UFC 132 Is Tonight!
Tim Marcham of Sports Illustrated has complained about the way that UFC 132 is being marketed.
On the one hand, I completely agree with him about the stupid nu metal music and the fact that fighters like Cruz deserve more coverage. On the other hand, it’s kind of hard to quantify Cruz’s symphony of dance and pain in a 30-second advertisement between pitching changes. Cruz and his bantamweight title are new to the UFC ranks. Wanderlei Silva and Tito Ortiz are guys that might catch the ears of people not paying attention. Marcham has some points (as long as you ignore the idea that Rashad Evans and Georges St. Pierre are past their primes because they’re barely north of 30) but offers no real solutions. If you think a 30 second video of Dominic Cruz sparring over classical music is going to sell PPV’s to a casual MMA fan, I really don’t know what to tell you.
The question is, how much does Urijah Faber have left in the tank? He hasn’t been invincible in three years, but he’s 2-0 since moving to 135. While dominant, Cruz hasn’t stopped a majority of his fights. I think if Faber is going to win this, he has to get it done inside the distance. All I know is this should be an exciting fight.
Wanderlei Silva (33-10-1, 1nc, 3-5 UFC) vs. Chris Leben (25-7, 11-6 UFC)
This is a fight both guys wanted and they finally got. It should be an ugly brawl where both guys stand in front of each other until one of them gets knocked out. Neither guy has that much to lose or gain (besides the love of the fans). Should be fun though.
Carlos Condit (26-5, 3-1 UFC) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (14-0-1, 1nc, 5-0, 1nc UFC)
Kim is undefeated and coming off a pretty solid destruction of Nate Diaz on New Year’s Day. Still, this feels like Condit’s fight to lose. Condit has righted his ship after dropping his UFC debut to Martin Kampmann two years ago. Coming off a Fight of the Night and Knockout of the Night, Condit has all the right momentum and skills to make a run at Georges St. Pierre.
Dennis Siver (18-7, 7-4 UFC) vs. Matt Wiman (13-5, 7-3 UFC)
I’ll be honest. Even though Wiman has been with the UFC for 5 years, I barely remember him. Dude even has three FotN awards. Siver is the guy who ruined the George Sotiropoulos hype train in February. It should be noted that one of Siver’s nicknames is “The Mule.”
PRELIMINARY CARD (8pm Spike TV)
Melvin Guillard (27-8-2, 1nc, 9-4 UFC) vs. Shane Roller (10-3, 1-0 UFC)
Like Silva-Leben, but with smaller people.
Rafael dos Anjos (14-5, 3-3 UFC) vs. George Sotiropoulos (14-3, 7-1 UFC)
Awesome jiu-jitsu battle. It’s a shame that they didn’t work this Spike prelim into the advertisements.
PRELIMINARY CARD (6:15pm Facebook)
Brian Bowles vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Aaron Simpson vs. Brad Tavares
Anthony Njokuani vs. Andre Winner
Jeff Hougland vs. Donny Walker