UFC 93 will take place in Dublin at the O2 Arena.  The main event features Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson in a Light Heavyweight matchup that MMA fans are drooling over.  Both have moved to the Light Heavyweight division as it is the only logical thing to do with Anderson Silva stalking the Middleweight division.

UFC 93 Predictions

I have listed the UFC 93 fight card already so now I will list my predictions for UFC 93.  I did not do so hot for my last set of predictions for UFC 92 so let's see how I fare this time around.

We will start with the main event featuring Dan Henderson vs. Rich Franklin.

I don't think Hendersons striking is on par with Rich Franklin.  Dan has a ton of power to his punches but they are very slow and tend to be easy to spot.  Hendersons main strength in striking is his ability to take a punch.  Dans strategy should be to grind out a decision with his wrestling and take downs.  His clinch is top notch and, if he can get in close, he should be able to take Franklin down.

Rich Franklin is very much still a threat on his feet against anyone.  He doesn't have a ton of power behind his strikes but they do wear on opponents.  They will probably not wear on Henderson the same way though.  Frankins game plan should be to avoid the take downs of  Henderson and try to wear Dan out on his feet by out-striking him and winning a decision on his feet.

I predict Rich Franklin via decision.

The other bout on this card drawing a lot of attention is Shogun Rua vs Mark Coleman.  The two faced off before in Pride where Coleman won  after Shogun dislocated his elbow.

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua is a very highly ranked Light Heavyweight who has defeated top-ranked opponents in the past, including ex-light heavyweight champ, Rampage Jackson.  He is a very tenacious fighter who has black belts in both muay-thai and brazilian jiu jitsu.  His game plan should be to run through Coleman very quickly and earn a quick TKO.

Coleman is at the tail end of a Hall of Fame career.  He is a pioneer of mixed martial arts but has not fared to weel recently in his bouts.  Expect Coleman to look for a something similar to his last bout with Shogun to win the fight and avoid Ruas ferocious striking.

I predict Shogun by some sort of devastating strikes in the first round.

Rashad Evans is the third man to hold the UFC's Light Heavyweight Championship belt this year after defeating Forrest Griffin.  Evans and Griffin fought in the main event for the title at UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 Saturday night.  The two were awarded FIght of the Night honors after their bout and each received $60,000 bonuses for their efforts.

Rashad Evans has come along way since his time on the Ultimate Fighter series and has proven his mettle against every fighter the UFC has put in the Octagan with him.  Evans will not fly under the radar anymore as he is now the Champion of the most stacked division in mixed martial arts.  His first title defense should most likely be against Rampage Jackson who also put on a stellar performance against Wanderlei Silva Saturday night at UFC 92.

Rich Franklin

UFC 93 Main Event

UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson is the UFC's next event in Dublin, Ireland at the O2 Arena.  This will be a pay-per-view event.

The main event features a highly anticipated matchup between Rich "Ace" Franklin and Dan "Hendo" Henderson.  This is an exciting bout as it is Rich's second in the Light Heavyweight division this year and Henderson's first back at 205 since his loss to Quinton Jackson.  Rich last defeated Matt Hamill at UFC 88 and Dan recently defeated Rousimar Palhares at UFC 88 also.

Both Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson are top ranked MMA fighters and should put on a great fight.  I expect Rich to do what he can to keep this fight standing and look to outstrike Henderson.  Henderson should try to use his wrestling to stay inside of Rich and get the fight to the ground.

Main Card

Dan Henderson vs. Rich Franklin
Mark Coleman vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
Alan Belcher vs. Denis Kang
Jeremy Horn vs. Rousimar Palhares
Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle

The main card also features a rematch from pride between Mark Coleman and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.  Coleman hasn't fought since a loss to Fedor Emelianenko in Pride in 2006.  Shogun last at fought UFC 76 and lost to Forrest Griffin.  In their first matchup, Mark Coleman beat Shogun after Shogun broke his arm during the bout.

Another fight to look out for is Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle.  Both are heavy hitters with fast hands.

Preliminary Card

Alexandre Barros vs. Martin Kampmann
Antonio Mendes vs. Eric Schafer
Thomasz Drwal vs. Ivan Serati
Tom Egan vs. John Hathaway
Denis Siver vs. Nate Mohr

GSP Vs Penn

Fights have been finalized for UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Penn II.  The main event is a Super-Fight between current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre and current UFC Lightweight Champion Bj Penn.  This is a Welterweight Championship fight, not a winner take all fight.  It is the first time the UFC will feature a fight between two UFC Champions.

In their first matchup, Georges St. Pierre won a razor thin split-decision against Bj Penn.  Penn battered and bruised St. Pierre early but GSP survived and fought a more technical fight to earn the victory.  Bj is coming off a win against Sean Sherk in which he destroyed the former Champion.  St. Pierre is coming off a similarly impressive win against Jon Fitch.

Interestingly, Jon Fitch will also fight on this same card against Akihiro Gono.  A few months ago this bout would have surely been on the main card, but since Fitch seems to have fallen out of the UFC's good graces it would appear he is being punished by being on the Preliminary card.

Here is the complete card of this UFC Event:

MAIN CARD

Georges St. Pierre vs. B.J. Penn
Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva
Stephan Bonnar vs. Jon Jones
Karo Parisyan vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Nate Diaz vs. Clay Guida

Besides the main event, there are a couple of great fights on this Main Card.  Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva is an excellent matchup of an elusive style fighter in Machida and a very agressive striker in Thiago Silva.  Thiago has been on a tear through the Light Heavyweight division winning four straight including wins against James Irvin and Houston Alexander.  Also, watch for the Nate Diaz and Clay Guida fight as it has the potential to be Fight of the Night.  Diaz is a durable Lightweight fighter with excellent submissions and Clay Guida is known for his ground wars.

Here is the Prelimary Card:

PRELIMINARY CARD

Jon Fitch vs. Akihiro Gono
Manny Gamburyan vs. Thiago Tavares
John Howard vs. Chris Wilson
Jake O'Brien vs. Christian Wellisch
Matt Arroyo vs. Dan Cramer

The other combatants are expected to be Preliminary Card fighters, but Jon Fitch has proven his mettle in the UFC and Gono is certainly no slouch himself.  Hopefully the fight will be aired.

UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008

I didn't do to well for my UFC 91 predictions last time around.  Let's see how UFC 92 goes.

For this event I will make predictions for the big three bouts that will be taking place.  I will start with what might be the biggest draw for MMA fans. 

Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva

This fight makes me nervous, anxious, excited, all of the above.  Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva have faced off two times before with the same results: Wanderlei Silva via big knockouts.  I have a hard time believing the same will happen again though. 

Rampage has improved much since his Pride Fighting days and is more dedicated to his training.  Rampage most recently lost his Light Heavyweight title to Forrest Griffin.  Wanderlei Silva seems not to have lost any of his speed since his days of glory in Pride Fighting Championships in Japan.  Wanderlei displayed excellent striking and strength in his recent win over Keith Jardine.

Both fighters are at the top of, not only the Light Heavyweight division, but pound for pound MMA fighters in the world.  I will take Wanderlei Silva in this fight, not because he's beaten Rampage twice before, but because of Quinton Jackson's rocky life since he lost his title to Forrest Griffin.  Wanderlei Silva by decision in UFC 92's fight of the night.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir

This is an exciting fight because Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir are the two best Heavyweight brazilian jujitsu MMA fighters on the planet.  Big Nog has not fought in almost a year.  He last beat Tim Sylvia to capture the interim Heavyweight Title.  Frank Mir last fought against Brock Lesnar defeating Lesnar with a knee bar after taking early punishment.

I can't say I'm overly impressed with Mir.  His last win came against Lesnar who had fought one MMA bout before that.  He has never shown stamina in his bouts, something that Nogueira is famous for.  Look for Big Nog to keep his interim Heavyweight Title and fight Brock Lesnar sometime in the spring to unify the belts.

Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans

Forrest Griffin vs Rashad Evans is a matchup of Ultimate Fighter alums.  Forrest Griffin is the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion after beating Quinton Jackson at UFC 86.  Rashad Evans is coming a stunning knockout of Chuck Liddell at UFC 88.  This bout is for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship Title.

I was shocked by Rashad Evans knockout of Chuck Liddel as I'm sure most of the MMA world was.  Rashad has shown us that he is a different fighter than the lay and pray wrestler we saw during his time with the Ultimate Fighter show.  Forrests' change has been just as dramatic seeming to always outwork his opponents and being as technical a striker as the UFC has to offer.

I am anxious to see what kind of gameplan Greg Jackson will put together for Rashad Evans.  Regardless, we should not be to surprised to see nipple twisting from Rashad before the bout begins.  I don't think he can outwork Forrest Griffin, so look for Rashad to try to knockout him out.

I predict that Forrest will be able to successfully defend his title for the first time.  I'm looking forward to his next title defense which, if the MMA gods are listening to me, will be against Wanderlei Silva.

Juanito Ibarra and Rampage Jackson

Juanito Ibarra has denied rumors that he offered Wanderlei Silva "help" at defeating Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at the upcoming UFC event UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008.  According to Ibarra, he has not contacted, not has he approved a representative to contact Wanderlei Silva about possibly training Wanderlei.  Ibarra is quoted as saying:

I can't believe the stuff that gets printed in these magazines and websites.  This is exactly why I don’t read them. 

I never once contacted Wanderlei or his manager. I know them, sure. I really like Wanderlei. He's a great fighter and an extremely respectful person. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about him, his manager or his trainer, but if he received any kind of letter from someone claiming to be affiliated with me, then I honestly don't know anything about it and I didn't approve it.

It seemed like a sketchy story since Wanderlei has already handed Quinton two previous losses in Japan, however, both fighters are in very different places in their careers and the UFC has different rules than PrideFC.

Quinton Jackson and Juanito Ibarra split ways after Rampage lost his Light Heavyweight title to Forrest Griffin via decision at UFC 86.

Wanderlei Silva

According to UFCFight.com, Rampage Jackson's former trainer, Juanito Ibarra, approached Wanderlei Silva with the proposition of giving Wanderlei "the formula" for beating Rampage.  Quinton Jackson and Wanderlei Silva are set to square off against each other in a Light Heavyweight bout at UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008.

Earlier this year Rampage and former trainer Juanito Ibarra split ways soon after Jackson's Light Heavyweight championship title loss to Forrest Griffin.  Wanderlei and Quinton have faced off twice before in Japan's now defunct Pride Fighting Championships.  Wanderlei won both of those bouts with brutal knockouts.

According to the article, Wanderlei refused Ibarra's help.

The UFC is working out a deal to bring UFC 99 to Germany June 13th.  This is big news for German Mixed Martial Arts fans who have been waiting for years for this.

Apparently the UFC is trying to make Randy Couture Vs. Chuck Liddell 4 the headline.  It is not known whether the match would take place at Heavyweight or Light Heavyweight.  Chuck Liddell has never fought at Heavyweight in the UFC but Couture has.  The two faced off at Light Heavyweight in their previous three bouts, two won by Liddell, the first won by Couture.

Couture would be a draw for the German fans as he spent four years stationed in Germany and speaks German.  The UFC would likely add more local draws to the fight card.

Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson will headline UFC 93: Franklin Vs. Henderson.  This is a dream fight for UFC fans as both these fighters are very respected and trying to make a run in the extremely volatile UFC Light Heavyweight division.  Also on tap for the maincard is a Light Heavyweight rematch between the very exciting Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and the very first UFC Heavyweight Champion, Mark "The Hammer" Coleman.

The Franklin-Henderson bout is one mma fans have been itching to see for a while.  Both Franklin and Henderson have been involved in legendary matchups.  Rich Franklin has moved up to Light Heavyweight having not been able to find an answer for Anderson Silva.  He recently defeated Matt Hamill in convincing fashion.  Franklin is an excellent striker and has uncanny strength.  Dan Henderson is coming off a recent win against Rousimar Palhares and losses to Anderson Silva and Quinton Jackson, both being Title losses.  Henderson has a big right hand that he used to knockout Wanderlei Silva and has world class Greco Roman wrestling.

The rest of the card for UFC 93 has yet to be finalized.  UFC Event Tickets may still be found for this event.

It is being reported by MMAJunkie that Chuck Liddell may face Anderson Silva next at UFC 95 in London.

Anderson Silva recently defeated Patrick Cote via TKO.  Liddell lost his last fight against Rashad Evans by knockout.

I am fascinated by the idea of a Liddell-Silva matchup.  Anderson Silva normally fights at 185lbs. and is currently the UFC Middleweight Champion.  He has fought at 205lbs and recently beat James Irvin in that weight class.  Liddell might be the UFC's most popular fighter ever, and held the UFC Light Heavyweight Title from April of 2005 until May of 2007.

I love Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell's style of fighting.  He is a counter puncher for the most part and has one of the best sprawls in MMA making him extremely difficult to take down.  This creates very exciting fights for fans and almost always end in a knockout of some sort (either for Liddell or his opponent.)

Anderson Silva is typically a counter puncher himself and has excellent Brazillian jiu-jitsu, having earned a black belt from the Nogueira brothers.

I don't believe this fight would make it anywhere near the ground.  These two would stand and duke it out with Anderson scoring the bulk of shots while Liddell would look for the big knockout punch.  I would hope Liddell would utilize his kicking in a fight like this as I believe he has become far to dependant on his big right hand.  Let's hope the UFC can make this fight happen.