We have looked at the bouts from the preliminary portion of the night’s proceedings and now it’s time to look at the main card action.
We open the broadcast with lightweight’s taking centre stage as Matt Wiman (12-5) test his skills against Cole Miller (17-4).
These two were originally slated to face one another on the year opening UFC 125 event but was re-scheduled for this card.
Miller has been slowly but surely working his way up the 155-lbs ladder since 2007 going 6-2 inside the octagon. 2010 proved to be a great year for the American Top Team stand out collecting two victories and two “Submission of The Night” bonuses.
On the opposite side of the cage stands Matt Wiman who’s in a similar situation to Miller after putting on great performances since his UFC debut all the way back at UFC 60 in 2006.
In his last two outings Miller has proven to be too much for Shane Nelson and Mac Danzig and looks to keep his run to the top alive by using Miller as a stepping stone.
Both men have a habit of collecting win bonuses and impressing fight crowds so expect these two to put on a show when the cage door closes.
The next bout of the evening pits two heavyweight freight trains against one another as Pat Barry (5-2) faces Joey Beltran (12-4).
Barry got fast tracked to the UFC after only three professional MMA bouts under his belt since he had six years of competing as a kick boxer.
Barry hasn’t had the dream run that he pictured in his mind having went 2-2 inside the octagon, most recently being submitted by Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic.
Beltran has competed three times inside the elite mixed martial arts organization leaving with victories in two of his three outings; in his last bout he won “Fight of The Night” honors for his loss to Matt Mitrione.
Both men are coming off losses and know that they need to impress the UFC officials to keep getting booked to return to the octagon so expect both men to go full force looking to knock the other out.
Next up we have featherweights in action with huge title implications as Mark Hominick (19-8) takes on George Roop (11-6-1).
Hominick returned to the WEC at the beginning of 2010 and since then has worked his way to the top of the contenders list after his most recent victory over Leonard Garcia.
UFC President Dana White stated that if successful against Roop then the Canadian native will get his chance at the seemingly unstoppable Jose Aldo likely at UFC 129 in Toronto.
But his opponent is no push over; Roop first broke onto our television sets as a part of Team Mir on the eighth season of “The Ultimate Fighter”
Since then he has went 3-3-1 between the UFC and WEC, a record that doesn’t really do him justice.
In his last outing he shocked the world with an impressive head kick on “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung at WEC 51 which earned him a “Knockout of The Night” bonus.
Will Hominick burst his way through to a featherweight title shot? Or will Roop take a page out of Dustin Poirier’s book and spoil Hominick’s title party.
In the co-main event of the evening we see heavyweight’s Matt Mitrione (3-0) and Tim Hague (12-4) square off.
Mitrione debuted as a part of the tenth season of “The Ultimate Fighter” and although he fell short of winning the six figure guaranteed contract he did make it into the UFC.
Mitrione has collected three victories after three trips to the octagon and puts his unblemished record on the line this Saturday against Canada’s Tim Hague.
Hague got the call to the UFC in 2009 after collecting nine victories with only one defeat on regional events around Canada.
Hague went to the octagon three times and left three times without a win bonus which got him his walking papers from the promotion however after some impressive first round stoppages back in his home land he get’s his chance at redemption.
If Hague doesn’t leave with a win he will have lost four times in the octagon which will probably send him packing but does he have the experience to stop the undefeated rookie?
In the main event of the evening we see lightweight’s on display once again as Evan Dunham (11-1) and Melvin Guillard (26-8-2-1NC) battle it out.
Originally Dunham was scheduled to face former title challenger Kenny Florian but a knee injury forced him off the card before Guillard stepped up.
Dunham made his way into the UFC with an unblemished 7-0 record in 2009 and since then has only suffered one controversial loss to former UFC Lightweight Champion Sean Sherk.
Sherk was awarded a split decision over the Xtreme Couture stand out after fifteen minutes of solid action which upset the 15,000 people in attendance at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.
For his octagon return he isn’t given an easy task, Guillard first competed in the UFC in 2005 following a controversial win that got turned into a no contest over Roger Huerta.
Guillard has won four of his last five bouts inside the octagon, most recently narrowly defeating Jeremy Stephens at UFC 119.
Both men need to collect victories to keep making waves in the loaded 155-lbs ladder – with a victory either man will be in talks for the top contenders in the division.
Be sure to watch all the action this Saturday beginning at 8PM ET/5PM PT on facebook.com then immediately after live for free on Spike TV.
2 comments: on "UFC Fight For The Troops 2: Main Card"
Awesome preview!! Welcome to the Nation of O Justin!
Now Faux Off!!
:)
A fitting welcome there Matt, it works even better considering it's official pronunciation is 'fox'.
Which fights are you guys looking forward to?
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