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UFC 113 is possibly the most interesting pay-per-view outing for mixed martial arts this year, at least on paper. The early portion of 2010 was ravaged by injuries, leaving UFC cards 108 and 109 with questionable main events, while UFC 111 and 112 treated fans to relatively unsatisfying dominations turned in by Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva against outmatched opponents.
UFC 113 is headlined by one of the most anticipated rematches in MMA history, featuring Lyoto Machida once again defending his Light Heavyweight Championship against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Regardless of opinions on who really won their first encounter, the second meeting between the two dangerous Brazilian strikers should end debate over who is the true ruler of the 205 lb. division.
This weekend’s fight card also features Paul Daley taking on Josh Koshcheck in what is an interesting #1 contender’s fight for the welterweight division, and Kimbo Slice emerging once again to take on Matt Mitrione. UFC 113 presents certain questions, and fight fans will be looking for the answers.
Is Kimbo Slice a pay-per-view draw?
Kimbo Slice has a huge name and certainly has served as a draw on free television due to his YouTube fame; however, the pay-per-view standard is much different than the free television standard. It’s important to understand that Kimbo Slice became famous on a free medium, and thus far has been showcased exclusively free of charge to those familiar with him.
Many have been quick to declare him the title of “biggest name in MMA,” but the true test of Kimbo’s drawing power will be this weekend when those fans that fell in love with the YouTube icon will be forced to pony up $44.95 for his services.
A lot of the intrigue behind Kimbo initially was to see how he’d fair in an actual MMA contest against actual fighters. It’s been fascinating seeing the UFC normalize Kimbo Slice to the point that he’s just another fighter, as evidenced by the lack of visible and audible buzz for his fight with Matt Mitrione this weekend.
Moving forward it will be interesting to see how much hype the “Slice-Man” commands, now that fans are more acquainted with his capabilities against legitimate professional fighters, and now that they may have to pay to see him display those capabilities.
How smart is Josh Koscheck?
Josh Koscheck has been in the top 10 in the welterweight division for as long as I can remember, and with good reason; he’s incredibly talented. After his stint on TUF, he initially stumbled against Drew Fickett but quickly began to tear his way through the ranks with five consecutive victories in the UFC before being outperformed by the extraordinary Georges St. Pierre when, for the first time in his career, he found himself outwrestled.
Since then he’s only lost when he’s refused or been unable to utilize the tremendous wrestling advantage that he has over 99% of the 170 lb. division. Against a heavy hitter with suspect takedown defense like Paul Daley, it would behoove the American Kickboxing Academy standout to take the fight to the floor as soon as possible.
“Kos” has teased that he may actually stand up and trade strikes with Daley, but considering that a title opportunity is looming for the winner, and also considering how poorly other UFC fighters have fared in the stand up department with Daley, it would be a shame if Koscheck were to lose without even employing what appears to be his ace in the hole for this fight.
Did the “Machida Era” begin too early?
Lyoto Machida’s last three fights before his first title defense were so impressive that fans became mesmerized by his style and couldn’t envision anyone giving him any problems in the 205 lb. category. However, looking back at those fights it could be determined that those fights were all good matchups stylistically.
Machida’s takedown defense and striking style is a nightmare for a one dimensional fighter like Tito Ortiz, Thiago Silva gets rocked often because of his brawling style, and Rashad Evans is simply a decent striker with good power who at the time forgot that he could wrestle. It is the really elite strikers at 205 lb. who could give Machida serious problems, and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is probably the best striker in the division outside of Machida himself.
The first fight was controversial, and partially because of Machida’s style. People give Machida credit where other fighters would be faulted, due to his pension for moving away and drawing people in to be countered. That didn’t happen against Shogun the first time, and it was Machida who was countered for the majority of the fight. Lyoto Machida likely won’t have as much favor with the judges this weekend as he did in October, and for that reason can’t afford for this fight to go the distance.
It will be interesting moving forward to observe the popular perception of Machida, because due to his previous outings people regard him as some sort of fighting genius who is flawless in technique. Arguments on who was the true winner of their last encounter aside, Machida suffered considerably more damage during that fight than his opponent. Many Machida supporters wrote off his UFC 104 performance as just having an off night, but it just may be that Shogun is capable of matching technique with the Champion, and possibly capable of defeating him.
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