{"id":3973,"date":"2010-08-01T00:32:39","date_gmt":"2010-08-01T04:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=3973"},"modified":"2010-08-01T00:32:39","modified_gmt":"2010-08-01T04:32:39","slug":"ufc-117-what-to-expect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=3973","title":{"rendered":"UFC 117: What to Expect"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Gina L. Caliboso<\/strong><\/p>\n

Are there any good boxing matches out there? Hello? Is anybody in combat sports listening or pay attention? Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather? Anyone listening? As boxing is on a hiatus of sorts, with the exception of the recent fights with Nonito Donaire and Juan Manuel Lopez as they won in great fashion, I\u2019d now like to turn attention to the miracle that has taken place for this combat sports reporter. <\/p>\n

However reluctant or critical I may have been about the quality of MMA fights these days, I\u2019ve changed my mind about the sport of MMA overall. As I\u2019ve now covered a Strikeforce event, both UFC and Strikeforce have peaked my interest. Even though it meant giving up my 3 rounds of computer chess on a Saturday night, I actually went out to a bar and watched UFC 116 and I thought all the fights were really good. And now, I look to great anticipation to UFC 117 to be held in Oakland, CA on August 7th. Here\u2019s just a preview for what I think makes for a great night of Octagon action.<\/p>\n

Although the main bout features MMA fan favorite Anderson \u201cSpider\u201d Silva, I\u2019m looking forward to watching UFC veteran and Ultimate Fighter coach, Matt Hughes, 45-7-0, fight for the second time this year. In a non-title bout, Hughes will go up against Ricardo Almeida, 12-3-0 fighting at 170. There is no doubt that Hughes still has some competitive ability. He has seen his fair share of fights, but at the ripe age of 36, competition and heart in the MMA can often outweigh the wear and tear of having been in as many bouts as Hughes.<\/p>\n

In his last fight, Hughes scored a TKO over Renzo Gracie, 13-7-1, 1 NC, in the 3rd round. Prior to his victory over Gracie, Hughes defeated the favored Matt Serra, 17-6-0 with a 3 round unanimous decision. In only going back to 2007, Hughes has fought the talented and strong fighter Georges St. Pierre, 20-2-0. Hughes first lost to St. Pierre back in November 2006 by a TKO. Later, Hughes lost again to St. Pierre by submission (arm lock) against in December 2007. It\u2019s worth mentioning that St. Pierre did at one time lose to Hughes back in October 2004. Hughes fight record comprises of a who\u2019s who of the current wave of strong MMA fighters in the UFC. It\u2019s my hope that as long as Hughes\u2019 body holds out, as well as his competitive will, Hughes will win against Almeida just based on experience.<\/p>\n

The main bout will feature Anderson \u201cSpider\u201d Silva, 26-4-0 vs. Chael Sonnen, 26-10-1 for the Middleweight championship. Silva is a solid, all around fighter with good stand up and striking ability. At the ripe age of 35, he now faces the up and coming fighters ready to take his place. Even though he KO\u2019d Forest Griffin at 3:23 in the first round of their bout back in August 2009, he has been contested to two full five round bouts. Prior to his bout with Griffin, Silva earned a UD over Thales Leites and most recently in April this year, he fought Demian Maia, 12-2-0 to five rounds and came away with a UD as well. Although well-rounded, Silva\u2019s winning formula just may have been figured out by any potential opponents.<\/p>\n

By contrast, Sonnen, a skilled wrestler and with strong attack skills, has an excellent opportunity to become a UFC titleholder. In his last three bouts, he has earned nothing but unanimous decisions. In May 2009, he defeated Dan Miller, 11-4-0, 1 NC followed by another win over Yushin Okami, 25-5-0. In 2010, he fought against Nate Marquardt, 32-9-2 and came away with the UD over three rounds. But let\u2019s just be clear about one thing, all three of these UD\u2019s were not necessarily against fighters of champion Silva caliber. Sonnen will challenge Silva and as I\u2019ve learned, on any given night, the underdog can easily become champion.<\/p>\n

In another bout, Jon Fitch, 25-3-0-1 NC will face Thiago \u201cPit bull\u201d Alves, 22-5-0. Fitch has been competitive and victorious in his last three bouts going back to 2009 having earned 3 unanimous decisions over 3 round non-title bouts. Fitch faces strong competition against Alves, a strong jiu-jitsu and striker. Alves faces redemption considering his last fight was a loss suffered at the hands of champion George St. Pierre last year in a 5 round unanimous decision.<\/p>\n

As one of the more interesting fighters, Clay \u201cThe Carpenter\u201d Guida, 26-8-0 is set to face Rafael Dos Anjos, 14-0-0 at 155 lbs. Guida is a fighter that can be tough and erratic at times. Going back to 2009, Guida has a 50-50 record at best. He earned a win against Nate Diaz, 12-5-0, followed by two losses against UFC fan favorites Diego Sanchez, 23-4-0, and Kenny Florian, 15-4-0. Against Florian, Guida was on the receiving end of a 2nd round submission by choke. In his last bout against Shannon Dogerty, he earned the submission by choke in the 2nd round.<\/p>\n

Finally, Ultimate Fighter winner Roy \u201cBig Country\u201d Nelson, 16-4-0, will fight against Junior \u201cCigano\u201d Dos Santos, 11-1-0. As the newcomer to the UFC, his last two fights have been in the first round with KO\u2019s. In the Ultimate Fighter \u2013 Heavyweights finale, Nelson defeated Brendan Schaub, 7-1-0 at 3:45 in the first round. And later, in March 2010, he defeated Stefan Struve, 23-4-0 as well with a KO in the first round. With his current weight at 263, there\u2019s still time for him to lose weight and possibly put some much needed competition in the heavyweight division. As for Dos Santos, he has a 4 inch height advantage as well as having faced stronger fighters. To date, Dos Santos fought Mirko Cro Cop, 27-7-2, 1 NC and got the submission in the 3rd round.<\/p>\n

Okay, so I think that\u2019s enough of a preview that I\u2019m sure my RSR MMA colleague Scott Heritage will surely cover in a month\u2019s time, if not sooner. But regardless, this is one combat sports reporter with a newfound appreciation for MMA and the UFC.<\/p>\n

As long as the fights and matchups continue to get competitive and adding a mix of veteran fighters against youngsters, I\u2019ll be there watching \u2013 foregoing my usual night of computer chess – and heading out to watch some what I believe, outstanding upcoming MMA bouts.<\/p>\n

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By Gina L. Caliboso Are there any good boxing matches out there? Hello? Is anybody in combat sports listening or pay attention? Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather? Anyone listening? As boxing is on a hiatus of sorts, with the exception of the recent fights with Nonito Donaire and Juan Manuel Lopez as they won in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[510,736,1473],"class_list":["post-3973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-mma","tag-ufc","tag-ufc-117"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3973"}],"version-history":[{"count":-4,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3973\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}