The UFC on Fox this Saturday night is the biggest card of the year, because it will decide whether the UFC will have two grudge matches that fans have been anxiously anticipating.
When the cage door closes behind Rashad Evans and Chael Sonnen, both fighters will have one obstacle in their way before getting their hands on their rival.
For Evans, all he has to do is get past Phil Davis, so he can fulfill his destiny and fight the greatest light heavyweight the UFC has ever seen, Jon Jones. As for Sonnen, he gets a chance to take on Anderson Silva for one of the biggest rematches in UFC history, should he defeat Michael Bisping.
But then again, both fighters will have their hands full with these two opponents. Evans is facing a young up-and-comer in Davis, who just might possess the wrestling skills to take Evan’s No. 1 contendership.
Evans’ wrestling skills in his mind are second to none, but Davis is a four-time NCAA Division I All-American Wrestler and 2008 NCAA Division I Wrestling Champion.
If Evans can keep the fight standing, he should have a distinct advantage in striking—as he’s shown with his knockout victories over Sean Salmon and Chuck Liddell, he has some lethal strikes.
But then again, it’s been 10 months since we’ve seen Davis back in the octagon, and he could have improved his striking dramatically since then.
Should Evans get past Davis, the title fight with Jones will be the biggest grudge match for the light heavyweight championship since Chuck Liddell fought Tito Ortiz at UFC 66. Both fighters hate each other, and the fact that both of them have trained with each other and know each other’s tendacies, makes for an exciting clash.
Evans has the best chance of dethroning Jones, and with tremendous buildup, that fight could be one of the biggest of the year.
But make no mistake about it, it wouldn’t be bigger than Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva II. If Sonnen gets past Bisping, the rematch between him and Silva will take place in a soccer stadium in Brazil.
Sonnen is the only fighter to ever really come close to beating Silva in the UFC, and Sonnen was less than three minutes away from winning a decisive victory against Silva.
After Silva slipped on a triangle choke in the fifth round to reclaim his title at UFC 117, Sonnen has fought his way back to challenging for the title after beating Brian Stann at UFC 136 via arm-triangle choke.
Silva’s victory over Sonnen was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in sports and is my favorite fight of all time simply because of the way Silva came back from a dominating performance by Sonnen.
Sonnen talked a lot of trash before the fight, backed it all up and came just short of dethroning Silva. With Bisping, Sonnen needs to take him to the ground and work his ground-and-pound. I believe that’s just what Sonnen will do, and the rematch should be set after Saturday night.
Depending on the outcome of the fights this Saturday, this could be the most exciting year in UFC history.
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