While the fight between Karo Parisyan and Yoshiyuki Yoshida was postponed after Parisyan suffered an injury just a day before the fight, the UFC have still put on a fantastic card and some great fights. It’s going to be a awesome night of MMA action.

Our main event - which sees Rashad Evans up against Chuck Liddell - looks set to be a great battle between two men who feel ready to step up and face Forrest Griffin for the Light-heavyweight title. Personally, I can’t see this fight going the distance. No doubt, I’ve just cursed it but there’s something about Liddell at the minute which is fantastic. He seems hungry again. He seems refocused on capturing what he believes is his title.

I have no doubt that if Liddell steps through the gears in this fight, then he will comfortably deal with Evans. What I do know for sure is, this is one hell of a fight for Rashad Evans. A win - and he will be one of the main men for a shot at the title but if he loses, then he falls behind a pack consisting of Quinton Jackson, Wanderlai Silva, Lyoto Machida, Liddell and maybe even Brandon Vera, Keith Jardine and Thiago Silva. That’s how important this fight is for Evans.

If Liddell loses, I can’t see him getting lost in the shuffle but one things for sure - time will be running out for the fan favourite to step up against Forrest Griffin. It should be a great fight but one I’m giving Liddell by TKO.

Rich Franklin against Matt Hamill doesn’t have classic written all over it. The middleweight division isn’t exactly booming at the minute, so a win for either guy certainly pushes them up the division pretty quickly. Both men could do with the win to be fair and a loss for a guy like Hamill might be disaster. I’m actually going with Franklin by decision - but he’s going to have to step up his game big time if he wants this fight.

I completely expect Dan Henderson to plough through Rousimar Palhares. Palhares might very well have a good MMA record but his opponents haven’t exactly been brilliant. His submission record is fantastic and he has a tendency to win in round one. Don’t be fooled, I expect Henderson to crush him.

Dan Henderson is at the point in his career where he might only get one more shot at Anderson Silva. While I thnik “the spider” is the best pound for pound fighter in the world, I actually think that Henderson could beat Silva on his day. Granted, he would have to be well and truly on top of his game, but I still think he could do it. In terms of this fight, I’ve gone for Henderson by TKO in round two.

Nate Marquardt against Martin Kampmann has all the ingredients of being a classic. I’m a big fan of both fighters simply because they always deliver great fights. Who can forget Marquardt’s last fight against Thales Leites? How he managed to not finish that fight is beyond me, and then to lose because of his points deduction, was absolute brilliant MMA. I’m giving this fight to Kampmann - a fighter who I certainly expect to step up in 2009 and challenge Anderson Silva.

Matt Brown against Dong Hyun Kim has been moved to the main card to compensate for the Parisyan/Yoshida withdrawl and is a fight I don’t expect going any other way than a Kim win by submission. Matt Brown has a tendency to be very weak on the ground at times and Kim is absolutely deadly in those sort of situations. Might not be a classic, but I’m going for Kim.

On the prelims, I’m certainly looking forward to watching the Tim Boetsch fight back. Boetsch is one hell of a fighter and I fully expect him to destroy Mike Patt. Patt does have a good MMA record, but Boetsch, if on his game, will win.

Jason MacDonald was very unlucky in his last fight against Demian Maia and I can see him carrying that form over against Jason Lambert. Having lost three out of his last four fights, Lambert is believed to be close to being released by the UFC. He’ll no doubt be out to prove the doubters wrong but I can see MacDonald edging it.

Ryo Chonan is one of only four men to have beaten Anderson Silva but I have a feeling he may come up short against Roan Carneiro. I’m going to the judges for that one, but it should be a close one to call.

Thiago Tavares against Kurt Pellegrino should be another good fight, but I have to go with the Brazilian for this one.

Join us on MMAPreview.com shortly after the show to read our full recap.

Martin Smith
martin@mmapreview.com