UFC on Fuel TV: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier

By D. S.
in The Sporting Arena

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Hey look, it's more free MMA. This is a very bittersweet card for me since Erik Koch got the title shot against Aldo at UFC 149 instead of the winner of Jung vs Poirier or Hatsu Hioki. Oh well... let's look at the card. It's definitely lacking in star power and interesting fights.

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Preliminary card (Facebook)

Alex Soto vs. Francisco Rivera - Soto was on the losing end of his UFC debut against now-contender Michael McDonald. He got KTFO like a boss. He gets another chance to make some money against also newcomer Rivera, who isn't really that special on paper and has a loss to Erik Koch in the WEC. But then again, who hasn't? Soto looked pretty feisty in the first minutes of the McDonald fight (before getting KTFO that is), maybe he'll try the same strategy here. It's a 50/50 fight.

Jeff Curran vs. Johnny Eduardo - Both guys come to this fight with losses on their UFC debuts. They'll surely put in the effort not to make that 0-2 under the UFC banner.

Rafael dos Anjos vs. Kamal Shalorus - Again, guys coming in from losses. Despite that, Rafael dos Anjos holds a clear advantage since he starched George Sotiropoulos, derrailing his title aspirations for good, but then lost a decision to Gleison Tibau. Shalorus was somehow in the LW mix before getting KO'ed by Jim Miller and dropped completely down the LW ladder by losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov... who's going to fight Gleison Tibau next. I think I favor dos Anjos in this fight, he has the experience and the BJJ to win the fight in multiple ways, more so than Shalorus.

TJ Grant vs. Carlo Prater - TJ is just one of those guys that hangs around the UFC, never getting a win streak going past 1 fight. He's pretty good against low tier opponents but folds when the competition gets thougher. He is coming off a win against Shane Roller and now fighting at LW. Carlos Prater is also coming in on a "win", a totally bull**** DQ "win" over Erik Silva who completely starched him in less than a minute. I hope he gets pounded into the canvas... but that's not very likely.

Brad Tavares vs. Yang Dongi - Yang got out-kickboxed by Court McGee, despite having victory in his reach just by stepping up the pace and cracking's McGee's skull open. If Yang decides to do the same song and dance with Tavares instead of a real gameplan, it's probably not going end up very well for him because Tavares, despite being a very average fighter, knows how to hit hard and has KO power.

Cody McKenzie vs. Marcus LeVesseur - If Marcus LeVesseur isn't an idiot, he knows pretty well what's required to beat McKenzie. Just don't get caught in his guillotine and you'll be fine. Decision him, submit him or TKO him, doesn't matter. Just don't leave your neck exposed.

Main card

Jason MacDonald vs. Tom Lawlor - Finally, a semi-interesting fight but still, COMING IN FROM LOSSES. Lots of the guys on this card fought at UFC 139. MacDonald got his face pounded in by future contender Alan Belcher and now looks to get his career back on track against "Filthy" Tom Lawlor. Lawlor is a cool guy but he's walking on very thin ice being 1-3 in his last 4. He had just won a loser gets cut match against Patrick C?t? when he got choked out by also future contender Chris Weidman. MacDonald is very well rounded with strong BJJ, I think he can take this one.

Igor Pokrajac vs. Fabio Maldonado - Pokrajac can't wrestle his way out of a wet paper bag but he can sure punch. Krzysztof Soszynski got KTFO into oblivion. Maldonado is pretty much the same, punches hard and likes to dish it out. This should be an interesting slugfest... I hope.

Yves Jabouin vs. Jeff Hougland - Hougland was originally slated to fight Renan Bar?o, which would probably be considered the missmatch of the ****ing century by his loving family weeping over his dead body. He gets a much more reasonable fight against Yves Jabouin, but it's not a gift fight by any means. Jabouin is well rounded and agressive so Hougland has to be on top of his game to get the W.

Donald Cerrone vs. Jeremy Stephens - Cerrone tries to bounce back from a very though loss to now #1 contender Nick Diaz. Stephens is a very game opponent but I don't think he can beat Cerrone. Surely not the Cerrone that beat Oliveira and Siver. Cerrone has a chance to bounce back against a named opponent and start his climb back up to relevancy in the LW division. Still, I'm not counting Stephens out entirely. If Cerrone got the yips from the Diaz beating, he might be able to take advantage of that and get himself a much needed win.

Amir Sadollah vs. Jorge Lopez - Don't really know why this fight is later in the card than Cerrone but, oh well, this card isn't very good overall. Both guys coming in from losses, Sadollah got beaten down by Ludwig in a veritable Muay Thai clinic. Lopez got a loss to Justin Edwards. Advantage Sadollah, he may have lost to Ludwig but he put a nice beating on DaMarques Johnson and he's a TUF alumni. If he loses, he's on very thin ice so there's that as well.

Chan Sung Jung vs. Dustin Poirier - And finally, the important fight. Jung comes in after starching Mark Hominick in less than a minute and a submission of the year over Leonard Garcia. Also, if you still haven't seen Jung vs Garcia at WEC 48 or have seen it and didn't like it, something is wrong with you. Despite all this, he's still human as his loss to George Roop will atest. He was out before he hit the canvas. And that's why he's an underdog in this fight. Poirier has been on a tear at FW, derrailing Josh Grispi's title shot in his UFC and FW debut and then proceding to beat the **** out of everyone the UFC put in front of him. I would have loved to see him go up against Erik Koch but Koch has been scheduled to fight Aldo so that will have to wait, probably a very long time since I don't think Koch can really beat Aldo right now. If Poirier just goes in and does his thing, Jung will have to do something amazing to get the win. Winner of this fight probably gets the next title shot after Hioki or a fight with him.

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