Back in May, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua earned an ovation for taking the light heavyweight title from Lyoto Machida in convincing fashion. This weekend, if hometown superstar Georges St-Pierre is able to retain his welterweight belt by beating public enemy #1 Josh Koscheck, they’re going to be putting a new roof on the home of Les Canadiens.
The biggest crowd in UFC history is expected, and they’re going to be in for an incredible night of fights.
Pat Audinwood (9-1-1) vs. John Makdessi (7-0-0)
The undercard is essentially the “Canadian content” portion of the event, and it starts with the debut of unbeaten Laval native Makdessi.
To this point in his career, Makdessi has been solid, earning victories in all seven of his bouts. He finished the first six of those fights without reaching the third round, then went the distance with his toughest opponent to date, Bendy Casimir, in August. A kickboxer, Makdessi will be looking to start the night off with a bang and begin the raucous cheering that will ring-out all through the night.
This will be the second appearance inside the Octagon for Audinwood, and he’ll be looking to bounce back from the first loss of his career. He was completely overmatched in his debut, a first round submission loss to Thiago Tavares in September, and needs to have a strong showing here to remain a part of the freakishly deep lightweight division.
T.J. Grant (16-4-0) vs. Ricardo Almeida (12-4-0)
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Normally, if you were a UFC fighter from a small Nova Scotia town, there is no way you wouldn’t be the most popular and most successful athlete the town has produced. But when you’re T.J. Grant and you grew up in Cole Harbour, you’re a distant second to some hockey player named Crosby. He’s a bit of a big deal.
Regardless of where he sits on the Nova Scotia Sports Stars totem pole, Grant is a hard-working, well-respected member of the UFC welterweight division. Starting with his outstanding beard and extending through his five Octagon appearances to date, everything about Grant screams grinder, and I mean that with the utmost respect. His two UFC losses have come by decision against quality opponents, and two of his three wins have come through the cards as well. While he has solid hands and an underrated submission game, Grant is more likely to wear you out than finish the fight with any other kind of “out.”
After getting put to sleep by Matt Hughes and his nasty, old man strength, front-headlock choke at UFC 117 in August, Almeida needs a serious performance to remind everyone why his was considered a dark horse contender following his move from middleweight.
The former King of Pancrase holds a pair of wins over Nate Marquardt, and victories over Matt Brown and Kendall Grove inside the Octagon, so you know the skills are there. After the demoralizing loss last time out, Almeida might just need to get in the cage and prove to himself that he belongs. He has the high-end grappling and overall strength and size to out-grind the grinder, but it might be mental strength that dictates who wins this one.
Joe Doerksen (46-13-0) vs. Dan Miller (12-4-0)
I don’t care who you are, you have to love “El Dirte.”
Doerksen is a weird looking dude who will be stepping into the Octagon for his 60th professional fight on Saturday. He had his six-fight winning streak snapped last time out in what was one of the most exciting and entertaining two-minute fights in some time. Though he’s been seriously entertaining in his last two UFC fights, the Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt will need to get back into the win column or risk getting his walking papers.
The Canadian will has a tough task ahead of him, as he takes on the older half of the New Jersey chapter of The Fighting Miller Brothers. After being given one last chance despite riding a three-fight losing streak, Miller made the most of his opportunity by submitting John Salter with a move he called a “ninja choke.” While his win at UFC 118 might have bought him some time, the AMA Fight Club member needs to keep the wins coming, because going 1-4 in your last five isn’t going to cut it.
Matt Riddle (5-1-0) vs. Sean Pierson (10-4-0)
Former Ultimate Fighter contestant Riddle has never fought outside of the UFC. I’ve been hesitant to get behind the 24-year-old to this point, but it’s hard to argue with his track record. After suffering his only loss to date against Nick Osipczak at UFC 105, the grappler from Allentown, Pennsylvania bounced back by dominating Greg Soto and pounding out DaMarques Johnson. Now he’ll welcome “Showdown” Joe Ferrarro’s pal Sean Pierson to the UFC.
A talented wrestler who was slated to compete in the Bellator welterweight tournament for Season 2, Pierson had to pull out due to injury, and earns a bit of karmic payback by replacing T.J. Waldburger here. The Toronto native enters on a five-fight winning streak, but the stakes – and pressure – are infinitely higher competing on the biggest stage of them all. How he responds will play a major factor in determining if Pierson can keep his winning streak intact.
Rafael “Sapo” Natal (12-3-0) vs. Jesse Bongfeldt (21-7-0)
A newcomer many were anxious to see inside the Octagon for the first time back at Fight Night 22, Natal came up short in his debut, losing to TUF 11 alum Rich Attonito by unanimous decision. The Gracie Fusion fighter who serves as an instructor at Renzo Gracie’s New York academy was all set to welcome Jason MacDonald back to the cage, but the oft-injured Edmonton-based fighter was forced to withdraw. Instead, “Sapo” is scheduled to welcome newcomer Bongfeldt back to the cage for the first time in 15 months.
The Kenora, Ontario native will take the short trip across the Quebec border to compete for the first time since beating Nolan Clark in August 2009. One of the top welterweight competitors in the country, Bongfeldt holds wins over fellow UFC 124 competitors T.J. Grant and Sean Pierson, and while he’s shown diversity in his ability to finish fights, asking the Canadian to shake off the ring rust while making his UFC debut might be asking a bit too much.
Mark Bocek (8-3-0) vs. Dustin Hazelett (12-6-0)
This will be a great time for those who dislike grappling / ground battles to take a bathroom break and get some snacks before the main card starts. For grappling fiends like me, this is awesome!
Bocek is a criminally underrated lightweight competitor, in part because he doesn’t compete as frequently as some of his 155-pound counterparts. This will be the first time the Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt will enter the Octagon since dropping a close – and perhaps controversial – decision to Jim Miller at UFC 111. Normally, his premium pedigree on the ground would give Bocek an edge against his competition, but this time, he’s facing a fellow grappling machine.
After suffering back-to-back technical knockout losses in the dangerous welterweight division, Hazelett decided to drop down to ’55, and it is a move that could pay dividends. “McLovin’” will have a solid height and reach advantage over many of his opponents – including in this meeting with Bocek – and showed some of the most dynamic submission skills in the sport during his time as a welterweight.
The increased depth in the division adds to the intrigue. While both are solid competitors, neither is near contention and with a bevy of viable options at the 155-pound limit, both Bocek and Hazelett run the risk of losing their place at the table if they lose this bout.
Whether you’re looking at records, resumes or just physical appearance, Alves looks like a dominant force when placed alongside Howard. Just two fights ago, the American Top Team product was standing across the cage from GSP with the welterweight title on the line.
A lot has happened to Alves since UFC 100, including brain surgery and a one-sided beating at the hands of Jon Fitch in a bout where the consensus Top 5 welterweight failed to make the 170-pound limit. There is a lot of pressure on the powerful, young Brazilian heading into this bout, and Howard has what it takes to hand Alves a third-straight loss if “The Pitbull” isn’t careful.
Coming in off his first UFC loss, Howard is hungry to get back in the win column and welcomes the opportunity to do that against a highly-regarded opponent. While Alves outscored Howard in almost all the measurable categories, Howard has the kind of lethal, one-punch power to collect a knockout win out of nowhere, just as he did against Dennis Hallman at the TUF 10 Finale.
With the upper tier of the welterweight division being a jumbled collection of capable challengers, this will be the first of what could be many matches that helps sort out who sits where in the pecking order.
Joe Stevenson (31-11-0) vs. Mac Danzig (19-8-1)
This meeting of two of the least memorable winners of The Ultimate Fighter could actually turn out to be a solid scrap, even though it means next to nothing when it comes to the lightweight rankings.
Stevenson hasn’t stepped into the cage since being defeated by George Sotiropoulos at UFC 110 last February, and the lengthy layoff could impact his performance this time around. Prior to dropping that decision, the welterweight winner from TUF 2 has put together a nice two-fight winning streak under the guidance of Greg Jackson.
As for Danzig, the fighting vegan dominated Season 6 of The Ultimate Fighter, a cast widely held as one of the worst in the franchise’s now-12-year run. He enters this fight in dangerous territory, having lost four of his last five fights. While the most recent of those defeats was the absolutely horrible stoppage of his bout with Matt Wiman at UFC 115, we were wondering if “one more loss” would be the end of the line after he was beaten by Josh Neer, and that was three fights and almost two years ago.
In case you haven’t picked up on it thus far, allow me to say it one more time: the lightweight division is loaded with talent, so expensive, middling fighters who hover around .500 aren’t going to get many kicks at the can. Both men need this win.
Jim Miller (18-2-0) vs. Charles Oliveira (14-0-0)
When he burst onto the scene with a pair of victories six weeks apart this summer, I didn’t think we would see Oliveira’s litmus test come this quickly.
The energetic, young Brazilian looked tremendous in submitting Darren Elkins early in his debut, and put on an all-around clinic against TUF 8 winner Efrain Escudero in what would be his UFC swan song. As great as he looked in those two outings, Miller is a very big step up the lightweight ladder.
The younger half of the New Jersey chapter of The Fighting Miller Brothers competes on the same UFC card as his big brother Dan for the first time, and looks to extend his winning streak to six at the expense of Oliveira.
Though he hasn’t faced the biggest names in the 155-pound ranks, Miller has done exceptionally well as of late, gutting out a victory over Mark Bocek and grinding away a win against the underrated Gleison Tibau in his latest outing. A strong all-around competitor, Miller is on the fringe of championship contention and a victory here would move him one step closer to fighting for the title.
Stefan Struve (20-4-0) vs. Sean McCorkle (10-0-0)
This one might not take very long.
Struve has the potential to be a nightmare matchup for everyone in the middle tier of the heavyweight division, as his size and kickboxing ability could be extremely valuable weapons. Unfortunately, the 22-year-old Dutch fighter really likes to trade power shots with his opponents, and while the tactic has worked a couple times, it’s also led to Struve eating some massive shots of his own along the way.
In addition to being one of the funniest dudes in the sport, McCorkle is a solid heavyweight and the kind of guy who could put a hurting on Struve if he tries to follow his usual gameplan. The unbeaten thirthysomething had an impressive debut, submitting Pride veteran Mark Hunt with an armbar off his back at UFC 119.
It’s entirely possible that these two heavies are going to walk to the center of the cage and keep chucking knuckles until one of them falls down. How awesome would that be?
Georges St-Pierre (20-2-0) vs. Josh Koscheck (15-4-0)
Four months of The Ultimate Fighter, an episode of UFC Countdown and all kinds of Koscheck trash-talk has everyone acutely aware of the situation here.
Instead of adding my two cents, I’ll just say that this is a tremendous way to end an great year of UFC events, with one of the best fighters in the world defending his coveted championship against his arch rival.