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January 16, 2009

Talking UFC 93

UFC 93 will be broadcast Saturday afternoon from Ireland and it’s not really a fascinating card. The main event of Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson will be interesting because it should be a good fight and both are making a push to stay relevant in the title picture at 205. Which is why this fight is a little disappointing, because the winner gets to move down a weight class to fight Michael Bisping at the end of filming The Ultimate Fighter reality show in Vegas.

I’m interested in the Mark Coleman-Mauricio Rua fight just to see what each guy has left. Rua could still be a star and if he’s anywhere close to where he used to be, this could be ugly. Coleman should thank God he was injured before his potential fight with Brock Lesnar because after what we’ve seen from Lesnar, that could’ve been brutal. Still, I don’t think Coleman is another Randy Couture, so this fight could be ugly if "Shogun" isn’t too rusty.

I’m also psyched for the Marcus Davis-Chris Lytle fight. Those guys will throw bombs all night long and will at least make things interesting. I like watching Rousimar Palhares fight too, so that will be mildly interesting (because he will easily submit Jeremy Horn). All in all, there are too many question marks on this card and not enough big-time fights to be worth the cash. I’ll be watching it in a sports bar in the Midwest and if you aren’t watching it with a bunch of paying friends, I’d suggest you do the same.

Does anyone know of any good sports bars in the Baltimore area showing the fights tomorrow? (I’d recommend staying away from Internet spoilers and watching the 10 p.m. version).

If you’re paying for a show this month, it’s probably the BJ Penn-Georges St. Pierre superfight in a few weeks, but UFC 93 has some potential and is worth watching if you can find a way to defray the cost.

A few UFC 93 links:

Here's CBSSports.com's head-to-head fighter breakdown. I know a few of these guys and they really know their stuff, although my guy Gregg Doyel isn’t part of the committee this time, which makes it less fun to read.

CBS Sports also has an interesting read with Dana White on the UFC Primetime special for Penn-St. Pierre.

Speaking of White, I’m going to be speaking with him on the phone sometime in the next couple weeks. Does anyone have any questions they want me to run past him???

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has a nice UFC 93 preview as well.

And MMAMania.com has news that Rampage Jackson may be fighting Rashad Evans for the light heavyweight title at UFC 96 in Columbus, Ohio. That would be a huge fight, although a quick turnaround for both guys after fighting in late December.

What do you think about UFC 93? If you're a betting man, I'm going Franklin-"Shogun"-Davis-Palhares. Franklin-Henderson seems to be the only tough call.

Editor's note: Picks are for entertainment purposes only.

Posted by Mark Chalifoux at 1:31 PM | | Comments (0)
        

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About the blogger
Kevin Richardson has been a fan of mixed martial arts competition ever since UFC 3, when 600-pound sumo wrestler Emmanuel Yarborough was beaten by Keith Hackney. Kevin will cover the world of MMA — in Baltimore, nationally and internationally. He plans to take readers into the locker rooms and MMA schools, where they'll hear from local fighters and trainers. If you have a news tip or suggestions for the blog, please e-mail him.

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