UFC 69 Won't Be A "Shootout"

And here starts the month of fun. Hello once again O-sters, it's time for another UFC Pay-Per-View Preview. Tonight is UFC 69, with the event given the somewhat misleading title of "Shootout".

I find it misleading perhaps because of the main event; Matt Serra, (The Ultimate Fighter 4 winner), against Georges St Pierre, possibly the greatest welterweight there has ever been. The term "shootout" gives the idea that there will be 2 sides to the story; no way is this happening. Georges St Pierre will destroy Matt Serra with a first round knockout.

To write off the skills of Serra would be idiotic. It's easy to see that Serra has the qualifications to be a great fighter; he's the first American black belt under Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Legend Renzo Gracie, but his standup game is below par. We've already seen what GSP can do to a man who isn't proficient on his feet; the Matt Hughes fight says it all.

Can Serra, the smaller man, take down the Canadian superstar and utilize his superior ground game? If the world class Matt Hughes can't do it, to expect anything less than domination would be crazy.

The REAL main event of the show is between Ultimate Fighter 1 contestants Josh Koscheck and Diego Sanchez. Sanchez puts his perfect 17-0 record on the line against the former wrestler, which could easily see Diego become the number one contender in his weight class.

I've thought about this fight and I find it hard to draw a conclusion. Koscheck is well known as being one of the most boring fighters in the UFC; he has taken the art of Lay and Pray to a whole new level since his debut. This is what is most dangerous for Sanchez; he cannot afford to become the tired man under the Human blanket that is Koscheck.

For Sanchez to win, he's going to have to look to knockout his opponent within the first round, avoiding the bore-fest that could not only cause his first loss, but severely tarnish his reputation as an up and coming phenomenon.

I'm also interested to see if the UFC will mention that Sanchez has recently served a 6 month athletic commission suspension due to marijuana; they're quick to tarnish other fighters such as Travis Lutter on the air, so let's hope there is no double standard.

The undercard is not as exciting as other recent events, but it's still got a couple of promising matchups.

Heath Herring makes his second appearance in the octagon in a match against the less experienced Brad Imes. After a boring loss to Jake O'Brien, Herring really has to show what he's made of and be a part of another classic match that made him a fan favorite in Japan.

Mike "Quick" Swick also makes his first appearance since October against Yushin Okami, who interestingly enough has a win on his record over Anderson Silva, the current UFC 185lb champion. Swick has certainly got his hands full, but I think he will be able to pull off a submission win within the first two rounds.

This card could certainly be interesting, if the undercard bouts deliver. I don't think, for once, that the main event of this show will deliver anywhere near the fireworks we've come to expect from the post-ultimate fighter UFC era.

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