· UFC 127 Preview: Aussies Handing Out Title Shots
The UFC has continued to trek through the entire globe, stopping in some of the most rabid MMA markets in the process. One such market has proved to be Australia, where the UFC will make its second visit this weekend.
The country has produced UFC mainstays George Sotiropoulos and Anthony Perosh, but stars could be in the making in Kyle Noke and James Te Huna.
An aura similar to last year’s UFC 110 event surrounds this card as well. The winner of the headlining bout between B.J. Penn and Jon Fitch is almost guaranteed a title shot—just as Cain Velasquez earned a title shot with his first round knockout victory over Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera last year—and Michael Bisping will compete in the co-main event against a tough striker determined to test his mettle as a top middleweight contender. Last year Wanderlei Silva eked out a close decision win, and this year Jorge Rivera is confident that his road to a title shot will go through "The Count."
The matchup of Penn and Fitch is a peculiar yet intriguing one, as it made perfect sense when Dana White announced the fight after Penn destroyed Matt Hughes with a knockout just 21 seconds into their November bout. Both fighters have competed for the welterweight title before—with Penn holding the strap after upsetting Hughes the first time the two faced off in Penn's welterweight debut—and both have remained as perennial contenders since losing in their last title outings of which both were to current division kingpin Georges St-Pierre as part of his current string of six straight title defenses.
Penn held the lightweight belt at the time that he last squared off with St-Pierre, but it appears that his time at 155 pounds could be over for the foreseeable future after back-to-back losses to Frankie Edgar. Fitch is known as a grinding fighter who makes his opponents fight his type of fight, smothering victims with dominant wrestling and ground and pound that has kept him near the top of the 170-pound division.
One of the biggest questions to be answered on Saturday night (or Sunday afternoon Australia time) will be whether Penn’s formerly impenetrable takedown defense will return once again. Penn was known as the fighter with perhaps the best balance in the sport before Edgar took him down almost at will in their last bout, and it is almost certain that Fitch has studied those fights looking for holes in Penn’s game.
Despite being a dangerous black belt, Penn likely needs to keep this fight on his feet to win. If Fitch is able to hold him down then he’ll sail through to victory on the judges’ scorecards. Penn needs to bring back his deft footwork and superior boxing in order to outpoint the ultra tough Fitch in the striking game. Fitch has been known to have a granite chin, but if Penn can stay active as a boxer for 15 minutes while defending the takedown at the same time then he should be able to take the decision.
The co-main event has become intriguing mainly because Michael Bisping requires that he talk so much trash about each opponent that he eventually says something that is worth listening to. Rivera isn’t necessarily a “boring” fighter, but he’s the tough old-guy on the pickup basketball court who hustles back to play defense and cleans up on the boards inside.
He will be 39-years-old on Monday, and he could be celebrating his birthday as a top contender in the UFC middleweight division, somewhere he’s never even really sniffed before. The “old man” has quietly won three tough fights in a row, including two consecutive TKO victories over Rob Kimmons and Nate Quarry to become a player for a shot at Anderson Silva’s belt; the two actually faced off at Cage Rage 11 where Silva earned a TKO with a devastating combo of knees and punches.
Bisping has been a perennial top prospect since cruising through the "Ultimate Fighter 3" house, but he has lost at the most inopportune times: to Rashad Evans after starting his UFC career 4-0, prompting a drop to middleweight; to Dan Henderson after winning his first three at middleweight and being on the cusp of a title shot; and to Wanderlei Silva last year when a title shot was once again within reach. If Bisping ever wants to be taken seriously as a top ten 185-pound fighter who could seriously challenge Silva for his title, then Rivera is the type of fighter that he needs to dominate. Perhaps the fact that very few people think he can says a lot about his chances against Silva.
George Sotiropoulos is at the stage in his career where a title shot has to be inevitable if he keeps winning, but it always seems to be just around the corner. Jon Fitch was this way for a while in the welterweight division, and Yushin Okami is currently facing the same fate as a middleweight.
Perhaps a catchy nickname to go with his ever-improving boxing and dominant ground game would make the Aussie submission machine more likely to be given a title shot. His style matches up well with the likes of Frankie Edgar or Gray Maynard, but the logjam at lightweight that also features Jim Miller, Anthony Pettis, and others has been keeping him out of the big payday fights.
Some would argue that German kickboxer Dennis Siver is just as worthy of a title shot as Sotiropoulos, and he said he plans to prove it by choking the BJJ black belt out during their bout. He’s a BJJ purple belt himself, and he’s shown a stout ground game in submitting the likes of Jim Wallhead, Dale Hartt and Andre Winner during his UFC career. His fight with Sotiropoulos is his chance to prove that he’s a consistent fighter who is deserving of a title shot.
