Here is the fight between Thiago Alves vs. Josh Koscheck at UFC 90. Koscheck took this fight after Diego Sanchez had to pull out on just two weeks notice. Alves proved to strong for Koscheck, stuffed his takedowns and dropped him a few times. Alves took this fight via unanimous decision.

Here is the fight between Dan Henderson vs. Rich Franklin at UFC 93. Henderson won a very close split decision landing him as coach of TUF 9, U.S. vs U.K.

Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar (3-1) vs. Frank Mir (12-3) for Title

Main Event Odds – (-240 Lesnar / +190 Mir ) at Sportsbook.com

Prediction:   I think Lesnar will make Mir pay standing, and if he scores a knockdown, I expect to see him stay on his feet and let Mir get up, only to bruise him some more. Lesnar by KO, round 1.

The main event is a highly-anticipated rematch, in which Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and Interim champion Frank Mir will once again collide to settle scores and unify their title belts. In their first meeting, Lesnar brought the pain to Mir in a big way before making a rookie mistake and getting caught in one of Mir’s deadly leglocks. The question is whether Lesnar’s unmatched size and power will overwhelm Mir totally this time, or whether Mir will be able to put his world-class jiu-jitsu to use yet again and defeat the inexperienced Lesnar.

Frank Mir’s heart and determination cannot be denied. After capturing the UFC Heavyweight Title, he suffered a near-fatal car crash that would have ended most fighters’ careers. Undaunted, Mir fought through over a year of physical therapy to return, against all odds, to the Octagon. His return was not a smooth one, and he suffered some early road bumps, most notably a mangling at the hands of “Pe de Pano” Cruz. He refused to give up, though, and put together a string of good performances, including his submission win over Lesnar and a career-best performance in which he completely lambasted future Hall of Famer Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera.

Despite his previous victory, though, this fight will probably be the toughest test of Mir’s career. He is completely dwarfed by the titanic Lesnar, and if this fight plays out like their first meeting, there is no guarantee that Mir will be able to weather the early storm of Lesnar’s aggression. Most problematic for Mir, though, is that his only real chance of winning is with a submission. His jiu-jitsu is light years ahead of Lesnar’s, but in order to implement it he will have to get Lesnar to the ground, which is a daunting task to say the least.

Lesnar, a man-mountain who has to cut a sizable amount of weight to reach the Heavyweight maximum of 265, has managed to compensate for his inexperience and lack of technique through overwhelming physical power, wrestling, and surprisingly, vicious punching power. Mir, Randy Couture, and Heath Herring have all felt the power Lesnar packs in his punches, and none of them was able to deal with it. Lesnar was foiled by his lack of experience against Mir the first time, as well as by a horrible standup when he was unloading punches on the ground. Someone with Lesnar’s experience in combat sports, though, is unlikely to make the same mistake twice. Even though he is most known for his wrestling, I expect Lesnar to turn this into a pure boxing match. Mir’s wrestling is nowhere near good enough to get Lesnar down, and Lesnar’s superior size, reach, and power will make life miserable for him on the feet.

Not to take anything away from Mir, who is clearly a top Heavyweight, but I don’t see a way for him to win this fight. Lesnar, once bitten by Mir’s stellar jiu-jitsu, will be twice shy about going to the ground a second time. Mir’s standup is good, but Lesnar’s massive hands pack way too much power for him to take many shots.

I think Lesnar will make Mir pay standing, and if he scores a knockdown, I expect to see him stay on his feet and let Mir get up, only to bruise him some more. Lesnar by KO, round 1.

170 lbs.: UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre (18-2) vs. Thiago Alves (16-3)

Fight Odds:  GSP -290 / +230 Alves Odds at Bodog.com

Fight Prediction:  I don’t see Alves being any exception. St. Pierre is too quick and explosive for Alves, or anyone else, to prevent him from getting a fight to the ground. Once the fight hits the mat, it will be all St. Pierre, who will punish Alves with top control and ground and pound en route to a violent TKO victory.

The semi-Main Event is a Welterweight title match between champion Georges “Rush” St. Pierre and top contender Thiago “Pitbull” Alves. St. Pierre has been a dominant force, destroying challengers and cementing himself as a strong P4P #1 contender. Alves has also been on a tear recently, scoring a string of upsets and earning himself the top contender’s spot.

Thiago Alves has the kind of striking that keeps his opponents up at night. His punches, kicks, and especially knees from the clinch are utterly devastating, as Karo Parisyan, Matt Hughes, and a host of other top Welterweights can no doubt attest. Recently, though, the biggest story has been the ridiculous progress his takedown defense has made. He thwarted nearly all of Matt Hughes’ takedown attempts, and completely dominated top wrestler Josh Koscheck, stuffing his shots and making it look really easy. That is going to help tremendously against St. Pierre, who easily has the best wrestling in the division. If Alves can manage to keep this fight standing, he has a lot more than a puncher’s chance.

St. Pierre has extremely underrated standup, but is probably still the less skilled fighter in the standup. He more than makes up for it, though, with athleticism, wrestling, submissions, strength, and cardio. While Alves has the edge standing, St. Pierre has the advantage in pretty much every single other category, including top-level fight experience. Alves’ takedown defense has become formidable, but every single time anyone felt like an opponent could handle St. Pierre’s wrestling, they were proven emphatically wrong.

185 lbs.: Dan Henderson (24-7) vs. Michael Bisping (17-1)

Fight Odds – (Henderson -200 / Bisbing +160)

Pat’s Prediction – It should be a very competitive fight, but I see Bisping’s hand being raised at the end following a 29-28 unanimous decision.

The second bout of the evening sees the culmination of the most recent season of The Ultimate Fighter as opposing coaches Dan “Hollywood” Henderson and Michael “The Count” Bisping square off with one another. Henderson is desperately seeking a rematch with Middleweight champion Anderson Silva, and a win here would all but cement him as the top contender. Bisping, for his part, is also trying to cement himself as a top player at Middleweight after his recent drop down from Light Heavyweight. Bisping is no stranger to championship pictures.

Going undefeated for most of his early career, Bisping captured the Cage Rage and Cage Warriors Light Heavyweight championships before participating in and winning The Ultimate Fighter 3. After his TUF win, Bisping continued his winning ways in the 205 pound division. Eventually, though, he ran into rival Matt Hamill, and was thoroughly handled despite being gifted the single worst decision in the sport’s history. He followed up that lackluster performance with his first ever loss, a decision against future Light Heavyweight champ “Sugar” Rashad Evans.

That loss prompted a drop to 185, where Bisping quickly regained his winning form, dominating Jason Day in the first round and easily handling tough brawler Chris Leben. Bisping’s best gifts are his natural athleticism, work ethic, and well-roundedness. While Bisping doesn’t have Henderson’s wrestling or knockout power, he is nonetheless a better technical boxer and has superior submissions. He has another advantage, also, in that his training partner Quinton Jackson fought and defeated Henderson already.

Henderson, for his part, is one of the most decorated fighters ever. An amazing Greco Roman wrestler with a legendary right hand, Henderson came into the UFC riding high, holding the PRIDE FC Light Heavyweight and Middleweight championships and having just lambasted Wanderlei Silva. His return to UFC was a rocky one, though. He was outwrestled and neutralized in a title unification match against Quinton Jackson, and then choked out by Middleweight champion Anderson Silva after handily winning the first round. He won his next two fights, a unanimous decision against newcomer Rousimar Palhares and a split decision against Rich Franklin at Light Heavyweight, but did not look impressive in either performance.

Though Henderson is the clear favorite going into this fight, I think it is Bisping’s to lose, for a number of reasons. Firstly, you will no doubt hear Joe Rogan assert that 185 pounds is Henderson’s “natural” weight class. “Natural” or not, though, all of Henderson’s most impressive performances have been at Light Heavyweight, and he frequently looks depleted and lethargic when he drops down. Secondly, Bisping has far better training partners. The days of Team Quest being a top-tier camp are long since gone, and Bisping brings in fighters from all over and spars with all of them, hard, every day. Thirdly, though Henderson has more powerful takedowns and a more devastating right hand, Bisping is the much more technical fighter overall.

I see Bisping pulling off the upset, using footwork to avoid Henderson’s huge looping rights and making him pay with counter punches. While it’s unrealistic to assume that Bisping can completely prevent Henderson from taking him down, he should be able to nullify his advantage on the ground with positioning and submission attempts.

It should be a very competitive fight, but I see Bisping’s hand being raised at the end following a 29-28 unanimous decision.

170 lbs.: Jon Fitch (18-3) vs. Paulo Thiago (11-0)

The third match of the evening pits UFC newcomer Paulo Thiago against top contender Jon Fitch in what is something of a grudge match. In his UFC debut, Thiago shocked Josh Koscheck with a vicious punching combo that sent the veteran down and out and earned Thiago a Knockout of the Night bonus and a permanent spot on the roster. Now, Jon Fitch will look to avenge his American Kickboxing Academy teammate’s loss and also reassert his own position at the top of the Welterweight pack following his loss to Georges St. Pierre.

Thiago, a dangerous grappler who proved against Koscheck that he can bang it out, too, shocked the world when he debuted in such dramatic fashion. He showed great heart coming back in a fight he was losing to destroy Koscheck’s chin with a brutal uppercut and a followup left hook, and never looked intimidated against the much more established and experienced wrestler. Now, though, he’s been thrown head-first into the deep end of the Welterweight division. No doubt his big win against Koscheck will provide him confidence, but he’s going to need more than that to handle the likes of Jon Fitch.

Fitch, who started his career as a grappler under Dave Camarillo, quickly moved out to American Kickboxing Academy where he has grown into a dangerously well-rounded Mixed Martial Artist. Before his loss against St. Pierre, Fitch won eight fights in a row, which puts him in a tie for second place with Royce Gracie for most consecutive UFC wins, behind Anderson Silva’s nine and counting. To put it frankly, Fitch is just too much for Thiago to handle. He’s too technical, too well-rounded, and too experienced.

Honestly, it’s poor matchmaking, because Thiago has a lot of potential and instead of building him up properly they are giving him too much too fast. Fitch by TKO, round 2.

185 lbs.: Yoshihiro Akiyama (12-1) vs. Alan Belcher (14-5)

The opening bout of the televised card is a Middleweight matchup between up and coming prospect Alan Belcher and highly-touted Japanese judo standout Yoshihiro Akiyama. Akiyama pulls into UFC riding a massive hype train, and has the skills to back the hype up. Belcher, though, made short work of UFC’s last big acquisition from the Japanese MMA scene, Denis Kang, and will no doubt be looking for a repeat performance.

Belcher, a well rounded fighter with knockout power and a solid submission attack, has nevertheless had mixed success inside the Octagon. He has won a few fights he should have lost, lost a few he should have won, and cemented himself a spot somewhere in the center of the Middleweight pack. In his last fight, against dangerous Canadian Denis Kang, Belcher showed his potential, handily defeating Kang by guillotine choke at the end of the second round. Belcher’s biggest problem is that, while there are no sizable holes in his game, he doesn’t stand out in any one area, either. He is the proverbial “jack of all trades, king of none.”

Akiyama, on the other hand, has some fairly definite strengths. An extremely skilled judoka, Akiyama’s throws, takedowns, and submissions are all quite dangerous. Surprisingly, though, despite his high-profile name, Akiyama hasn’t really fought much tougher opposition than Belcher. Two of his biggest fights, against Kazushi Sakuraba and Kazuo Misaki, both ended in no contests. Other than that, his only two big wins were against the aforementioned Denis Kang and K-1 MMA star Melvin Manhoef. Still, even without a sizable experience advantage, this is Akiyama’s fight to lose.

Belcher is no match for the man fondly referred to across the internet as “Sexyama” on the ground, so his only chance is to score a knockout on the feet. Akiyama has been across the ring from better strikers than Belcher, though, and his takedowns are so good that I don’t see Belcher’s standup posing much of a threat. Akiyama should be able to get this one to the ground fairly easily, and it’s only a matter of time before he secures the submission and the victory.

Akiyama by armbar, early in round 2.

Here is the first fight between Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir at UFC 81. Lesnar wasted no time and took Mir down landing down small punches. Then there was a controversial stand up call by referee Steve Mazaggati due to Lesnar landing one punch behind the head. They were stood back up Lesnar landed a punch sending Mir to the mat. Lesnar carelessly gave Mir his leg and was submitted via kneebar mid round one.

Here is the fight between Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture for the UFC HW title at UFC 91. The first round was fairly close and midway through the second round Lesnar landed a right sending Couture down. Lesnar proceeded on top throwing down punches until the referee stopped the fight via second round TKO.