This Saturday night, one of the most anticipated UFC events of the year goes down in Japan at UFC 144. In the main event, Frankie Edgar faces off against Benson Henderson for the lightweight title. In the co-main event, Rampage Jackson faces Ryan Bader, and in the fight before that, Cheick Kongo faces Mark Hunt.
This is one of the most stacked cards that the UFC has ever put together, and there are even going to be seven fights on the main card.
However, there is one fight that stands out as your potential “show stealer,” and that fight is a lightweight matchup featuring the final WEC lightweight champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis against arguably the most exciting lightweight fighter, Joe Lauzon.
The fight between these two will kick off the seven-fight main card, and it is sure to be an all-out, non-stop war.
Pettis is 14-2 in his MMA career, with a Fight of the Night, Knockout of the Night and Submission of the Night award. But he’s probably most known for the “Showtime” Kick.
He has finished 11 of his 14 opponents, and the only three to make it to a decision were Benson Henderson, Jeremy Stephens—in a fight where Pettis wanted to show off his wrestling—and an opponent on the regional scene.
Pettis is one of the most exciting fighters the lightweight division has to offer, and that is due in large part to his outstanding kicking game.
As evidenced by the Showtime kick, he is a very creative striker, but he has much more than just that.
Pettis has thrown spinning back kicks, jumping kicks and kicks off the ground. He can do it all when it comes to kicking.
In addition to that, Pettis has one of the most active guards in MMA, and will never stop looking for armbars or triangles. He even has three of his wins via triangle choke.
The other half of this fight features Joe Lauzon, who also has a case for being one of the most exciting fighters in the lightweight division.
Lauzon has won eight fight night bonuses—five Submission of the Night and three Fight of the Night—in his UFC tenure, which has been 11 fights.
Lauzon has wins over an impressive array of names, including Jens Pulver, Melvin Guillard, Mike Brown and Gabe Ruediger.
But, perhaps the most impressive fact about Lauzon, is that not a single one of his victories has gone to the judges’ scorecards.
All 21 of his victories have come via finish. He has four (T)KO victories, and 17 submission victories.
In fact, Lauzon has only gone to the judges once in his entire career, when he lost a unanimous decision to Sam Stout in 2010.
You can be sure that this fight isn’t going to go the distance, and you can be sure that someone will be walking away with a fight night bonus.
This fight is a great way to kick off the seven fight main card in Japan.
UFC 144 goes down on Saturday, February 25 from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Tim McTiernan is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. For the latest news on everything MMA, follow me on twitter @TimMcTiernan.
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