Roundtable: What's Next for Michael Bisping?

Roundtable: What's Next for Michael Bisping?
Kingdom MMA Staff

Following Wednesday devastating loss to Tim Kennedy, Kingdom MMA discusses what's next for the poster boy of UK MMA, Michael Bisping.

Ben Heather - @benheather

What's next for Michael Bisping? I've been asking myself this question for the past two days and I've not really got any closer to a definitive answer in my mind. What I have got are a couple of suggestions though:

1) Bisping needs to get affiliated with a big camp and have a big named head coach, someone like Greg Jackson or John Crouch would really help Michael get back to fighting how we know he can. On Wednesday night the Bisping we all know and love unfortunately didn't show up and not only this, from what I could hear (having watched it back a couple of times) his corner didn't seem to help him during the rounds. The best I heard was "come on Mike you got to get up" but didn't suggest any possible ways to help improve the position or to actually get up.

The whole reason we have been told Bisping moved to The States was to get the best training partners and facilities available, but since going out to The States has pretty much won a fight, lost a fight with no win streaks or consistency. Yes he is fighting better fighters - until Wednesday anyway, but if he wants to get that title shot now he needs to win at least 3 fights and against very tough opponents.

I still believe the old Bisping before his eye surgery would beat Kennedy 9/10 times.

2) Who's next for bisping. The best thing that could happen for Bisping is that Luke Rockhold beats Tim Boetsch next Saturday and then Bisping can try and trash talk his way in to that fight which Rockhold has been calling for, for a long time. A win over Rockhold keeps Bisping in the top 10 but he'd still have to win a couple more to get the title shot he craves so much.

It's now a long road to the top for Bisping and it's not going to be easy at all. As for when I expect to see him fight again, well he gets married next month so I think you will be looking at the end of summer August / September earliest, and I really hope we see the old Bisping return to the octagon.

Chris Mazella - @chrismarzella

Going into the Kennedy fight I practically knew it was going the distance. Bisping would either box his way to a decision or Kennedy would wrestle the win away from him.

Despite the work he has done over the years, Bisping's wrestling is still suspect. If you put him up against a high level wrestler who has wrestled their whole life then he's just not going to win.

You really can't put any argument about that fight. It was a snoozer. Don't get me wrong, Bisping was going for it, but when a guy has the sole intention of taking you down and laying on top of you for 25 minutes there's not much you can do. To be fair to Bisping, he was coming off of a serious, potentially career threatening injury. Although it didn't show, there's no telling the impact that had on him and his performance.

Bisping is now in a tricky spot. Where does he go from here? He's 2-3 in his last five fights and hasn't finished anybody in Mayhem Miller in December 2011. Despite all that, he is still a draw. On a weekly basis there are countless call out from up and down the middleweight division, so there will always be fights out there for him.

I've seen calls for him to retire. He is nowhere near that stage yet. He's still competitive in the division.

There are two fights I would really like to see him in now.

Firstly, Mark Munoz. Both guys are at a similar stage of the career. Mid thirties. coming off of losses, floating around in no-mans-land in the rankings with no realistic hope of an imminent title shot. Munoz still has the small matter of taking care of business when he meets  Gegard Mousasi in Berlin on May 31. Regardless of the outcome of that fight, Bisping vs Munoz peaks my interest, it has the potential to be a war.

The alternative option would be Luke Rockhold. Rockhold sits in the top five, with a fight with Tim Boetsch set for UFC 172 in Baltimore. We already know Bisping and Rockhold don't like each other. Rockhold is the newer breed of fighter making his way up in the standings. Bisping may be the ultimate test for him and as far as Bisping is concerned, beating an up and coming fighter propels him back to where he wants to be.

For now let's end talk of Bisping retiring and hop that he get one of these two fights next.

Sam Heard - @samheard_

No one will ever doubt Michael Bisping’s ability to sell a fight but after Wednesday’s performance at the TUF Nations Finale there are those who now question his fighting ability. I was shocked when I read more than one person suggest that it might be time for The Count to hang up his gloves. Granted, his performance against Tim Kennedy was shockingly tentative, sluggish and generally underwhelming but we have on more than one occasion seen a fighter have a disappointing performance only to drop bombs in their next outing. It wasn’t so long ago that people were bleating on about how Shogun should retire after he was easily dispatched by Chael Sonnen only for the chorus of ‘OMG SHOGUN IS BACK’ to start on twitter after he hammered James Te Huna. Just because Mike lost a fight we all thought he should’ve won doesn’t mean his career is over. He was coming back from a long layoff having suffered a career-threatening injury so it was understandable that there were a few cobwebs.

Though the queue for a MW title shot seems to be getting ever longer, all Bisping can do for now is attempt to get back in the W column against a tough opponent and I believe that – dependent on their performances in Berlin – Bisping should be given the winner of Mark Munoz Vs. Gegard Mousasi. If Munoz wins this will mean they get to have the fight Bisping was forced to pull out of due to injury back in October while if Mousasi is victorious we will get to see a stand-up war between two high level strikers (rather than someone like Tim Kennedy lay on top of Bisping for 25-minutes). These are two match-ups I definitely like and were Bisping able to prevail over the winner of UFC FN 42’s Main Event he would definitely keep himself relevant in the division and get back some of his lost confidence.

TUF Nations Finale Review and Results

TUF Nations Finale Review and Results
by Sam Heard - @samheard_

Those of us who risked jeopardising our ability to wake up for work the next morning to watch the mid-week TUF Finale from Quebec, Canada were rewarded with an entertaining card of fights. Though for us Brits the night would end in disappointment, the overall standard was high with several massive KO/TKOs (though no one was submitted). With ‘UFC on Fox 11: Werdum Vs. Browne’ but a few days away it would be a great shame if any of the tremendous performances from Wednesday night get swept under the rug.

Michael Bisping (24-6 MMA, 14-6 UFC) vs. Tim Kennedy (18-4 MMA, 3-0 UFC)

Following a lay-off just a few days shy of a year, I think I speak for the entire MMA community when I say it was nice to see Bisping back where he belongs. However, frustratingly for The Count and his fans, the Bisping we saw last night was a ghost of his former self.

Mike is usually a fighter who outclasses his opponents by chipping away at them with a ridiculously high output of varied strikes. Against Tim Kennedy Bisping was overly tentative and far less active than normal. He was overwhelmed at points in the fight by Kennedy’s solid top-game with the American landing some vicious ground-and-pound from full mount on more than one occasion.

Bisping’s takedown defence is normally some of the best in the entire Middleweight division; Kennedy was able to put Mike on his back more times than we’ve ever seen in his lengthy UFC career. To me it seems clear that the lay-off and the injury played a factor – Bisping managed to skilfully avoid the takedowns of Chael Sonnen (arguably the best wrestler the division has ever had) yet was thrown to the mat by Kennedy who is at best an above average wrestler.

The judges came to the right decision, however that 50-45 scorecard is laughable. There can be no denying that Mike at the very least won the second round as he found the range with his left jab. Regardless of this small quibble, it was a disappointing night for The Count.

Result: Tim Kennedy def. Michael Bisping via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 50-45)

Patrick Cote (20-8 MMA, 7-8 UFC) vs. Kyle Noke (20-7-1 MMA, 4-3 UFC)
If ever there was a fight that didn’t go according to the script this was it. Prior to the fight it was widely believed that either Cote would utilise his heavy hands to smash Noke or the Aussie would use his larger frame to pressure Cote against the fence, take him down and exploit the Canadian’s supposedly weaker ground game.

Part of the reason you and I love MMA is its unpredictability and this fight gave even more legitimacy to the statement that anything can happen in the Octagon. In all three rounds Noke was getting the better of Cote on the feet only to be taken down and dominated in the later halves of the rounds. Despite executing a beautiful knee straight to the Canadian’s granite chin to counter a takedown in the 2nd, Noke didn’t do enough to sway the judges and lost a Unanimous Decision to rival coach and fan favourite Patrick Cote.

Result: Patrick Cote def. Kyle Noke via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Elias Theodorou (9-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) vs. Sheldon Westcott (8-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC)

Elias Theodorou impeccably demonstrated the significance of conditioning in the final of the TUF Nation’s Middleweight tournament as he decimated Sheldon Westcott enroute to a TKO victory. Though Westcott had been hugely impressive on the show, he had exploited Team Australia’s general lack of submission defence and consequently hadn’t even seen the 2nd round. These quick victories proved to be somewhat disadvantageous as Wescott came out overly aggressive and seemed gassed by the end of the opening round.

Theodourou, who was all too aware of how exhausted his opponent was, went into overdrive, lighting his fellow Canadian up with strikes and dumping him on his head with some huge power takedowns. Wescott was finally saved from more of Theodorou’s brutality as a series of nasty punches and elbows from side-control meant Phillippe Chartier had seen enough to step in.

Result: Elias Theodorou def. Sheldon Wescott via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:41

Olivier Aubin-Mercier (4-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) vs. Chad Laprise (8-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC)

In this clash of unbeaten Canadian Welterweights someone would taste not only their first defeat but also miss out on the title of Ultimate Fighter at the final hurdle. As expected Aubin-Mercier was pursuing the takedown while Laprise – who had put together a few savage KO/TKO victories on the show – wanted to keep proceedings on the feet.

In matchups such as these we tend to see the grappler’s hand raised more often than not but Laprise was able mostly stuff the takedown of Aubin-Mercier and beat him up on the feet. I had Chad Laprise up 30-27 by the end of the third so was shocked that one of the judges believed Aubin-Mercier won. These MMA judges really know how to leave us fans scratching our heads.

Result: Chad Laprise def. Olivier Aubin-Mercier via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)

Akira Corassani (12-4 MMA, 3-1 UFC) vs. Dustin Poirier (16-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC)

IThe ultra-aggressive Dustin Poirier has been tearing it up in the 145-lbs division of late and for many this match-up was a curious step backwards for the American Top Team fighter. Akira proved himself worthy of being in there however as he momentarily dropped Poirier mid-way through the first round with a big left. This forced Poirier to reset and compose himself as he had been disrespectful of the Swede’s clear power until that moment. Both fighters slugged it out, smiling at one another until Poirier demonstrated his killer ground game with a near d’arce choke before switching to the rarely seen Peruvian necktie.

The second round had barely started when Poirier hit Corassani with a perfectly timed uppercut which rocked him before swarming him with punches. Dan Miragliotta had no choice but to step in and give Poirier another victory inside the distance. Fair play to Akira for a valiant effort where everyone expected him to be instantly overwhelmed, earning him a Fight of the Night bonus.

Highlights from the Undercard

K.J. Noons (13-7 MMA, 2-1 UFC) vs. Sam Stout (20-10-1 MA, 9-9 UFC)

Noons reminded us of his professional boxing past with a massive right hand followed up with some of the most devastating strikes to a stunned opponent you’re ever likely to see.

Sarah Kaufman (17-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) vs. Leslie Smith (6-5-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC)

The former Strikeforce champ put on a boxing clinic, picking the incredibly tough Leslie Smith apart on the feet. We were told she had trained her striking with the Diaz brothers and this was apparent last night.

Bisping vs Kennedy and Bocek vs Dunham announced for TUF Nations Finale

Bisping and Kennedy finally set to meet in the Octagon

by Ben Heather @benheather

Michael Bisping will finally get the chance to shut up Tim Kennedy when then meet in a 5 round fight which will headline the TUF Nations Finale in April.

For as long as I can remember Tim Kennedy has been calling out Michael Bisping, it didn't matter on the circumstances, whether Bisping was injured or not or even whether Bisping already had a fight lined up. To be fair though, in that time so has pretty much every other middleweight fighter who is trying to make a name for themselves.

Now finally it seems set for the English middleweight contender to get his hands on Tim Kennedy and make him back up all the talk. As Bisping has said himself, a win in this fight will not do much as far as push him towards the title shot he so badly desires but it will finally give him the chance to end all of the abuse he has been receiving from Tim Kennedy. That being said though it would put Bisping on a two fight win streak and with some big match ups in the division already announced could leave him fighting in a number one contender fight later this year.

As far as Kennedy is concerned a win over Michael Bisping will be one of, if not the biggest win of his career. Kennedy joined UFC in 2013 and in his debut picked up a win over Roger Gracie in a lacklustre display. He then got the opportunity to headline the UFC Fight for the Troops 3 event where he was scheduled to face Lyoto Machida before he got pulled from that fight to step in for Bisping and fight Mark Munoz in Manchester. Kennedy then easily defeated Rafael Natal via KO in round 1, but the fight had lost the big name opponent to really push Kennedy up the rankings. Now he will get the shot he has been asking for.

The question that remains to be seen is: Has Tim Kennedy talked himself in to a fight that he can't win?? We will find out in April.

Also announced on the card for the TUF Nations Finale is a lightweight clash between two UFC veterans as Mark Bocek and Evan Dunham are set to battle it out in the Octagon.

Both fighters will be looking to get back to winning ways after losing their last fights. Dunham faced off against Donald Cerrone and saw the Cowboy return to the old form we all know he can bring when he submitted Dunham. Before that fight Dunham also lost to Dos Anjos so a win against Bocek will be crucial if he wants to continue in the UFC.

Bocek did not feature in the Octagon last year and like Dunham lost to Dos Anjos in his last appearance back in 2012.

The TUF Nations Finale takes place on April 16th and will be shown on Fox Sports 1 in the USA but as yet there is no word on whether this card will be available on BT Sports in the UK.

Kingdom MMA 2013 Awards: Male Fighter of the Year

Kingdom MMA Male Fighter of the Year Award 2013: Vitor Belfort

by Ben Heather - @benheather

2013 has been a great year for MMA, so many fighters have upped their game and the quality level of MMA has improved so much at all levels. The European shows such as Cage Warriors and BAMMA have put on great shows and the fighters abilities constantly improve with every event. Then you look at the UFC and look at the level of the fighters now to those a few years ago. Its no comparison, the guys now are incredible athletes and have put on a brilliant year of fighting for us all to enjoy and now we have the hard task of picking just one fighter to call Male fighter of the year.

Anthony Pettis became the lightweight champion, Johny Hendricks believes he deserves to be UFC Welterweight champion and Chris Weidman has twice defeated Anderson Silva. Alexander Gustafsson also pushed Jon Jones all the way but couldn't quite pull off the upset but certainly put on the performance of his life. All in all it has been a great year.

The main contenders for the award were.
Vitor Belfort who rebounded from losing to Jon Jones in his last fight of 2012 to come through three fights in 2013 and finish all of them with head kicks. Next up for Vitor is a title fight with Chris Weidman in 2014.

Demetrious Johnson has dominated his division fighting the best contenders in the division and improving with every single fight. First he easily defeated John Dodson by Unanimous Decision and then he put away top contenders John Moraga and Joseph Benevidez.

But it was clear that this year there could only be one winner and that man was Vitor Belfort.

Vitor Belfort has had possibly the best year of his MMA career which is very impressive as Belfort is now 36. Belfort is always surrounded by controversy whenever he fights due to his continued use of TRT and his previous failed drugs test. However, he is using TRT within the legal limits and until it is banned (I hope) can continue to. After all, the skills he has shown this year and the fighters he has beaten can not all be down to him using TRT.

In three fights in the octagon this year Vitor Belfort has put away Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold and Dan Henderson and has done it in 10 minutes 17 seconds combined. To be able to finish the calibre of fighters he has finished in the method he has is truly amazing. He went in to both the Bisping and the Rockhold fight as the underdog even though both of those fights were in his home country.

The highlight of his year has to be the spinning back kick knockout of Luke Rockhold. The timing was perfect and the skill required to do the move was simply jaw dropping. Which is why we awarded the Knockout our Knockout of 2013.

Vitor then got revenge over Dan Henderson after losing the first fight between the pair when they fought in Pride in October 2006. This time Vitor knocked Henderson out for the first time in his 40 fight career.

People may call him a cheat or argue that he shouldn't be allowed to use TRT but the fact is he is allowed at the minute and based on his performances we award him the Kingdom MMA Male Fighter of Year 2013.

UFC 167 Pro Picks: Twitter Weighs In

UFC 167 Pro Picks: Twitter Weighs In
by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

Everyone from fans to fighter are buzzing for tonight's 20 year anniversary UFC show - UFC 167, and there seems to be a mixed bag of predictions coming out from MMA's elite - GSP or Hendricks, Sonnen or Evans - who you got?

The pros take to twitter and weigh in:

Really looking forward to the fights today.Im going with gsp, sonnen, lawler, koscheck, cerrone. Who you got?
— dean amasinger (@deanamasinger) November 16, 2013

Got my coffee on the ready for tonight. Staying up to watch UFC 167! My picks - GSP, Sonnen, McDonald, Koscheck and Cerrone.
— Brendan Loughnane (@Brendan264) November 16, 2013

My #UFC167 picks: Hendricks (but don't count GSP out), Sonnen, Lawler(I hope), Woodley, Elliott, Cerrone, Leites, Ebersole, Perez.
— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyMMA) November 16, 2013

Going to try pull an all nighter to watch the fights!! Who u got winning? My picks Kos,McDonald,Sugar,GSP
— Ross Pearson (@RossTheRealDeal) November 16, 2013

@DanHazlehurst GSP, lawyer , rashad
— curt warburton (@curtwarburton) November 16, 2013

Gsp has gota stay away from JH and try control him for 25mins, JH has 25mind to land one punch, I'm goin Hendricks
— Brett Bassett (@Brettbass_MMA) November 16, 2013

@fraz1001 chael and gsp
— Robert Whiteford (@Flyinjudoka) November 16, 2013

@JamesH3aton I think GSP mate
— Davey Grant (@DaveyGrantMMA) November 16, 2013

@CarolinePearce @GeorgesStPierre @JohnyHendricks @ufc @btsport @btsportufc I can't see Gsp getting beat but Hendricks is his biggest threat
— STORMIN NORMAN PARKE (@norman_parke) November 16, 2013

@Mmanarchy GSP, Lawler, Woodley, Evans are my picks mate, not necessarily who I want to win but who I think will.
— Jack Mason (@JackStoneMason) November 16, 2013

@RichieKinsella Big Rig Hendricks - sonnen - and Robbie Lawler :-D why not ha
— Paul Redmond (@RedserMma) November 16, 2013

Think Gsp tonight, (peds will b the diff) wants sonnen but going Evans, McDonald and kos
— rob sinclair (@robc4sinclair) November 16, 2013

“@Garyhop: @bisping who's going to win Hendricks or GSP? #votebisping”Hendricks
— michael (@bisping) November 16, 2013

"@CaptainPlanck: @KelvinGastelum who do you have for this fight? I'm guessing you have sonnen but for the GSP fight"GSP
— Kelvin Gastelum (@KelvinGastelum) November 16, 2013

@TheMMaRanter GSP ,Evans,MacDonald,Woodley,Elliott.

— Mauro Ranallo (@mauroranallo) November 16, 2013

Andy Ogle vs Cole Miller Scheduled For Manchester

FIGHT NIGHT 30 SEE'S THE RETURN OF ANDY OGLE! 

By Tommy Strong @strong_tea

HELS BELS Photography

The UFC has announced a featherweight bout in Manchester England that will see Englishman Andy Ogle pick his wits against American Cole Miller at next months event, Fight Night 30 on Oct 26th.

Ogle (9-2) hasn't fought since February 16th, where he defeated John Grispi via unanimous decision in London, England. He was expected to fight Conor McGregor at UFC Fox Sports 1 in August, but was forced to pull out of the fight due to an injury and was replaced by Max Holloway.

Miller (19-8) a former 'TUF' 5 contestant has been around the UFC a lot longer, making his debut back in 2007 at the finals defeating Andy Wang inside the first round, since then Miller has gone on to have a further 13 fights inside the octagon.

Miller returned to featherweight last year and is now (1-3) , he will coming into the fight on the back of a close decision loss to Manny Gamburyan only last month and will be eager to keep his UFC career alive.

UFC Fight Night 30 in Manchester, will be headlined by middleweight title contenders Michael Bisping vs Mark Munoz, with the co-main event which will see a lightweight clash between Ross Pearson vs Melvin Guillard.

Rosi Sexton vs Jessica Andrade Scheduled For Manchester

Manchester Gets The UK's First Ever UFC Women's Bout

By Tommy Strong @strong_tea

UFC Fight Night 30 in Manchester will see England hold its first ever woman's UFC bantamweight bout when French born - Brit Rosi Sexton faces Jessica Andrade on the 26th October 2013.

Rosi made her UFC debut in June at UFC 161, when she faced Alexis Davis losing in a back and forth battle via unanimous decision. Rosi (13-3) isn't getting any younger and at the age of 36 will be eager to put one over her much younger opponent in Andrade. With the British crowd behind her she will have the home town advantage come October.

Brazilian Jessica Andrade (9-3) who is only 21, made her pro debut only 2 years ago but has been very active with 12 fights in just under 2 years. Andrade made her UFC debut in July when she fought Liz Camouche, losing in the 2nd round via TKO.

With both fighters looking to get back in the winning column the fans could be in for a real treat here.

UFC Manchester will see the much anticipated return of Michael "The Count" Bisping to the UK in a fight which could decide who will be the next number one contender when he takes on Mark Munoz in a middleweight battle.

Vitor Belfort vs Lyoto Machida?

Could we see a middleweight battle between the two Brazilians?

by Tommy Strong @strong_tea



Vitor Belfort's next middleweight challenge could very much be Lyoto Machida, which has been rumoured to be a co-main event at UFC 167.

Machida (19-4) who narrowly lost his last fight to Phil Davis only a couple of weeks ago in what some people saw as a controversial result would be making his Middleweight debut if the fight gets the go ahead.

Vitor (23-10) is only looking for big fights after recently turning down a fight with Tim Kennedy. Vitor is coming off back to back wins with stunning TKO victories over Michael Bisping and more recently a devastating spinning heel kick to knockout top contender Luke Rockhold.

Interestingly the fight could take place at the MGM Arena Las Vegas on November 16th where Belfort's TRT exemption probably wouldn't be given the all clear, forcing Belfort to train and fight all 'natural'.

Machida hasn't fought at middleweight before and would be a great addition to the division, especially now as his friend and training partner Anderson Silva no longer holds the belt. Though this may well change come December when Anderson faces Weidman in a much anticipated rematch!

UFC 167 will see Welterweight champion GeorgeSt-Pierre put his belt on the line when he faces Johny Hendricks.

UFC Manchester: Bisping v Munoz finalised

UFC Manchester 2013 is now official

by Jack Broadey @J3cK_b

The long rumoured second UK event of the year has now been officially announced. Michael Bisping vs Mark Munoz will headline the event at the newly renamed phones4u arena. Also it has been announced that Ross Pearson will fight Melvin Guillard in a lightweight showdown in the co main event.

No other bouts have been announced as of yet but they should steadily get released over the next week or so. Tickets will go on sale on August 19th from Ticketmaster and the phones4u arena website. Prices range from £75-£450.

There will be a host of UK talent hoping for the call up for this card on UK shores. Pretty much all the top UK stars would be available to fight on the card apart from Brad Pickett who fights next weekend. News on Dan Hardy has been quiet of late, after recent health problems so he may be considered for the card. John Hathaway has also had health problems which hopefully he is now over and he can get back in the Octagon after missing over 9 months of action now. Tom Watson has just suffered a tough loss to Thales Leites and this event may come to soon for him.

Phil Harris was supposed to fight at UFC 163 but a concussion forced him off the card. After an impressive win at Wembley early this year Harris will be hoping for a trip up North to Manchester. Vaughan Lee and Mike Wilkinson both suffered tough losses to top prospects in Brazil last time out but they deserve another shot here.

Rosi Sexton is the UK's first female fighter and could also be in the UK's first UFC women's fight. TUF Smashes winner Norman Parke toughed it out to win his second UFC bout against Tokudome and this will offer him a chance to fight in front of his UK fans. TUF Samshes runner up Brad Scott will be moving up to Middleweight and should get his first chance after taking winner Rob Whittaker all the way.

Chael Sonnen's number 1 pick Luke Barnatt was a popular member of the last TUF series and won his UFC debut against cast mate Colin Hart and he will be wanting to get on the card in Manchester. Andy Ogle was due to take on Conor McGregor but injury forced him out of that fight in Boston however he may be ready for this card instead.

We have a whole host of deserving fighters to make up the nucleus of an undercard here. Jimi Manuwa has been very quiet of late but he could face a step up in competition and take a main card slot.

Stay tuned as we expect matchups to be announced fairly quickly this week and as soon as they do we will bring them to you. Hit us up at @KingdomMMA to let us what you think of all things UFC Manchester. Potential match ups, what you'd like to see and who you think will win.

Tom "Kong" Watson "a win is not enough, I need to go in there and knock him out" at UFC 163 against Thales Leites

Kingdom MMA chat to Tom "Kong" Watson ahead of his fight at UFC 163

by Ben Heather @benheather

In the early hours of Friday morning Kingdom MMA caught up with Tom Watson. We discussed everything from his last fight, his next fight at UFC 163 in Brazil next Saturday, his recent run in on twitter with Michael Bisping, twitter trolls and even his opinion on whether Suarez will stay at Liverpool.

Next Saturday at UFC 163 live from the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil "Kong" will be fighting former UFC Middleweight contender Thales Leites. He will aim to try and make it back to back wins for the first time in his UFC career. Kong made his debut in the UFC in September 2012 where he lost a split decision against Brad Tavares but in Nottingham. That performance was then forgotten about as Kong won for the first time in the UFC by knocking out Stanislav Nedkov in the second round.

Ben: Last time out you were in the fight which in my opinion is the fight of the year so far. Do you feel extra pressure coming off a great performance?
Watson: Not really, that's how i try to go out there and fight every time. I think the fight before that against Tavares was a good fight but I think that went under the radar a little bit because it was a loss. I think the Ninja fight before that was a good fight, the Marshman one similar back to fighting in Cage Rage and MFC. I just think I am always in those type of fights really.

Ben: The atmosphere in Wembley for that fight was incredible I have never been in a crowd and heard the crowd like as loud as it was for that fight. Did you notice it at all and if so did it spur you on in to the second round and ultimately to get the win?
Watson: Yeah I did notice it and I don't usually notice the crowd that much. Obviously I have fought at Wembley before and headlined but I didn't really expect that much noise on the prelims. Even the atmosphere at the weigh ins i think it was a pretty loud reception at the weigh ins for that fight. I wouldn't say it necessarily spurred me on, you hear the noise but I don't get that caught up in to it. But it definitely makes it more exciting to be able to compete in that sort of atmosphere.

Ben: Like you have said before you like to put on exciting fights do you aim to be known as an exciting fighter? Is that important to you?
Watson: Yeah that's the main thing to me really. I think a lot of people get too carried away about it all, I see a lot of fighters come out and say this is my job and its better for me to win blah blah blah but not necessarily be exciting. I disagree I was a fan of the fight game before I ever fought and went to a lot of events and its pretty expensive to go to. I have a lot of friends and family that go to them and its not just the ticket prices that are expensive but the whole occasion going down there, most people stay down there and if you don't put on an exciting fight is it worth spending that money. So if I can put on those kind of fights its what I want to do.

Ben: Would you rather be in an exciting fight and possibly lose or a boring fight which you can guarantee a win?
Watson: I have said that before I came to the UFC, but the UFC put so much emphasis on winning that its difficult but I would still probably be in a much more exciting fight to be honest. For me its not really about doing this for the money, its not really about any of that. Its about enjoyment and if its a boring fight i don't really enjoy it so I would sooner enjoy the fight myself.

Ben: How has the camp gone for this fight?
Watson: Its gone pretty well, obviously for every fight you have a few injuries I think if you don't then you haven't really had that good a camp. If you come in 100% fresh then your just gonna get knocks. Ive probably had a 10 week camp for it so its been as good as can be expected. Its going to be a tougher fight and I'm excited to be going to Brazil and fight there in front of a reasonably hostile crowd I think with me fighting a guy from Brazil. I just need to lose the weight and I will be ready to go.

Ben: Where have you done your camp for this fight?
Watson: I have been in California at Mark Munoz's gym. I was helping him a lot for his fight with Tim Boetsch and there is a lot of guys out here. Chael Sonnen has just come out here in the last week. There is a lot of good wrestlers for me to work with out here.

Ben: Leites has won most of his fights by submission have you focused on your take down defence and your ground game for this fight?
Watson: Yeah obviously that's his speciality, he is super dangerous on the ground so he is not just a good grappler he finishes. Most of his wins he has actually submitted his opponent and finished them so obviously I need to focus on that. The longer you fight, the longer you're in the sport I have had a lot of fights where I have thought this guy is going to do this so I need to do that but then you get in to the fight and he does something else so really I train mostly the same for most fights now. A lot of striking, a lot of wrestling, a lot of grappling it doesn't really change for any fight really.

Ben: Do you think you can be the first person to knock out Leites? Anderson Silva couldn't do it, can you?
Watson: Yeah that's my intention. Obviously Anderson fought him over 5 rounds, it wasn't a great fight but he didn't finish him. He has fought some good names and I don't really think its enough for me to go in there and just win the fight. I need to go in there and knock him out and I see it happening. I know if I catch him at some point in the fight he is going to go to sleep.

Ben: How do you feel going to fight in Brazil? In front of a very partisan crowd.
Watson: I have fought in Canada against people and I think my mind is pretty good and I am not bothered by that kind of thing but it will be a loud crowd but I would sooner fight in front of 200-300,000 people than 5 so the more people the better.

Ben: You touched upon fighting in Canada there, the last time you travelled to fight a foreign fighter in his home country was against Travis Galbraith and you got possibly the best knockout of your career, would you say you thrive on the pressure of being the foreign fighter? (For those who haven't seen that fight the link is here and its well worth a watch)
Watson: Well I don't really think it makes that much difference in my experience by the time you get there. When you fight in the UFC the fighters generally get the same hotel and the same kind of schedule so although you are in Brazil your still really in a sort of bubble with the UFC. Your in that media circle or at the hotel, I'm not really going to see a lot of Brazil. The only real difference is obviously there is going to be a huge crowd who isn't really supporting me. So as long as its loud it gets me excited so we will see what happens, I'm pretty excited by it.

Ben: Having been in that fight can you draw any comparisons for what you are expecting from the crowd next weekend in Brazil?
Watson: Well the fight in Canada was a similar thing, when I fought the guy everybody was really against me and then because the fight was a pretty exciting ending and a good finish the crowd kinda took to me. They didn't really know what to make to the entrance, I don't know what Brazil will think to that either. I think Brazil just like to watch a fight so if its a good fight I put on, the type of fights I usually put on then they will appreciate that. As far as the world goes I think they are right up there with one of the biggest of the fight community.

Ben: When do you leave for Brazil?
Watson: I fly out of California on Monday and I get to Brazil on Tuesday so five days before the fight.

Ben: Recently you gave an interview and mentioned Michael Bisping's name. He seems to have taken offense to it and went on twitter to tell you not to use his name to try get ahead in your career. Do you think it has all been blown out of proportion?
Watson: Well I don't really know what happened, to be honest they asked me about Leites saying is it an easy fight and all I said was he has fought for the title. If you take Bisping for example the guys he has fought who have fought for the title he has never beaten any of them so that was just referencing the fact that how can it be an easy fight if the guy has fought for the Middleweight title. Bisping obviously didn't like it. Whatever, doesn't really bother me you know nobody can obviously mention his name. Its not allowed you need approval from him first, so whatever he wants to go on about it doesn't really bother me. 

Ben: After Bisping sent the tweet to you it seemed every troll on twitter was tweeting you, did you have fun reading the messages as some of the comments you replied with were brilliant.
Watson: Yeah its just because half the people on twitter I swear they don't want to be abusive but that's there way to get a response. I think that they think that if they say something normal they wont get a response so mostly I go and look at peoples timelines and if they are just abusing everybody then I don't really respond to them but if its just specific abuse to me then I find it quite funny so I enjoy that type of thing. I don't really get wound up by it so it makes a bit of a laugh to my day to be honest.

Ben: Lastly, I believe you are a Liverpool fan. Do you think Luis Suarez has played his last game for Liverpool?
Watson: You know what, I think he probably has. I hope he hasn't, you know obviously he has had a few problems at the club but really if you ask me what they would have done over the past couple of seasons without him I don't really think it would have been a lot so I think they will really struggle if he leaves. They got a lot of really good younger players coming through I have been talking about Sterling since he was about 16 but in pre season they got another couple of youngsters who look pretty good. I don't really like it when players leave all the time I think it takes a few years so hopefully on that basis I hope he stays.

 Kingdom MMA would like to thank Tom for his time and all of us at the site will be cheering Tom on in Brazil.

Bisping and Munoz verbally agree to fight in Manchester

Michael Bisping vs Mark Munoz expected to headline UFC return to the UK

by John Haigh @JohnBJayHaigh

The UFC is returning to Manchester for the first time in four years, and it is expected that the guy everybody loves to hate Michael Bisping will headline the fight card in a middleweight bout with Mark Munoz.

Bisping vs. Munoz is expected to headline the event rumoured to be a UFC on Fox Sports 1 event on 26th October in Manchester. The UFC was last in Manchester for UFC 105, which featured Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera in the night’s main event.

This time around, Bisping takes center stage and is sure to draw a big crowd to Manchester Arena, when he and Munoz square off in a five-round, non-title main event. Bisping has been on the verge of getting a title shot for the past couple of years, but has twice been derailed; once in a decision loss to Chael Sonnen that many people feel he won the fight and then by a brutal KO at the hands of Vitor Belfort.

Bisping (24-5) most recently fought at UFC 159: Jones vs. Sonnen. He defeated Alan Belcher by a unanimous technical decision after the fight was stopped following an injury to Belcher’s eye. The injury happened as a result of an accidental poke to the eye by Bisping.

Munoz (13-3) is fresh off of a dominating performance over Tim Boetsch at UFC 162: Silva vs. Weidman on July 6 in Las Vegas. He had been sidelined for a year prior to the fight, battling injuries, depression, and extreme weight gain, but looked as good as ever in this fight.

Munoz had also been a step away from a shot at the UFC middleweight championship, but was stopped last summer by Chris Weidman, who recently upset Anderson Silva and shocked the mma world to win the stap and prove Silva is human.

Bisping Undergoes Surgery Wants to Return with a Fight in Manchester

Bisping has successful eye surgery, hopes to return in Manchester against Cung Le

by Tommy Strong @Strong_tea

UFC Middleweight contender Michael Bisping has undergone eye surgery for a retina problem in his right eye. The news broke on Tuesday nights showing of UFC Tonight.

Ariel Halwani reported on UFC Tonight "After the fight against Alan Belcher, Michael Bisping completely lost all peripheral vision in his right eye"

He also went onto say "He went to see an eye doctor on Tuesday and found he had a detached retina"

Michael underwent successful surgery on Thursday to repair the detached retina in his right eye. Following the surgery Bisping tweeted:

Thanks everyone for the well wishes. Op went well, will make a FULL recovery and be ready to fight soon,hopefully in Manchester next!!
— michael (@bisping) June 5, 2013

The news will come as a blow to Bisping loyal fan base, after getting back to winning ways with a technical decision win over Alan Belcher at UFC 159 in April, in a fight ended when Bisping accidentally caught Belcher with a nasty eye poke.

Michael Bisping has been the subject to call outs from several fighters in recent weeks including Luke Rockhold who Michael quickly dismissed with a tweet of "get a win in the ufc first" and Costa Philippou who even stated he was happy to travel to England to fight Michael in Manchester where the UFC are rumoured to return in October.

Though it seems Michael has his heart set on a Cung Le which although strange decision in terms of rankings, a fight vs Cung Le who has a huge fan base around the world would certainly guarantee a good TV rating

Stay tuned to Kingdom MMA for all the latest rumors on UFC Manchester

Video: Ross Pearson's Top 5 Current UK Fighters

Video: Ross Pearson's Top 5 Current UK Fighters

UK Lightweight Ross Pearson gives you a run down of his top 5 UK fighters currently plying their trade around the world.

Shout outs to Rick J Lee for this one - follow him on Twitter - @RickJLee

UFC 159: What's Next For The Winners?

UFC 159: What's Next For The Winners
by Chris Houten - @houts4thewin

Jon Jones 

Jones will most-likely be out now for 6 to 8 weeks while his toe heals. From there I'd love to see the Jones vs Silva superfight, but I think its more-likely we will see Jones vs Gustaffson or Machida. 

Personally I want to see Machida have another shot at Jones, purely for selfish reasons because I think Machida has the best chance of beating Jones with the style he employs - see round 1 of their previous fight, but realistically Gustaffson deserves the next shot.  

Michael Bisping

Bisping was simply brilliant on Saturday night. His cardio looked fantastic as always, he looked to be hitting harder than normal, and beat a solid striker in Belcher to the punch everytime. 

Bisping will be taking some time off following his win over Belcher to go under the knife, to correct a trapped nerve in his neck. Following the surgery I think a fight against the winner of Phillipou vs Souza should be next for Bisping. The winner of Bisping vs Phillipou / Souza would have a real claim at a title shot in a division which would be crying out for a challenger should Silva be victorious over Weidman........... if the mysterious superfight does not happen. 

Roy Nelson

According to Dana White, Daniel Cormier is most-likely next for Roy Nelson. 

Not gonna lie, I like it, I like it alot. Cormier's hand speed vs Nelson's one punch KO power, Cormier's wrestling vs Roy Nelson's Jui-Jitsu - awesome fight, end of!  

Phil Davis

Phil Davis' striking looked better than ever on Saturday...... but its still not quite there - yet!

I'd like Davis to fight the winner of Texeria / Te Huna next, with the winner in the mix for a title shot.  

Pat Healy

I was really impressed with Pat Healy on Saturday night, not only did he beat a tough opponent in Jim Miller, he finished him - a feat only previously achieved by Nate Diaz in Jim Millers 27 fights. 

Last week in "Fights to make after Fox 7" I wrote I would like to see Josh Thomson take on the winner of Miller and Healy, and I would still like to see that fight happen. It just makes sense - both guys coming over from Strikeforce, both are coming off impressive finish victories over top 10 UFC lightweights, and both seem hungry to carve a place in the top 10 of the UFC lightweight division.

UFC 159 Main Card Results - Michael Bisping vs Alan Belcher

Michael Bisping defeats Alan Belcher by Technical Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

by John Haigh @JohnBjayHaigh

This fight had massive hype before the fight with both fighters showing a big disliking of one another. Often with fights that have been hyped up like this they usually turn in to a bit of an anti climax, as was the case in this fight.

This fight went “just about” three rounds, more on that later. All three rounds were just about identical. The two men set out very different in this fight, Belcher tried to establish his power punches immediately while Bisping used his hand speed, superior movement and technique.

Bisping quickly took control of the fight, every time Belcher would swing for the fences Bisping would slip out of the way and counter landing every time.

As the fight continued Belcher started to gas with his hands dropped almost showing no respect for Bisping’s striking. Bisping as usual showed no sign off slowing down and continued to push the fight countering and every time landing decent combinations.

Late in the third round Bisping accidentally caught Belcher in the eye with a thumb. This sent Belcher to the mat clearly in significant pain. The doctor was called in and when he finally was able to open his eye it was actually bleeding. This was a very bad sign considering Belcher has already had surgeries on this right eye before and was kept out of the octagon for 16 months, hopefully this is not the case this time.

The fight was stopped there and went to the judges scorecards. Bisping had easily done enough and to no surprise got the decision.

After the fight Bisping was very apologetic about the accidental eye poke and said he has nothing against Belcher and was just promoting the fight with his trash talk pre fight.

UFC 159: Weigh In Results

Weigh in Results for UFC 159

by Ben Heather @benheather

Tomorrow will see UFC 159 live from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The main event will see Jon Jones attempt to defend his UFC World Light Heavyweight title when he faces Chael Sonnen.

The two have recently been opposing coaches on the latest series of The Ultimate Fighter and now its time for the talking to stop and time for them to get in to the octagon to see who is the better fighter. Earlier today they both stepped on to the scales and made weight to make the fight official.

Also on the card is the fights between Michael Bisping vs Alan Belcher and Vinny Magalhaes vs Phil Davis both of these fights have become personal with insults going back and forth between the fighters. This will hopefully lead to some good fights for all of us fans to watch.

UFC 159 Full Weigh-in Results:

Jon Jones (205) vs Chael Sonnen (205)

Alan Belcher (185) vs Michael Bisping (186)

Cheick Kongo (237) vs Roy Nelson (258)

Phil Davis (205) vs Vinny Magalhaes (205.5)

Pat Healy (155.5) vs Jim Miller (155)

Johnny Bedford (136) vs Bryan Caraway (136)

Ovince St. Preux (206) vs Gian Villante (206)

Sheila Gaff  (133) vs Sara McMann (134)

Rustam Khabilov (156) vs Yancy Medeiros (155.5)

Leonard Garcia (145) vs Cody McKenzie (145)

Nick Catone (173) vs James Head (170.25)*

Kurt Holobaugh (145) vs Steven Siler (145.25)

*Catone will forfeit 20 percent of his fight purse after coming in 2 lbs overweight.

Writer vs Fighter - UFC 159 Main Card Picks Challenge - Heather vs Barnatt

UFC fighter Luke Barnatt challenges Kingdom MMA in a picks challenge

by Ben Heather @benheather

Welcome to Kingdom MMA's inaugural writer vs fighter challenge.

For this challenge we will be challenging some big names from the world of MMA to give us their picks and fight outcomes for specific MMA events. Then they will be challenged by one of our writers, who will make their own predictions.

For this first event we will be predicting the fight outcomes from UFC 159 which is headlined by Chael Sonnen challenging Jon Jones for the UFC light heavyweight championship. As this is the coaches fight at the end of the latest series of TUF, there was only one person we wanted to do the writer vs fighter challenge against.... As we said earlier we will be challenging some big names from the world of MMA and coming in at 6'6 there are not many guys bigger than "Bigslow" himself Luke Barnatt.

Luke Barnatt was part of Team Sonnen on the latest series of TUF where he made the quarter finals on the show. After filming for the show finished he spent the next few months training with Chael to prepare for his fight with Collin Hart at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale as well as helping Chael prepare for his fight this weekend against Jon Jones.

We had the pleasure of speaking with Luke this past week and he gave us one of the most open and in depth interviews Kingdom MMA has had, which can be read here. At the same time he provided us with his predictions for UFC 159.

The Scoring 

If you predict the correct winner of the fight you will get one point and if you predict the correct method of victory you will get an extra bonus point and if the fight ends in a stoppage and you predict the round as well you could earn a third point. If the fight goes the distance you can only earn a maximum of two points.

The predictions:

Main Event: Jon Jones vs Chael Sonnen

Luke: Mr Chael P Sonnen via devastating beatdown... pretty much a sequel of the Silva beating... but with a much happier ending.

Prediction: Sonnen

Ben: I cant look past Jon Jones in this fight, realistically he should still be undefeated and nobody has still looked like testing him. For that reason I can't predict anything other than a Jones win. However I do think Chael will put up one of the hardest tests that Jones has had yet.

Prediction: Jones by TKO Round 4

Co Main Event: Michael Bisping vs Alan Belcher

Luke: Michael has Alan beat everywhere... I see this being a 1st round stoppage. Bisping has fire brewing inside from the Belfort fight. he'll come out fast and hard.

Prediction: Bisping by TKO Round 1

Ben: I agree with Luke, I think Bisping wants to win this fight more than any other in his career so far. Yes obviously he wanted to win his last one which would have got him a title shot but if he losses this weekend he may struggle to get back up the ranks again. A win is vital and I predict Bisping to win on points.

Prediction: Bisping by Unanimous Decision

Roy Nelson vs Cheick Kongo

Luke: Who Cares??

Prediction: N/A

Ben: I think this is another fight where Nelson will finish the fight early, Kongo has had his chin tested a few times and buckled and nobody hits harder than Nelson.

Prediction: Nelson by KO Round 1

Phil Davis vs Vinny Magalhaes

Luke: Vinny Magalhaes via 2nd round Leg Lock ;)

Prediction: Magalhaes by Submission Round 2

Ben: I again agree with Luke on this fight I think the underdog will come through and pick up the win. Davis is a good fighter and his record shows that but I think Vinny has enough to be in a position at some point to get hold of a limb and keep hold of it long enough to finish the fight. Most likely via an armbar.

Prediction: Magalhaes by Submission Round 3

Jim Miller vs Pat Healy

Luke: This is a tough one... but after what Miller did to Lauzon, I can't see a way he can lose this fight.

Prediction: Miller

Ben: Miller wins this fight for me 9/10 and I don't think Saturday will be the exception. Healy has been on a great run lately and should have had his chance to fight for the Strikeforce title but against Miller I don't think he will be able to enforce his game plan and Miller will be able to pick up a tough, hard fought Unanimous Decision victory.

If its anything like his fight with Lauzon we will be in for a treat.

Prediction: Miller by Unanimous Decision

So that's our predictions for this fights, we will be live tweeting on Saturday night as always and we will keep you all informed as to how the challenge is going with latest scores throughout the main card.

Thanks again to Luke for providing us with his picks for this weekends fights and it just leaves me to say.... May the best man win!!

UFC 159 Main Card Predictions

Kingdom MMA: UFC 159 Main Card Predictions

by Tommy Strong @strong_tea and Jack Broadey @J3cK_b

On Saturday night we will finally be able to put an end to the legacy of UFC 151 as Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen meet in the octagon at UFC 159. The two have recently been coaches on the latest series of The Ultimate Fighter in which Kelvin Gastelum from Team Sonnen won the contract to the UFC.

A lot of people have got an opinion as to whether or not Chael deserves this title shot but the talking will end on Saturday night and we will find out who the better man is.

Below you will find the predictions from some of the guys at Kingdom MMA for the main card.

Jon Jones (17-1) LHW Champ vs Chael Sonnen (27-12-1) #9 MW
 

Tommy: I feel this match up was more to do with boosting the TUF series ratings than it was to do with the fight, one in which Chael shouldn't be anywhere near. But that's a different topic altogether.

We all know Chael is the most entertaining fighter in the UFC and certainly has brought more hype to this fight. He may have won the battle of the TUF series, but it will be Jon Jones that wins the war!

Chael's wrestling is one of the best in the UFC, but Jones has shown he's very hard to take down with a 100% take down defence in all of his UFC fights. I find it impossible to find a way that Chael can win this fight. Even if Chael can get him to the ground, he's very vulnerable to submissions.

Prediction: Jones by TKO Round 2

Jack: I believe this could get more interesting than people think. Sonnen without doubt has the game to put Jones on his back. Although Rashad struggled to take there fight to the ground I believe Sonnen is the better wrestler. That being said Jones should work his way up and deal with Sonnen. Not as quickly or as easily as some think though.

Prediction: Jones by Submission Round 3

Michael Bisping (23-5) #4 MW vs Alan Belcher (18-7) #10 MW

Jack: I think this is a good fight for Bisping. Belcher is actually quite good everywhere and probably has the edge in jiu jitsu. For that advantage to come into play though he has to get Bisping down or rock him. I don't see either happening. Belcher doesn't deal well with pressure.  Something Bisping happens to be excellent at with his gas tank.

I think we see the old Bisping pressure style here maybe looking for a clinch for some Knees.

Prediction: Bisping by TKO from Ground and Pound following knees in the clinch Round 3

Tommy: I feel this really is the last chance saloon for Bisping to get the title shot he probably deserves.

Belcher will prove a very stern test for him on Saturday night. Belcher has a brilliant ground game and that was shown against Palhares, that he can submit very good fighters. Though Bisping has proved time and time again he has one of the best take down defences, and showed against Sonnen he's difficult to take down and keep down.

Bisping has a lot to prove after his loss to Belfort and after a lot of trash talking I feel he's going to back up and stop Belcher for the first time in his career.

Prediction: Bisping by TKO Round 2

Roy Nelson (18-7) #6 HW vs Cheick Kongo (18-7-2)

Tommy: Not ashamed to admit it, but I'm a massive Roy Nelson fan. Since winning the Ultimate Fighter back in 2009, I've really taken to him. He has a granite chin, and power that can knock out any heavyweight fighter!

I don't think Kongo has the power to knockout 'Big Country' and would be wise to keep the fight at range and pick his way to victory.  But at some point Roy will get close to him and land something heavy on Cheick and knock him out.

Prediction: Roy Nelson by KO Round 1

Jack: This fight to me should be easy to pick and see how it plays out. Of course we all know this is MMA and anything can happen though. I will keep this one brief. Both men hit hard. Only Nelson has a good chin. That points to one thing for me.

Prediction: Nelson by KO Round 2

Phil Davis (10-1-1) #8 LHW vs Vinny Magalhães (10-5-1)

Jack: This is classic wrestler vs grappler match up. What's the best weapon Wrestling or BJJ?

I'm a firm believer that a solid wrestling practitioner with some solid defensive BJJ should be able to shutdown the offensive BJJ side with good positioning and strikes. Although Vinny is a threat here I see Davis having enough know how to keep out of submissions.

Prediction: Davis by Decision

Tommy: Both fighters seem to have a dislike for each other after a war of words over twitter. Magalhaes is brilliant on the ground with 8 out his 10 wins coming from submission. Though getting a world class wrestler like Davis to the ground will be near on impossible. Giving Davis a huge advantage on their feet.

This is not really a fight I'm looking forward too and I find Davis one of the most boring fighters in the UFC, but he is a tough fighter to beat and will dictate where the fight goes. For this reason I can see Davis winning a UD.

Prediction: Davis by Unanimous Decision

Jim Miller (22-4) #4 LW vs Pat Healy (29-16)

Tommy: Jim Miller really impressed me in his fight of the night (year) win against Joe Lauzon back in December.

Pat Healy comes into the fight on a 6 fight win streak, and since moving down to lightweight he's looked a top contender, with only injuries to Gilbert Melendez costing him the opportunity to fight for the StrikeForce Lightweight belt.

This could have fight of the night written all over it. Both very tough and pressure fighters who come to fight. I think Miller has a more rounded game than Healy and will just edge this. Though I wouldn't be surprised at all if Pat Healy was to get a decision in a very close fight.

Prediction: Jim Miler by Split Decision

Jack: This fight really excites me and is my pick for fight of the night. Great fight to open the card with and it's a tough one. Healy is on a role of late coming in from Strikeforce. Miller is always tough whoever he's put in with. I see a lot of action on the mat and Miller should be able to control the majority of rounds.

Prediction: Miller by Decision