Roundtables
ROUNDTABLE: Outside of the main event, which UFC 132 fight are you anticipating the most? Hansen, Hyden, Amadi, Hobaugh, Park, Williams and Pelkey
Jul 2, 2011 - 2:00:53 PM ROUNDTABLE: Outside of the main event, which UFC 132 fight are you anticipating the most? Hansen, Hyden, Amadi, Hobaugh, Park, Williams and Pelkey

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Which UFC 132 fight, outside of the main event, are you looking forward to most and why?

RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

There are a few great fights supporting the main event at UFC 132.  Siver vs. Wiman is one I'm looking forward to.  I want to know how Siver will follow up on the biggest win of his career, and he'll be challenged by a fighter who is criminally underrated.  Brian Bowles vs. Takeya Mizugaki is another fight I am stoked for, simply because I think Bowles is the second best bantamweight in the world, and he needs more exposure.  

But let's be honest, if you know anything about my tastes, then you should know I'm looking forward to the fight between The Stun Gun and The Natural Born Killer.  Kim and Condit are completely legit threats in the deepest division in the sport.  Condit could fight against a ham sandwich, and it would be exciting as hell.  And I want to know if Kim has more offense in his arsenal than the blanketing techniques he's been relying upon too heavily (for my tastes at least) of late.  

You can have your standup war between the chinless one and the punch-drunk one.  Give me Kim vs. Condit.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Wanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben should be a fun brawl. That's the fight I'm most looking forward to, other than the main event. Silva and Leben are both nuts and both extremely hard to knock out. I think we'll see some of the hardest punches of the year absorbed by both men. I pick Silva to win the fight, but I'll be entertained either way. Brian Bowles vs. Takeya Mizugaki should also be a good fight. I'm looking forward to that one as well. I want to see how Bowles continues to come back after losing his Bantamweight title to Dominick Cruz.

JASON AMADI, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

Wanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben definitely deserves the most hype outside of the main event. People seem to forget that Wanderlei Silva defeated Michael Bisping fairly recently and looked much improved doing it. The big storyline going in to this fight is whether or not Silva can continue his progression as a fighter despite aging and being plagued by injury. Also, Silva and Leben are going to hit each other pretty hard, so that should be awesome.

ERIC HOBAUGH, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I wrote an article last week on the Silva vs. Leben fight. This fight is going to be an excellent match up. Not only are both fighters inclined to stand and bang, they are both excellent strikers with good chins. This fight should be a war won by KO. If Leben is smart, he will make this a ground fight. It would surprise Silva and is a great game plan.  The reality is, it will probably be a stand up fight with Leben being knocked out.

CHRIS PARK, MMATORCH UK SPECIALIST

Wanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben...... Do you really need an explanation?

Really?

Ok...... I don't see this fight making it out of the first round. Both of these fighters swing like mad men and one to them is going to sleep. It has been a long time since we have seen such a high profile raw slugfest, and I can't wait!

ALEX WILLIAMS, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Yeah, yeah, Wanderlei Silva vs Chris Leben is the obvious answer, and I do think it will be an entertaining fight.  However, I'm more interested in Dennis Siver vs Matt Wiman.  I was very impressed by George Sotiropoulos' run before he lost to Siver, so now I wonder: might Siver have improved dramatically?  His bout with Wiman will help us find out.

MATT PELKEY, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

That's a tough choice. Outside of the main event, there's no other real "must see" fight on this card, and yet I'm as excited for this card as I have been for any in a while. Why? Because top to bottom, this is one of the deepest cards the UFC has put on. UFC 132 has gone through the usual injury shake-ups (Erik Koch-Cub Swanson likely would've been my answer to this question if it was still happening), yet I'm still legitimately excited for nine of the 11 fights on the card. Only Bader-Ortiz and Hougland-Walker are of little interest to me. Forced to choose one I'd have to say I'm most looking forward to the Carlos Condit-Dong Hyun Kim fight. Its the only other fight on the card with title implications and its between two very talented fighters. Aside from that, Leben-Silva, Siver-Wiman, Sotiropoulos-Dos Anjos, Bowles-Mizugaki, and Njokuani-Winner all combine to make this card well worth the price of admission.