UFC About To Hit The Home Stretch

UFC 137 starts exciting ten-week charge to the end of 2011

I’m glad there are no UFC fights these next two weeks.

While some fight fans might be looking at the next two weeks as torture, weekends squandered doing work around the house — raking leaves, and “getting prepared for winter” as my mother used to say — I welcome the break with open arms.

That’s saying a lot too, because I live in Victoria, British Columbia, where working in the yard in October is accompanied by torrential rains. You can’t just put it off until tomorrow either, because it’ll be raining tomorrow too.

It’ll be raining until May, maybe June, with a little bit of wet snow mixed in from December to February.

With that kind of awful weather and a laundry list of chores awaiting me — including laundry itself — why exactly am I so welcoming of the current two week break in the UFC schedule?

Because when it’s over, we’ve got seven events in 10 weeks, including three title fights, a bunch of solid-to-spectacular non-title encounters, and a handful of individual fighters with intriguing match-ups between now and New Year’s Eve.

I’m happy for the break because we’re about to hit the home stretch on the 2011 UFC fight calendar, and the race to the finish is going to be outstanding.

Here’s a look at what lies ahead.

TITLE FIGHTS

Georges St-Pierre vs. Carlos Condit (UFC 137 – October 29)

This UFC welterweight title tilt might be the toughest pairing St-Pierre has had in the last two years.

While he’s been able to accurately game plan for opponents like Josh Koscheck and Jake Shields, Condit brings a less predictable, less patterned approach to the cage. He brings proven knockout power and an unbreakable will to win too, as he’s shown over his impressive five-fight run in the UFC.

Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos (UFC on FOX 1 – November 12)

I don’t really think I need to say much to sell the awesomeness of this fight/ These are the two best heavyweights in the sport, and they’re meeting in an historic bout for the UFC heavyweight title.

What more do you need?

Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida (UFC 140 – December 10)

The latest addition to the list of exciting fights lined up for the home stretch, Jones has quickly become a “must-see” attraction every time he fights. During his rapid climb to the top of the light heavyweight ranks, Machida has often been mentioned as one of the few people with the potential to unseat the supremely talented upstart, and now we’ll get to see if he can.

CAN’T MISS NON-TITLE FIGHTS

BJ Penn vs. Nick Diaz (UFC 137)

People might actually be more excited to see this fight than to have watched Diaz do battle with St-Pierre for the welterweight title. That fight could still happen should Diaz win here, though that is far from guaranteed.

The former Strikeforce champion gets his chance to prove that he deserves to be considered as one of the best welterweights in the sport in this one, as a win over Penn will trump all of his Strikeforce conquests.

Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson (UFC on FOX 1)

Think of this as The Energizer Bunny (Guida) versus Gumby (Henderson) in a battle to see which one will eventually get to fight for the UFC lightweight title.

The pace will be frenetic, hair will be flying everywhere, Guida will let out at least one wall-rattling belch between rounds, and someone will emerges as a possible opponent for Frankie Edgar.

Chris Leben vs. Mark Munoz (UFC 138 – November 5)

Chael Sonnen pretty much locked up a spot opposite Anderson Silva Saturday with his win/challenge combo at UFC 136. The winner of this one could be right behind him.

Munoz has put together a tidy three-fight winning streak, and won six-of-seven overall since moving to middleweight. Following his win over Demian Maia with an impressive performance against “The Crippler” could secure Munoz a shot at the title.

Leben, meanwhile, bounced back from a loss to Brian Stann at UFC 125 with a sub-30-second thrashing of Wanderlei Silva at UFC 132. He’s won four of his last five, and adding a win over Munoz to his resume might be enough to earn him a chance to challenge for the middleweight championship.

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Dan Henderson (UFC 139 – November 19)

Henderson returns to the Octagon after a two-year bid in Strikeforce that saw him lose to a current UFC welterweight, but also claim the organization’s light heavyweight title.

Rua took out his frustrations about losing the light heavyweight title on Forrest Griffin in August, and now whoever wins this could make their way to the top of the let of contenders. Henderson could potential earn a rematch with Anderson Silva by winning here according to Dana White.

Regardless of title implications, this is a super-cool fight.

Brian Bowles vs. Urijah Faber (UFC 139)

Winner gets Dominick Cruz, simple as that. While I’m not a huge fan of Faber returning to a title bout after just one win, I am a huge fan of this fight.

Bowles lost the belt to Cruz after breaking his hand early in the fight and being forced to call it a night. He’s looked solid since returning, and has the power/speed/submissions combination that could be dangerous to the proven and experienced former featherweight champ.

Jason Miller vs. Michael Bisping (TUF 14 Finale – December 3)

Regardless of the reality TV nonsense, I’m just curious to see if Bisping can take the next step towards a title shot or if “Mayhem” can get his first truly meaningful victory since December 2007.

Yes, you read that right; December 2007 — he beat Tim Kennedy. His four wins since then have all been lay-ups. Whether he has the tools to beat Bisping is the reason I’ll be tuning in.

Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem (UFC 141 – December 30)

Two mammoth heavyweights with plenty to prove, and they work as a very intriguing contrast of styles too.

All Overeem does is smash people in the face, something that happens to be Brock Lesnar’s least favorite thing on this planet. Conversely, Lesnar is best when he uses his brute strength to wrestle opponents to the ground and maul them, and while Overeem has solid takedown defense, he’s never faced a former Division I National champion who desperately wants to get the fight to the mat.

INDIVIDUAL FIGTHERS

Hatsu Hioki (UFC 137)

Hioki was considered the best 145 pound fighter outside the UFC before signing with the organization. His first chance to prove himself comes against the durable George Roop, and a win could result in a title bout with Jose Aldo.

Matt Mitrione (UFC 137)

Raise your hand if you ever thought “Meathead” from Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter would be 5-0 and a win away from breaking into the top 10 fighter in the UFC? That’s exactly what happens if he beat Cheick Kongo on October 29.

Donald Cerrone (UFC 137)

“Cowboy” is looking for his fourth win of 2011, filling in for Sam Stout against rising contender Dennis Siver. Four straight wins in the UFC over increasingly more challenging competition — and six consecutive wins overall — would surely be enough to earn Cerrone a place on the short list of lightweight contenders heading into 2012.

Brandon Vera (UFC 137)

This isn’t about living up to the youthful boasts he made at the start of his UFC career; now Vera just needs to prove he can still win a fight in the UFC, plain and simple.

Thiago Alves (UFC 138)

After brutalizing his way to a welterweight title shot, Alves has lost three of his last four fights, including his UFC 100 defeat to GSP. He seems to have put his weight issues behind him thanks to Mike Dolce, but now he needs to get back into the win column. A loss to UFC newcomer Papy Abedi will be hard to come back from.

Rory MacDonald (UFC 140)

He’s looked great and just about everyone thinks he’s destined for greatness, which makes his bout with Brian Ebersole so important. This is the kind of fight some rising stars would overlook and lose; MacDonald needs to prove he’s that kind of rising star.

Mark Hominick (UFC 140)

I feel bad for “The Korean Zombie” because Hominick will be fighting in front of family and friends in Toronto, and fighting in honor of his coach and best friend, Shawn Tompkins, on what should be an emotional night for all of Team Tompkins.

Jon Fitch (UFC 141)

Sidelined since his fight with Penn at UFC 127, Fitch has seemingly become the forgotten man in the welterweight division, which is crazy, considering he’s still the best welterweight in the world not named St-Pierre. A good showing against Johny Hendricks should sufficiently remind people.