UFC 120 Punch Drunk Preview

Dan Hardy (23-7-0) vs. Carlos Condit (25-5-0)

This fight is going to tell us a lot about both fighters and maybe even give us a little insight on how things could shape up in the welterweight division moving forward.

This will be Hardy’s first appearance since having his ass handed to him by Georges St-Pierre back in March, and the cocky Brit won’t want to let his countryman down. He has repeatedly gotten the better of opponents who have wanted to stand with him, and while the one-punch knockout power may not be there, he’ll certainly batter you into oblivion if you give him the chance.

There was a time when Carlos Condit was considered the future king of the 170-pound division, back when he was tearing apart welterweights in the WEC. Since being merged into the UFC, “The Natural Born Killer” has had three entertaining, but uneven performances, coming away with a 2-1 record in the process.

While he has a decent ground game, thanks to his long, wiry frame, Condit likes to stand-and-trade, a practice that has gotten him in trouble in each of his three UFC bouts. Last time out, Condit started exceptionally slow against Rory MacDonald and was down on every scorecard in the building before pouring it on in the third round and securing a stoppage. That won’t work against Hardy.

Looking ahead to 2011, the winner of this contest has to be considered on a short list of contenders for the welterweight title. At the very least, whoever emerges victorious will have a number of quality bouts available to him once things across the division play out. Expect names like Fitch, Koscheck, Kampmann and Shields to be mentioned alongside these two in 2011.

Michael Bisping (19-3-0) vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-2-0)

Every so often, you’ve gotta just sit back and enjoy a fight like this. There is nothing at stake, neither guy is angling for a title shot (or should be considered for one), and you have a seriously polarizing figure like Michael Bisping to either cheer for or cheer against. This is the definition of a “Fun Fight.”

Bisping is coming off a steady three-round win over Dan Miller at UFC 114 where he was able to show off his technical boxing and continually-improving grappling skills. One of few fighter that you either love or hate, Bisping believes he is a middleweight contender and could convince a few people of the same with an impressive win over Akiyama here.

The extremely popular Akiyama enters off his entertaining performance with Chris Leben on the UFC 116 undercard. While the bout was one of the best of the year, Akiyama has yet to deliver an overly-impressive performance since joining the UFC as a high-profile acquisition last summer. Both of his bouts have been middle-of-the-road affairs which featured flashes of brilliance, but nothing sustained.

I viewed his last fight with Leben as a chance for Akiyama to prove his worth and renew that notion now. It may not be a must-win situation, but it certainly is a “put on a good show” scenario facing “Sexyama” in England.

In case you missed it, check out the rest of the team’s thoughts on UFC 120 with the debut of the Heavy MMA Podcast.