon] in 2013. And people will still care. And that's pathetic.

Emphasis mine.

Ironically, Burke counters his original argument with the raw truth. At this point, Nick Diaz seems like he'll continue becoming a superstar in spite of himself and his camp. Dana White knows it. Cesar Gracie knows it. Georges St. Pierre is counting on it, stating that he doesn't even need the legit UFC welterweight strap to make a fight with Diaz a major blockbuster event.

Simply put, the UFC is big on publicity and short on superstars. Brock Lesnar, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Cro Cop, and B.J. Penn have all left the sport in some capacity. Jon Jones is still just breaking into top draw status, while Anderson Silva, Junior dos Santos, and Jose Aldo are only going to sell out arenas in Brazil. Passing up the chance to make Diaz a pay-per-view star just to hold up some "simple rules" is something the UFC can't (and probably won't) do. Especially not when the charge against Diaz is much less damning than the all-too-common steroids problem.

Perhaps Matt Saccaro says it best at Bleacher Report:

First, Diaz was already a sort of martyr for judging reform in MMA. Legions of fans thought he really beat Carlos Condit at UFC 143; the bad decision hurt Diaz's pride but it further fed into the Nick Diaz myth.

Now that Diaz has been ousted (and will likely be suspended) for marijuana use a second time, it will benefit his reputation.

Marijuana is an extremely popular drug in the Unites States and now Diaz will become a martyr for its legalization and recreational use. This will expand his status as a cult icon and an anti-hero to a significant degree; he will transcend simply being a fighter and will stand for so much more.

Not many MMA fans are reacting to Diaz's marijuana use with outrage. On the contrary, the outrage seems to be that the NSAC's intervention will cancel the almost-rematch between him and Condit. If worse comes to worse, and Nick Diaz sits out a year on top of a hefty fine, the UFC would be smart to retain him on contract and set him up against Condit or Georges St. Pierre upon his return — any other course of action is just leaving money on the table.

[McKinley Noble is a former staff editor at GamePro and an MMA conspiracy theorist. Follow his Twitter account for crazy talk, 1990s movie references, and general weirdness. Or you could just stalk him on Google.]

UFC 143 is one of the most stacked cards we have seen in a while. It features the biggest fight in the welterweight division for years, a fun heavyweight bout and a fight between super exciting bantamweight. Previews of Diaz vs Conditand Nelson vs Werdum are already out at jiMMA, here we go with two other fights from the main card.

Koscheck vs Pierce

• Josh Koscheck has been itching to fight since his TKO win over Matt Hughes at UFC 135 and was originally slated to fight Carlos Condit this weekend.

• Mike Pierce has been hovering around this level of opponent for some time without really breaking through.

• At UFC on FOX 1, he defeated Paul Bradley by an underwhelming split decision.

Styles
Josh Koscheck is a powerful wrestler who has spent great effort bringing his boxing up to speed. So much so, that for a time he neglected his wrestling. Against Matt Hughes there was little needed for that grappling acumen as he knocked the veteran out in some style. Having only fought once in over 12 months, it is tricky to predict how Koscheck will have developed. He will surely still be a powerful and explosive wrestler capable of taking down most opponents at welterweight, but will he look to utilize powerful boxing too?

Mike Pierce is another heavy handed wrestler and a bit of a decision machine. His hands are sloppier than Koscheck's and his wrestling style more grind than explosion.

Head to Head
To my mind, Koscheck has some of the best MMA wrestling in the UFC and I cannot see Pierce matching him there. In spite of progress in the boxing skills of both guys, neither man is the new Mike Tyson. For that reason, on the feet this could go either way with both men powerful enough to connect with a knockout blow but sloppy enough to let one in.
For that reason, expect to see Koscheck attempt to control Pierce on the mat and work him over with ground and pound. Pierce should employ defensive wrestling and take his chances on the feet.

Predicition
Koscheck by unanimous decision.

Renan Barao vs Scott Jorgensen

Recent History

• Barao beat British contender Brad Pickett by first round submission at UFC 138 to extend his winning streak to a formiddable twenty seven fights.

• Since losing to Dominic Cruz in December 2010, Jorgensen has looked great against Jeff Curran andKen Stone.

• Given that bantamweight is a relatively shallow division, the winner of this bout could well be close to title shot.

Styles
Before I saw Renan Barao defeat Brad Pickett at UFC 138, I was not sure if this youngster was a legitimate contender or someone with a padded record. That fight proved that the Nova Uniao product has what it takes to destroy top level competition. And destroy is the right word. Barao is well rounded with the capacity to transition from standing to ground, to submissions in the blink of an eye. He has great power and a diversity to his strikes that reminds me of his team mateJose Aldo. He has the chin and the aggressive mentality to make the most of these characteristics as he takes the chances necessary to land killer blows.

Jorgensen is another exciting and well rounded fighter. He has an explosive kickboxing arsenal and the ability to take the fight to the ground should he need to. He has talked about his wrestling background and he will surely attempt to use to control the Brazilian.

Head to Head
While both fighters are aggressive, powerful and tough with the ability to fight wherever the fight goes, Barao has the advantage in two key areas. He has a fluid and creative approach to all aspects of the game, so that he can take advantage of almost any glimpse of an opening. This is aided also by his immense speed.. Jorgensen will find this speed deficit difficult to deal with. The American is in danger of being out thought and out struck.

Prediction
Barao by TKO, round 2.

More UFC 143 Coverage from jiMMA
UFC 143: Diaz vs Condit Preview
UFC 143: Nelson vs Werdum Preview