Three Fights You Don’t Want To Miss At UFC 174
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UFC 174 is set to go down tonight in The Rogers Arena, Vancouver, Canada, and has a very exciting line up to offer the fans. Top to bottom, this could well be the best PPV showing of the year, so what fights are there to watch out for?
‘Darth’ and ‘Feijao’
Ryan Bader and Rafael Cavalcante will square off in a light-heavyweight battle on tonight’s UFC 174 main card, and I’m willing to bet that this fight doesn’t see the judge’s scorecards. Both guys are renowned for their heavy hands and solid boxing, but also have been finished by strikes in recent times. ‘Feijao’ has never actually needed the judge’s decision in victory or defeat.
The Brazilian brawler holds 11 knockouts, and one submission by strikes to his credit, in comparison to ‘Darth’ who has seven Kos, three submissions and six decision victories. In my opinion, the Black House fighter has the much more potent punching power, but Bader has the more technical boxing abilities. If this fight is to take place on the feet, which I think it will, it could well be fight of the night.
‘The Pitbull’ returns
Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski will look to make a triumphant return against ‘The Hybrid’ Brendan Schaub on this evening’s main card, and there is a certain amount of anticipation regarding this but. ‘The Pitbull’ represents the old school of MMA, having first competed in 1999. Having only lost once in the last three years, it seems the time at Jackson’s MMA has really given the 35 year old Byelorussian a new lease on fighting.
Why do I think this fight will be so interesting? Well apart from Arlovski returning after a six year absence, he is doing so against a guy in Schaub that has only been finished by strikes. Yes, I said it, I think Arlovski will knock the block off his opponent tonight, and re-ignite the nostalgic, blood thirsty, old school fans in all of us.
‘Mighty Mouse’ takes on ‘Puncher King’
I know I’m going to the well a bit with my main card picks, but it’s hard to argue that Ali Bagautinov and Demetrious Johnson isn’t going to be exciting. The champion is fast, technical and very well rounded, the challenger is a sambo master with a killer right hand to boot. Although I picked Bagautinov for the upset win, you never know what to expect with DJ.
Last time out, ‘Mighty Mouse’ proved that being the ‘better’ striker means nothing in MMA, as he dispatched the power-punching Joseph Benavidez in the first round of their second meeting, with a rather brutal KO by punches. We’ve seen Johnson get wobbled in the past, and will ‘Puncher King’ be the first to finish the dominant champ? Tune in tonight to find out.
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