UFC 163 Preview: The Main Card The first fight on the main card - TopicsExpress



          

UFC 163 Preview: The Main Card The first fight on the main card is a 125lb match between John Lineker (21-6, #7 flyweight) and Jose Maria (33-3). Lineker saw a 13 fight win streak come to an end in his UFC debut but has since won 2 straight including a 2nd round TKO of Azamat Gashimov in his last outing. Maria is making his UFC debut having not lost since ’08, he is 16-0 with 1 no contest during that stretch. This should be an interesting fight between two men who aren’t accustomed to losing. The next fight is between Thales Leites (20-4) and Tom Watson (16-5) in the middleweight division. Leites is a former 185lb title challenger who was cut by the UFC after losing to Alessio Sakara in ’09, just one fight removed from his decision loss to Anderson Silva. Since then he has posted a 6-1 record and is primed for another title run as he returns to the octagon. Watson has won 4 of his last five and is 1-1 in the UFC. He followed up a split decision loss to Brad Tavares in his UFC debut with a 2nd round TKO victory over Stanislav Nedkov in February. The 3rd fight is another middleweight tilt between Cezar Ferreira (6-2) and Thiago Santos (8-1). Ring rust may be an issue here since neither fighter has been in the ring in over a year. Ferreira mad his UFC debut with a decision victory over Sergio Moraes in June ’12 but hasn’t returned to the octagon since. Meanwhile Santos will be making his UFC debut having not fought since a 1st round TKO win over Denis Figueira da Silva in July ’12. The next fight and co-main event is a light heavyweight fight with major title implications as former 205lb champion and current #1 contender Lyoto Machida (19-3) takes on 7th ranked Phil Davis (11-1). Machida has won back-to-back fights against Ryan Bader and Dan Henderson since his loss to current 205lb champ Jon Jones in December ’11. A win against the young athletic Davis should go a long way in getting him his rematch and a chance to reclaim UFC gold. Davis is 2-0 with 1 no contest since being dealt his 1st loss at the hands of Rashad Evans, another former 205lb champion, in January ’12. Davis holds the distinction of being the only man to beat the next person to take a stab at Jones’ title, Alexander Gustafsson. While a win over Machida probably wont guarantee a title shot it will definitely improve his chances. The main event features one of the most dominate champions in UFC history in Jose Aldo (22-1, #4 P4P) as he defends his 145lb title against Chan Sung Jung (13-3, #5 featherweight). Aldo claimed WEC gold by defeating Manny Gamburyan in September ’10 and was named the UFC inaugural 145lb champion when it absorbed the WEC and officially added the weight class. Since then he has successfully defended his title four times, the latest coming against former 155lb champion Frankie Edgar in February. Jung has earned his title shot by going 3-0 since a loss to George Roop at the same WEC event Aldo claimed gold in. All three of those fights were stoppages, 2 submissions, including the only win via twister I’ve ever seen in MMA, and 1 TKO. Jung is also one of only three featherweights in UFC history (Urijah Faber and Mike Brown being the other two) to earn Fight Of The Night, Knockout Of The Night and Submission Of The Night honors. While Aldo is a truly dominant fighter Jung should prove to be a decent test as he has shown he can hold his own on the feet or on the ground and he can take a punch. That said very few people have ever stood across the ring from someone like Jose Aldo, and even fewer have left victorious.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Aug 2013 16:17:47 +0000

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