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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The UFC returns to Montreal, Quebec, Canada for the third time this Saturday, as UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun II comes live on pay-per-view. Seeing as they're back in Canada, it's only fitting that this card is filled with a ton of Canadian talent, with seven of the night's 11 bouts featuring fighters from the Great White North.
The main card features a title fight and a co-main event with Title implications in the welterweight division, but before we get to that there is a six fight preliminary card that should provide the fans in Montreal with a very exciting night of fights. Let's get to the fights!
Jason MacDonald vs. John Salter (Middleweight)
MacDonald is no stranger to the Octagon. Having competed ten times in the UFC from 2006 to early last year, MacDonald has provided a lot of exciting performances and fights for UFC fans. Though his last tenure ended with two straight losses and a 5-5 overall record, he's won four "Fight Night" bonuses and took part in an excellent fight with Demain Maia at UFC 87 that was one of the more entertaining bouts of the year.
Salter is coming into only his sixth fight here at UFC 113. He started his career with four straight stoppage victories in 2009 before making his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 20 in January. He was taken out by Gerald Harris by TKO on that card, though he had stepped in on late notice for that one.
MacDonald has a very good submission game, with 18 of his 24 career wins ending by submission, but if he winds up in top control he can do damage with his ground and pound as well.
Salter's going to need to try to keep this fight on the feet or put MacDonald on his back, as he'll find himself in a lot of trouble should MacDonald get top control. That said, on his feet he'll not have any major advantage over MacDonald, either. This should be a good opener to the show, but I see MacDonald making a victorious comeback to the Octagon.
PREDICTION: MacDonald via submission in the second round.
Yoshiyuki Yoshida vs. Mike Guymon (Welterweight)
Yoshida has been on the wrong end of two brutal knockouts in his four fight UFC career. After a successful UFC debut submission victory over War Machine in May of 2008, Yoshida was matched up with Josh Koscheck at UFC Fight Night 16: Fight for the Troops. He was knocked out cold by two vicious right hands from Koscheck in the first round of that bout. After a rebound submission over Brandon Wolff, Yoshida was then knocked out even faster by an over-weight Anthony "Rumble" Johnson at UFC 104 last October.
Mike Guymon is a long time King of the Cage veteran, and the 11-3-1 fighter's career actually dates back to 1999. Riding a five fight win streak, Guymon made his UFC debut against Rory MacDonald at Fight Night 20 in January, but lost the fight by submission in the first round. Guymon's debut came after a tumultuous 2009, in which the 35 year old fighter attempted to commit suicide.
Guymon has gone to a decision just once in his career, a split decision against one-time UFC fighter Pat Healy, and in his 11 wins has an almost even amount of knockouts and submissions.
Both of these fighters bring in a good skill set, and both have underperformed in recent outings in their careers. I like this match up on the undercard and think one of these guys is getting finished. I don't, however, agree with the line being as much in favor of Yoshida as it is, and I'll go with the slight upset here and take Guymon to win.
PREDICTION: Guymon via TKO in the second round.
Tim Hague vs. Joey Beltran (Heavyweight)
Tim Hague is getting a second chance in the Octagon after being released earlier this year following a 1-2 stint in the organization. With his most recent fight being a very debatable majority decision loss to Chris Tuchscherer, his release felt a little premature, and the Canadian heavyweight will have one more chance to make a good impression here in this bout.
Beltran left quite a bit to be desired in his UFC debut, though his very forgivable lack of cardio in his bout with Rolles Gracie was due to taking the fight on one week's notice at UFC 109. He won that fight by TKO in the second round, but it was one of the ugliest fights the UFC has put on a pay-per-view broadcast in a long time.
Beltran is a very live dog in this fight, as he's got some good power in his hands and ten of his 11 wins have come by TKO, but Hague stands as the favorite here.
Hague's main negative coming into this fight is his seeming penchant for taking unnecessary punishment. He was knocked down by Pat Barry in his debut fight before coming from behind to pull off the submission and then he was knocked out by Todd Duffee in seven seconds, the official "Fastest Knockout in UFC History."
If Beltran can connect early and often and get Hague in trouble in the first round he'll take this fight, but if Hague can withstand what Beltran brings his way in the first I like him later in the fight. This is a tough fight to call, so I'll pull the copout and take Hague in the predictions but bet against him for the underdog money!
PREDICTION: Hague via TKO in the third round.
TJ Grant vs. Johny Hendricks (Welterweight)
Nova Scotia native T.J. Grant is coming off a "KO of the Night" winning performance over Kevin Burns at UFC 107 in December. He's now 2-1 in the UFC, but the 15-3 fighter comes in as a significant underdog against Hendricks here.
Hendricks, a two time NCAA D-1 Wrestling Champion, has amassed a 7-0 record in his career fairly quickly, with impressive performances in the WEC segueing into two more impressive performances in the Octagon thus far.
Grant is a very talented submission fighter, but he's going to have a hell of a time getting this fight to the ground to pull that off. If Hendricks chooses not to bring the fight to the ground himself to work his top game, he's more than willing to stand and bang in this one. This should be an exciting fight between two very talented fighters, but I like Hendricks to keep his record unblemished here.
PREDICTION: Hendricks via unanimous decision.
Marcus Davis vs. Jonathan Goulet (Welterweight)
Marcus Davis is a longtime mainstay in the UFC. A member of The Ultimate Fighter's second season, the former professional boxer has improved his ground game dramatically over the last few years; but after a six fight win streak upon his return to the UFC in 2006, Davis has now dropped three of his last four fights and could find himself out of the UFC with another loss here.
Goulet as well is a longtime UFC fighter, though his career has been much more up and down than that of Davis. He was on the wrong end of the unofficial fastest KO in UFC history, as Duane Ludwig dropped him in seconds back at Fight Night 3 in 2006. Compounding his issues into this fight, he hasn't fought since being knocked out by Mike Swick in thirty seconds in December of 2008.
While Davis is coming off the most decisive loss of his career at the hands of Ben Saunders and his brutal knees at UFC 106 last November, this is a fight he can't lose. He's overall the better fighter, and certainly the better striker. Goulet's layoff is likely to be an issue for him as well, so I just see no way Davis loses this fight.
PREDICTION: Davis via TKO in the second round.
Joe Doerksen vs. Tom Lawlor (Middleweight)
Doerksen is making his UFC return after over two years out of the organization, taking this fight on short notice as an injury replacement. A veteran of over 50 fights dating back to 1999, the Canadian middleweight has not had a good track record in the UFC, going 1-5 in six appearances in the Octagon.
Tom Lawlor is coming off a loss to Aaron Simpson at Fight Night 20 in January, though the fight was actually one of his more impressive performances in the UFC. He was extremely impressive in the first round, nearly finishing a resilient Simpson before dropping the next two rounds on the scorecards of two judges to lose a split decision.
The always entertaining Lawlor has increasingly developed his game since his time on The Ultimate Fighter, and though Doerksen provides a good challenge and certainly holds the experience edge, this is Lawlor's time to shine. I think this will be a short return to the Octagon for Doerksen.
PREDICTION: Lawlor via TKO in the first round.
That's what's on tap for the preliminary card, keep a look out for a breakdown with predictions for the main card tomorrow, and as always stick with us for live round by round coverage of the fights as they air on pay-per-view Saturday night.
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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