I gotta be honest on this one, I really feel like the UFC is using the top 2 fights to get away with having a below average card. There are fights besides those that I am looking forward to seeing, but I can't help but think that most of these are "Fight Night" fights.
BJ Penn Vs. Kenny Florian - This is one of those fights where I am really tempted to pick this fight with my heart and not my head. BJ has really taken a slide in the public image dept. after the GSP fight, and Kenny Florian should have worked his way in to the good graces of most mma fans by now just with his hard work and his progression as a fighter. I find myself cheering for Kenny now because I think that he is great for the sport. He has really taken his opportuntiy as a fighter seriously and has improved so much from when he first stepped into the octagon. Having said all of that, BJ Penn is still BJ Penn. This is still the guy that most fighters will tell you has the most pure God given mma talent of any fighter in the UFC. This is still the guy who has dominated the lightweight division. I know he looked bad in his last fight with GSP, but that was GSP, and it was 170. BJ is going to go down as one of the best fighters of all time, and I still think he has fight left in him. The potential issues I see are that Kenny is longer than BJ. I think BJ is better on his feet, but he normally makes that apparent with guys who also have shorter range (Sherk, Stevenson, etc.) it will be interesting to see if he wants to stand up with the longer Florian. I think that he will, because that's what BJ does. I think he'll be better on his feet, and if it goes to the ground, he is still an amazing fighter on the mat. I did hear Mark Delagrotta who is training Kenny say that it is a prevailing thought that a good ol fashioned thai boxer is the antidote for BJ's stand up, and he thought Kenny could exploit that. I think there may some truth to that, but I'm not ready to say that Kenny can do that, yet.
Anderson Silva Vs. Forrest Griffin - Like the first fight, I have this battle going on where I really want to pick Forrest in this fight. It's not just because Forrest is likeable, and has become so popular, it's because Forrest has turned himself into a really good fighter. Also, I have been banging the drum for a while now that I think Silva is ripe to be beaten. I think that Forrest is a match-up type that can be problematic for Silva in that he can take a shot and still stand in there and throw back. We haven't really seen Silva take a punch in a while, and I would be surprised if he escapes this fight without taking one. I like that Forrest throw a lot of kicks, and he may be able to nuetralize some of Silva's quickness with them. On the other hand though, Forrest is the type of guy that Silva has had success against. Really, I think that Forrest and Rich Franklin are a lot alike, and normally that great, but in a fight with Anderson Silva, it probably isn't. I'm interested to see if Forrest is going to try and take Silva down and over-power him on the mat, because he may have an advantage there. With all that being said, Silva is still one of the best fighters of all time, and while I think he's ready to be beat, I'm not confident enough to say that Forrest will be the guy to do it. (Nate Marquardt FTW!)
Amir Sadollah Vs. Johny Hendricks - I did not watch the season of TUF that Amir was on, but he does have some pretty high praise about his fighting. I look forward to seeing him in a "legitimate" fight.
Kendall Grove Vs. Ricardo Almeida - Both guys are coming off a win (2 for Grove), both most recent loss is to Cote. Grove has looked pretty good as of late.
Shane Nelson Vs. Aaron Riley - Rematch?
Thales Leites Vs. Alessio Sakara - I hope this will be on as I am excited to see Leites comeback fight. I know he took a lot of heat after the Silva fight, but he was in a bigger fight than he needs to be, but that doesn't mean he's not a good fighter. Can he ever be the champ? No, but he can still fight. Also, Sakara is pretty tough, and he has a sweet tat, so I hope the show this one.
