UFC Silva vs. Irvin

With the UFC putting on more shows than ever, this event is another welcome addition. Neither a full PPV nor a FN event, this card which was put on to compete with the Affliction: Banned card, could this new UFC event become a regular thing?

Main Card

Light Heavyweight bout: Anderson Silvs vs. James Irvin

We can only speculate, but until that time we can enjoy the stellar fights on offer. First of all is The current UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva versus James “The Sandman” Irvin.  Both men possess devastating striking power, with Silva holding KO victories over Rich Franklin, Chris Leben and Nate Marquardt and Irvin winning every one of his fights inside the UFC by TKO or stoppage, including an 8 second KO victory of Houston Alexander. Silva has never been KO’d or even beat inside the Octagon, where as Irvin has been KO’d by Thiago Silva and submitted by Stephan Bonner. Overall an interesting fight guaranteed to draw a crowd.

 

 

Light Heavyweight bout: Brandon Vera vs. Reese Andy

Brandon Vera’s debut at LHW comes against a three time division one All American wrestler Reese Andy. This may be the most interesting fight on the card. Both men have a strong wrestling background, both men are dropping down from Heavyweight, however Vera’s striking is very strong, and we are yet to see the striking skills of Andy. Vera will be a  very big LHW fighter and against any other natural LHW fighter would be very imposing. The deciding factor in this fight could very well end up being experience inside the Octagon, and if this is the case Vera will win hands down.

Lightweight bout: Hermes Franca vs. Frank Edgar

Frank Edgar will have his hands full against the game Hermes Franca. Both men are coming off losses in their last fights, Edgar losing to Gray Maynard and Hermes Franca losing to the former lightweight champion Sean Sherk. The advantage lies with Franca in this match up. With world class jui-jitsu, stronger stand up and more experience against higher level opponents, he may have the edge.

Heavyweight bout: Jake O'Brian vs. Cain Velasquez

 

Jake O’Brian will lose the edge coming into this fight with Cain Velasquez. O’Brien has the greater experience and record, with his only loss from five fights coming against the former HW champion Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski., but in a match that begs to be taken to the ground, Cain has the far better pedigree. However both fighters hold KO victories so this should be interesting

Welterweight bout: Anthony Johnson vs. Kevin Burns

Coming in against Kevin Burns is the ever dangerous Anthony Johnson. On paper this promises to be another destruction, with both of Johnson’s victories in the octagon coming by KO in under a minute of the first round. However if Burns can use his Tae Kwon Do skills to battle past Johnson’s strikes and take it to the ground we could see another submission victory from Burns.

Middleweight bout: Jesse Taylor vs. CB Dolloway

CB Dolloway and Jesse Taylor is sure to be a grapple heavy match. CB will be sure to keep it standing to retain the advantage, however it has been said that the fighters have faced twice before, and Dolloway has out grappled JT on both occasions.

Preliminary Card

Middleweight bout: Tim Credeur vs. Cale Yarbrough

This is a classic grappler vs. striker match up. All but two of Tim Credeur’s victories come from  submission, and all in the first round, and all of Cale Yarbrough’s came from KO.  With Tim’s unwillingness to quit and Cale’s aggression this promises to be a classic matchup.

Welterweight bout: Rory Markham vs. Brodie Farber

Both Rory Markham and Brodie Farber have good reputations coming into this fight. Farber unbeaten in the MMAX promotion with his victories evenly split between KO and sub., and all Markham’s 8 past victories coming from knockout, 6 of which were in the IFL.

Middleweight bout: Johnny Rees vs. Nate Loughran

Neither Johnny Rees and Nate Loughran have taken a loss in their MMA careers. Johnny Rees has a strong jui-jitsu game and was UFC 170lb champ and Nate Loughran has very good conditioning and was middleweight champ in two different promotions.

Welterweight bout: James Giboo vs. Brad Blackburn

James Giboo vs. Brad Blackburn is another classic striker vs. grappler match up. Both men have a lot of experience.

Lightweight bout: Hermes Franca vs. Frank Edgar

Shannon Gugerty has a strong ground game as does Dale Hartt, with both men holding victories in grappling competitions.

This is a card strong in debutants. With Silva making his LHW debut in the UFC, Vera and Andy making their LHW debuts in the UFC, and in the last four fights listed, and technically the Taylor/Dolloway and Credeur/Yarbroughall of the fighters are making their debut in the UFC this Saturday. A lot of fighters are not on what you'd call home turf on Saturday, which promises to make for some very interesting fights.