Hit the Mat 11.24.08: A December to Remember

Posted by Matt McEwen on 11.24.2008

Wanna read more about Jon Fitch and video game contracts? Then read something else. Wanna a quick preview of what's coming up in the next month? Then read on, kind sir...

I'll go out on a limb and assume that like me, you are pretty much sick to death of reading all the armchair quarterbacking about the Jon Fitch release/return, so, other than this mention, you will not be reading about that here.


Instead, how about a change of pace and, given that we're in the midst of one the breaks afforded us by the UFC's oddly unbalanced event schedule, look ahead to what should be an extremely busy and eventful December. Three cards in seventeen days featuring some big names, big ideas and hopefully some big action.


Fight For the Troops

Two weeks from Wednesday, the UFC takes to the friendly airwaves of SpikeTV for yet another live edition of Ultimate Fight Night, this time with a military spin. I am Canadian (but I don't like Molson….kudos if you get the joke there), so I don't get the combination of sports and military, but whatever floats your nationalistic boat is fine by me. What I do get into is action packed fight cards, and this should do the trick.

The undercard features fighters like Eddie Sanchez, Corey Hill, Ben Saunders, and Luigi Fioravanti – all fighters who have shown the potential to be involved in exciting fights, though they are not always on the fun end of the excitement. But shockingly, it is not the undercard which should have you drooling….the main card is one of the better Fight Nights yet.

Matt Wiman has been looking much improved recently, and is coming in off a scintillating KO victory over Thiago Tavares back at UFC 85. He'll look to keep the momentum going, but he will be dealing with the always tough and entertaining Frankie Edgar. I imagine this one will kick off the broadcast and be one hell of an action fight. From there, you get Tim Credeur versus Nate Loughran.

Ok…not every fight on the main card will make you cream your pants, but still.

Former WEC 205lb champion Steve Cantwell will make his UFC debut against the relatively unknown Razak Al-Hassan. Cantwell is young but skilled, hits hard and has pretty well developed all around game, so anytime he steps in the cage it is worth watching. Al-Hassan is, like I said, pretty unknown, but I'll go out on a limb and say a name like "Al-Hassan" is going to make him less than the most popular guy in front of a VERY military crowd. Not judging, just saying.

Then we get our double main event of the evening. Mike Swick is going to look to keep his welterweight momentum going, and taking on Jonathan Goulet, should live up to his nickname of "Quick" for the first time in quite a while. Goulet has heart and has shown a set of brass balls sometimes, but let's just say that the material his chin is made out of is less dense.

And finally, Josh Koscheck steps into the Octagon against Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Just a few days ago, speculation was that this could be Koscheck's last fight in the UFC, but I said I wouldn't talk about that, so I won't. But, if it were to be his last fight, it's likely going to be a fun one. Yoshida is the real deal, with good power and submissions, and Koscheck has shown a desire to expand his horizons in those areas, so the ground work is laid for a fun fight. Add in the fact that Koscheck is fighting just six weeks after taking a beating against Thiago Alves, and you have to respect the guy, even if you still hate him.

So, as far as totally free shows go, this looks like it'll be damned good, and should get December off to a rip roaring start.



The Ultimate Finale

Given that the show is ongoing and that none of the show related fights have been announced, this won't be much of a preview. But as far as the two finals go, it looks like we should end up with two pretty interesting match ups with entertainment potential no matter which pairs advance to the finals. I'm also kind of intrigued about who the winner of the light heavyweight division will be. While none of the four remaining strike me as an immediate threat to contend with the big boys in the division, the only other man to be the light heavyweight "Ultimate Fighter" is going to be making his first title defense two weeks after this show. Big shadow to follow in…

Beyond the two final bouts, we do get two pretty interesting fights to boot.

First, we get a rematch of an entertaining and controversial bout from earlier in the year. The owner of the best nickname in the sport, Kevin "The Fire" Burns, will look to prove he deserved the win against the dynamic Anthony Johnson, who has probably been watching a lot of Three Stooges movies to figure out ways to defend the eye poke. Their first fight was good prior to the multiple eye pokes of doom, so the rematch should be good too. At least, I'm hoping…my logic sometimes fails me, so let me know if it has again.

In the ostensible main event of the evening, we go from the best nickname in the sport to the worst as Jason "The Athlete" MacDonald returns to the cage. And for the record, I love MacDonald. Not only is he a fellow Canuck, but he is a fellow Bluenoser, and on top of that I really enjoy watching the man fight. His nickname still sucks hairy monkey balls though. All that being said, his fight with Wilson Gouveia has all the markings of a fun war that will take place in every conceivable position. And there's nothing wrong with that.


The Ultimate 2008

By the time you are done watching the first two shows of the month, you will know the date of this show, the three top fights AND be able to talk along with deep voiced announcer guy every time you see the PPV commercial.

That annoying fact aside, this has all the potential to go head to head with Couture vs Lesnar for best show of the year. Two title fights, a shot at redemption – in more ways than one – for one of the most popular stars in the sport and an undercard that has the potential for some fireworks.

By now, you should know the top three fights. Forrest Griffin is going to make his first title defense against the undefeated Rashad Evans. This will be an interesting fight, but I am a bit concerned that they may game plan their respective ways out of excitement. Hopefully I'm wrong, but even if the fight is not the action fight of the year, the result is going to be really interesting.

The second title fight is a ground lover's heavyweight dream match as Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogeuria fight it out to see who gets the next shot at dealing with Brock Lesnar. It's a rarity to see two heavyweights with really good submission games go against each other, but in this case you know they'll only be on their feet long enough to figure out who controls the first takedown. Neither guy has a good enough stand up game to expose the other, so they'll be down quick. I'm really looking forward to this one.

And finally the third head on the beast is Rampage Jackson fighting for the first time since his legal – and possibly mental – problems following his title loss to Griffin. So, coming of a traumatic loss and a traumatic series of events, does he get an easy fight? No…he gets to face a man that has pounded him into the mat twice previously in his career. Wanderlei Silva holds two TKO victories over Jackson, and if he can get a third, he'll likely put himself in line for a title shot.

Oh…and the loser of this fight? Rumor has it that he will probably main event a future show against Anderson Silva. Potential title shot if you win, potential stepping stone if you lose. That's incentive….

The undercard is nothing to laugh at either as talented fighters CB Dolloway, Cheick Kongo, Yushin Okami, Dean Lister, Matt Hamill and Ryo Chonan are all scheduled to fight.


So enjoy your three week rest from big time MMA……December is shaping up to be one of the more exciting months of the year.