The new year came and went and now were a whole month into it. That was fast. Things went as expected Luke Rockhold defended his middleweight title against Keith Jardine. Jose Aldo once again turned away a 145lbs challenger with a spectacular knee, than running into the crowd and hopefully making him a star in his native country of Brazil. The UFC returned stateside closing out the month with two free cards on FX and FOX.Jim Miller survived a early rough spot but was able to secure a takedown and Guillards back, submitting him.Things were not as quick on FOX where the UFC ran their second card with a tripleheader of rather solid fights. One could even argue that the fights got better without Mark Munoz. Still your not going to hit homeruns every time and UFC on FOX2 wasn't. All the fights went, how I and many expected close-ish decision victories. Now there is nothing wrong with going the distance trying to finish guys at a high level is hard to do but when the fights aren't exactly exciting either you might have a problem.
Thats all the past what dose this month have in store for MMA fans.
2/4/2012 - UFC 143 - Diaz vs. Condit PPV,FX,Facebook
O Nick Diaz Carlos Condit and GSP what a triplet you make. With GSP out rehabbing his ACL Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit will battle it out for the interim weleterweight title. While its not Diaz GSP, Diaz Condit is a fun fight and should provide adequate violence. There is another welterweight fight between Mike Pierce and Josh Koscheck that is a solid fight, it'll be interesting to see how Koscheck react to being hit by Pierce who has more power than Hughes whom Kos was very tentative against. The bantamweight division has a key fight between Scott Jorgensen and Renan Barão. A win for either fighter would put them a fight away from a title shot. Fabracio Werdum returns to the UFC taking on Roy Nelson, while they are both excellent grapplers this is heavyweight so don't get your hopes up. The Preliminaries will be shown on FX and Facebook. No major names on the preliminary card but solid mid level match ups.
2/15/2012 - UFC on Fuel TV - Ellenberger vs. Sanchez
FUELtv isn't the only the home to prelims they get their own Fight Night level cards to. The top two fights are Diego Sanchez vs. Jake Ellenberger and Stefan Struve vs. Dave Herman. Sanchez will once again try and prove he is relevant within the UFC and most likely fail and Struve Herman could be entertaining in that wacky heavyweight sort of way (read: Struve getting blown our of the sky).Also on the main card TUF finalist T.J. Dillashaw takes on Walel Watson. This is a fun fight due to Watsons lanky build. If you have or can aquire Fuel it is well worth the extra 5-10 bucks a month if your a big UFC fan. Also The broadcast team will be Jon Anik and Ken Flo. Don’t expect major names on these card but expect a bunch of debuting guys and fun match ups.
2/26/2012 - UFC 144 - Edgar vs. Henderson
If there was one card that I would say buy this month its this one. Even though this is nothing more than a vanity affair there are a lot of damn good match ups. Top billing goes to the lightweight title fight between champion Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson. Bendo always has fun fights same goes for Edgar.How will Edgars crisper boxing effect Bendos rangy attack and his sheer athleticisim.Co-Main features Ryan Bader and Rampage Jackson, Jackson hasn't look interested in MMA since the A-Team but he still has crazy heavy hips and could easily stop Baders shots and counter with his boxing. Anthony Pettis and Joe Loazoun also square off both are solid higher mid level lightweights maybe someone jumps off a cage and kicks a guy in the face. Yes I’m going to mention Cheick Kongo vs. Mark Hunt this could be fun a pair of solid kickboxers going at also if Hunt wins he will now have a 3-1 UFC record WOW.
The prelims are apparently going to air on FX but this is according to wikipedia but if its not FX it'll be Fueltv.
Some key bouts though include Yushin Okami vs. Tim Boetsch, Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski, Takeya Mizugaki vs. Chris Cariaso. A win for Hioki could set up a showdown with Jose Aldo, a bout which has been talked about for a long time. Tim Boetsch continues to look like a barbarian at middleweight and takes on Yushin Okami in a major step of competition.
5 fights to watch
Frankie Edgar vs Ben Henderson: UFC 144 PPV
Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit : UFC 143 PPV
Hatsu Hioki vs Bart Palaszewski : UFC 144 Prelims
Diego Sanchez vs. Jake Ellenberger: UFC on Fuel TV
Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon : UFC 144 PPV
Next month I have 2 words for you: FLYWEIGHTS MOTHERFUCKERS
