Live from the Arco Arena in California, UFC73 is STACKED (and lucky since it’s on 07/07/07).
Two titles are up for grabs here which presents an opportunity for Nate Marquardt and Hermes Franca. The guys they are facing are tough defenders of that title and it won’t be easy but it will be amazing! Will the recent events in the UFC, could it happen again where upset after upset occurred? Matt Serra beating Georges St. Pierre, Randy Couture beating Tim Sylvia, Jardine losing, etc.?
Enough talk, here’s the fight card with some additional information:
Nate Marquardt Vs. Anderson Silva
Nate Marquardt - “The Great” 28-6-1
Anderson Silva - “The Spider” 18-4-0
Their records are similar, if you don’t know who Nate Marquardt is then you will have a better idea after this fight. He’s a great all-round fighter, I hope he can get a chance to show it. Silva you probably know has an incredible knacke to hit home with extreme knock out power. He has excellent Muay Thai skills and good BJJ skills. That’s a very powerful combination and that’s why this site will me a blast!
Hermes Franca Vs. Sean Sherk
Hermes Franca - 19-5-0
Sean Sherk - “Muscle Shark” 35-2-1
Hermes Franca is probably the most powerful guy ni the world, all packed up into a miniature little package. Sean Sherk is exactly the same, so physically they are identically matched. Franca’s groundwork is impeccable and he is a demon submission expert. He can also take and give it when it comes to standing up and punching. Sherk’s strong and he’s a great wrestler. If it was in the rules then he could probably pick up Franca and throw him out of the Octagon, alas, he’ll just have to hammer on his head.
Rashad Evans Vs. Tito Ortiz
Rashad Evans - “Sugar” 15-0-0
Tito Ortiz - “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” 16-5-0
This is going to be a blast, there’s MAAAAD beef between these two. Totally no love lost between these guys, especially with Tito’s nappy head name calling BS. I am pretty sure that Evans is going to beat pretty hard on Tito’s skull. There’ll be no submission, just standup and then ground and pound. Evans is giving up a little reach so this will be a disadvantage to him, his takedown defense is the best and his takedowns are awesome so we know what he’ll be trying if all else fails. Tito’s gonna try to mount and ground and pound the crap out of Evans, whether he gets him down is another thing but Tito’s a wrestler so that’s his area of expertise. This will be awesome.
Alvin Robinson Vs. Kenny Florian
Alvin Robinson - “Kid” 9-1-0
Kenny Florian - “KenFlo” 8-3-0
This is Robinson’s big break in MMA since he’s been stuck in Ring of Fire competitions and now he’s hit the Big Show. His Jiu Jitsu is supreme and he’s up against Kenny Florian who’s also a Jiu Jitsu expert. K-Flo’s recently subbed Dokojonosuke Mishima (I spelt that right first time) with an RNC in the 3rd at the Stevenson Guilard fight night (right before Guillard got busted for coke in his system crap). This is an evenly matched fight on paper, I cant’ wait to see how this turns out.
Heath Herring Vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Heath Herring - “The Texas Crazy Horse” 27-12-1
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - “Minotauro” 29-4-1
Oh my god, why is this fight so far down the card? This is Big Nog’s first fight in the UFC, he was in PRIDE previously and his last two fights were decisions against the Babyface Assassin, Josh Barnett. Now you see the type of fighter he is, or at least you respect how tough he must be to be able to go the distance with Barnett. He has great stand up and Brazilian Ji Jitsu skills, I feel bad for Herring, I think he’s WAY outmatched here. As far as fights go he is on an equal playing ground but I don’t rate him as a great fighter. He’s lost twice to Big Nog before, once was a decision so maybe there’s some hope.
Mike Nickels Vs. Stephan Bonnar
Mike Nickels - 5-1-0
Stephan Bonnar - “American Psycho” 12-4-0
Mike Nickels you know from TUF3, he has great BJJ skills and he’s proven to be a great grappler, he’s up against Bonnar who hasn’t fought since he got stuffed out of the UFC for having that Boldenone crap in his system, the same crap that Barnett had in him when he beat Couture in 2002. He’s coming back from suspension so I hope he’s been training hard, he needs to get back on top of his game and get back into fighting again. Oh, and he needs to lay off the ‘roids. Its an even matchup but I’ll give it to Bonnar with his striking ability.
Diego Saraiva Vs. Jorge Gurgel
Diego Saraiva - “The Octopus” 9-4-1
Jorge Gurgel - 13-2-0
I don’t know much about Saraiva but I know he is very well versed in BJJ. Gurgel I saw at the Hughes/Penn fight in 2006. I know he is a great kick boxer and he has great striking ability. I will be watching these two closely to learn more about them.
Drew Fickett Vs. Chris Lytle
Drew Fickett - “The Master” 31-5-0
Chris Lytle - “Lights Out” 32-14-4
I am a big fan of Drew Fickett since seeing him fight Kurt Pellegrino at UFC61. His loss to Parisyan was a close one, I hate decisions more than anything. He kept up a good fight against Karo. He’s one to watch out for and if this card wasn’t so crazy it should be up there for one of the openers. Chris Lytle had an unlucky split decision loss to Matt Serra which lead Serra to GSP and ultimately the UFC welterweight title. Lytle is a good striker and can submit. I think he’ll win this, TKO or even KO.
Mark Bocek Vs. Frank Edgar
Name: Mark Bocek
Mark Bocek - 4-0-0
Frank Edgar - “The Answer” 6-0-0
Frank Edgar was awesome against Tyson Griffin at UFC67. He kicked the crap out of Griffin at 67 and all my boys in New Jersey were going APE about him. He’s a great guy and a great fighter. He never stops. Mark Bocek is the biggest ginger in the world. Even more than Ed Herman. I hope he’s bald for the fight but we won’t see it anyway so… I know nothing about him, I’ve seen him train in Toronto and I know he had some fights in King of the Cage. That’s it so I don’t know about this fight. I want Edgar to win :)
(5 votes, average: 3.6 out of 5)
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