I’m sure Alves has improved. He was a purple belt then, and got destroyed by Fitch (who has improved himself). It will take a great deal of improvement from Alves to fend off Hughes TDs and the GNP from Hughes.

Lytle is better off his back than Alves, by far. Lytle is nearly impossible to finish on the mat, and has very good subs and strength. Hughes passed his guard, got the crucifix, and beat up Lytle with elbows and gave Lytle a nice gash over his eye. He didn’t stop Lytle, but he dominated him.

Hughes has just looked bad against GSP. Alves is no GSP.

While the rest of the fights aren’t exactly going to restructure their respective divisions in terms of fight outcomes the matchups are all pretty compelling. I don’t see any gross mismatches and the style and talent level all seem to be on a pretty level playing field. That’ll either provide for some really great tactical battles or boring standoffs where both guys are afraid to commit for fear of getting caught making a mistake. Looking forward to it either way. The last month or so has been an awesome time to be a MMA fan with UFC 84, EliteXC, WEC, and now UFC 85 all sandwiched together.

far from it

about the contrived rivalry /hate….Sam does the UFC know any other way to hype up their PPV

Penn vs. Sherk Ill “we hate each other ” Will

Gsp vs. Serra

Lesnar vs. Mir Gsp vs. Hughes etc. etc.

and Jackson and Forrest suddenly have a bitter rivalry after being on a reality show together lol Please?

Hmm how can GSP and Fitch hate one another to drive up PPV sales?

The only reason the headliner isn’t more exciting is we’ve just seen Hughes look like a fighter that is on the verge of no longer being relevant, a la Kerr, Coleman, Randleman, in the early part of the decade, and now Tito and perhaps Hughes. Gone are the days when he could bully opponents or out-cardio them. His standup is seriously lacking and the UFC has reached a level where everyone seems to be training cardio at an elite level (Lutter excluded, obviously). I expect Alves to pound him out on the ground or beat him up over a couple rounds and choke him out.

Vera vs Werdum could be the fight of the night. You’d think Vera would have a significant advantage standing, but Werdum’s boxing looked sharp against Gonz.

Asides from my usual hope for a wingding on the undercard that gets shown on the PPV, Werdum-Vera looks like it could be interesting if Vera can handle the jet lag and decides to make it competetive.

i’m not the best at making predictions, but i foresee hughes getting defeated. he really underwhelmed me against gsp (though most people look bad in that matchup), while alves has shown nothing but promise. i think thiago will be too fast and too well rounded for him.

vera/werdum is exciting in the sense that it will probably be one of the fastest paced hw fights in a while, seeing as they’re both on the lower end of the division weight-wise. barring another broken hand slow dance i suppose. wonder what vera’s fate will be if he loses his second straight. i hope they “encourage” him to fight at 205.

after swick’s last fight, i dont have much interest in watching him anymore. hopefully davis wins and they match him up with alves, or another rising star that’ll really test him. or even karo if he pulls off a quick finish without taking too much punishment.

and i anticipate a quick finish for bisping. but who they’ll put him up against next is anyone’s guess. maybe leben once his legal issues are resolved? that fight was pretty intriguing when announced.

i’m looking too far ahead. gotta enjoy the fights at hand.