Three Fights You Don’t Want To Miss At UFC 173
We are merely hours away from seeing UFC 173 in all it’s glory: Renan Barao and T.J. Dillashaw for the bantamweight strap, Daniel Cormier goes up against old school legend Dan Henderson and Robbie Lawler looks for a quick route back to the title shot as he goes up against fellow top 10 welterweight Jake Ellenberger. Joining these six stars on the main card are Takeya Mizugaki vs. Francisco Rivera, and Jamie Varner vs. James Krause.
So which fights from the main card, Fox sports prelims, and Fight Pass section of tonight’s card will provide the most entertaining performances of the evening?
Robbie Lawler vs. Jake Ellenberger steals the main card
In my opinion, this fight has the potential to be a barn burner; ‘Ruthless’ showed he can go for five exciting rounds, as he battled Johny Hendricks at UFC 171, but also that he is still a brutal knockout artist. ‘The Juggernaut’ is fast, hard-nosed, and powerful. To me, this fight oozes excitement, whether it lasts or gets finished early. The stare down at the weigh-ins really sealed the deal for me, as I was actually going to pick Hendo vs. Cormier Fight of the night? I think so.
Tony Ferguson and Katsunori Kikuno will be a brawl
Trained by the legendary Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, I expect Japanese star Katsunori Kikuno to really come of age in this bout. He faces in Tony Ferguson a tough, aggressive lightweight, who will certainly be hard to finish. Unbeaten in six fights, I’m thinking that Kikuno will find that sweet spot and put ‘El Cucuy’ out early on. Cue performance of the night for the former DEEP Lightweight champion.
Anthony Njokuani will crush on Fight Pass
Undefeated Nigerian kickboxer Anthony ‘The Assassin’ Njokuani has hit a bit of a rough patch as of late. Going 3-3 since joining the UFC back in 2011, I expect Njokuani will be wanting to impress his fans and employers tonight. His opponent, Vinc Pichel, is going to have a lot of trouble with the lively kickboxer, although he does have some good KO power himself. After being dropped on his head and KTFO by Rustam Khabilov at the TUF 16 finale, Pichel won a forgettable decision over Garrett Whiteley. I don’t expect him to grind it out against Njokuani, as the African kickboxer puts in the most impressive Fight Pass performance.
Photo by Stephen R. Sylvanie for USA Today Sports
