Fight Critic, Mixed Martial Arts Commentary and News

Wow, so much has been going on in the world of MMA this week and last that my head is still spinning. It is a good thing that we have so much to talk about and so many fights to watch.

UFC Fight Night 9 is airing this Thursday the 5th of April at 8PM on Spike TV and it’s one of the numerous MMA events happening this week. The free UFC fight cards are always a mixed bag. Let’s see what we got this time…

UFC Fight Night 9 - Fight Card and Thoughts:

Main Event, Lightweight: Joe Stevenson (26-7) vs. Melvin Guillard (20-5-2)
On paper the main event has all the ingredients to be an interesting and exciting fight. Melvin Guillard is very explosive in the cage and has knockout power in his hands; many people think of him as a smaller Kevin Randleman. Joe Stevenson has proven himself to be a skilled fighter who has plenty of fights under his belt and wins over a couple of solid guys at 155 lbs.

Guillard will most likely have the edge while they are standing; on the ground it is the other way around. Like any fight, the outcome of this one will come down to which fighter can impose their will and game plan on the other. This is a tough fight to call because we haven’t seen enough of Guillard’s quickly expanding game to know if his takedown defense and standup ability are up to the task against Joe Daddy. If they are, Guillard has the definite edge and this fight should end in a nice ratings-boosting knockout.

The winner of this fight is poised to move into the short list of title fight contenders in the lightweight division. They would probably have one more fight after this before they got a title shot. With those 2+ wins in a row, they would be favored to get a shot at the winner of the Sean Sherk / Hermes Franca match.

I’d love to see Guillard score a brutal knockout and go on to participate in the PRIDE Lightweight GP this year. Pipe dream, I know (probably).

To be broadcast:
Heavyweight: Antoni Hardonk (5-2) vs. Justin McCully (7-3-2)
Unfortunately Frank Mir dropped out of this match due to injury. This fight might help us figure out if Antoni’s last win in the UFC was beginner’s luck or if we may just possibly have another decent addition to the short list of UFC heavyweights.

Lightweight: Kenny Florian (4-3) vs. Dokonjonosuke Mishima (17-5-2)
This is Kenny’s first fight back after being manhandled for five rounds by Sean “The Muscle Shark” Sherk. It will be interesting to see how he does in his comeback against a solid opponent in Mishima. This fight in conjunction with the main event should shine some light on where the fighters near the upper echelons of the UFC Lightweight division stand relative to one another.

May not be broadcast:
Welterweight: Drew Fickett (27-5) vs. Keita Nakamura (13-1-2)
Welterweight: Kuniyoshi Hironaka (10-3) vs. Forrest Petz (12-3)
Lightweight: Kurt Pellegrino (9-2) vs. Nathan Moore (1-1)
Lightweight: Naoyuki Kotani (16-5-5) vs. Thiago Tavares (10-0)
Light Heavyweight: Wilson Gouveia (7-4) vs. Seth Petruzelli (6-3)
Middleweight: Roan Carneiro (10-5) vs. Rich Clementi (24-11-1)

There are a lot of new and relatively unknown fighters on this card. Many folks will look at this as a negative, but not me. MMA, and the UFC specifically, can always use a deeper roster of talented fighters. I am hoping some of these fighters will make this event their coming out party.

Don’t forget that this event is just the lead-in to the season opener of what we’re constantly being told is the most exciting season of The Ultimate Fighter reality show yet. Of course, they would tell us that wouldn’t they? Guess the only way to know for sure is to tune in on Thursday night as BJ Penn, Jens Pulver, and Dana White go at each other with 16 lightweight fighters as their playing chips.