Never thought UFC would wind up in this situation.
Middleweight rivals Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson do battle again this Saturday evening (Oct. 8, 2016) and this time the belt is on the line. "The Count" will be making his first defense of his 185-pound title in his hometown of Manchester.
In the pay-per-view (PPV) co-feature, Vitor Belfort and Gegard Mousasi attempt to stand out in the top-heavy middleweight division, while veteran "Skyscraper" Stefan Struve takes on the always-dangerous Daniel Omielanczuk at heavyweight.
The promotion's latest PPV extravaganza across the pond will feature seven "Prelims" undercard matches, the latter four of which you can catch on FOX Sports 1 (check out the Fight Pass preview portion here).
Here's what's in store on free television.
135 lbs.: Brad Pickett (25-11) vs. Iuri Alcantara (32-7)
Once a perennial contender, Pickett entered his February fight with Francisco Rivera having lost five of his previous seven and three straight. He managed to please the London crowd by surviving an early knockdown and ultimately scraping past "Cisco" via split decision. He will give up three inches of height to the 5’9" Alcantara.
Following a tough loss to Urijah Faber, "Marajo" rattled off three consecutive wins before falling to Frankie Saenz in one of 2015’s biggest upsets. He rebounded with a decision over Leandro Issa, but fell short against top prospect Jimmie Rivera this past January. He’s scored thirteen knockouts and twelve submissions as a pro.
I’ve mentally likened Alcantara to a bantamweight Carlos Condit since his early days in the UFC and, while "Marajo" doesn’t quite have the "Natural Born Killer’s" gift for relentless violence, I think the comparison’s still apt. He’s a dangerous striker and a dangerous submission artist persistently held back by substandard wrestling.
Considering Pickett’s habit of turning to his takedowns when things go south on the feet, he may be in trouble here.
That said, "One Punch" is consistently hittable and arguably hasn’t earned a decisive victory since knocking out Yves Jabouin in 2012. With his decline, Alcantara may have the physicality to keep it standing and knock the Londoner around with his length advantage. Narrow decision win for Alcantara in hostile territory.
Prediction: Alcantara by unanimous decision
135 lbs.: Ian Entwistle (9-3) vs. Rob Font (12-2)
After a brutal knockout loss in his UFC debut, England’s "Enty" showed off his grappling chops with a bonus-winning heel hook of Anthony Birchak in Phoenix. His dedication to leglocks came back to bite him again in his next bout when Alejandro Perez pounded him out mid-attempt. He’s tapped seven opponents overall, three by heel hook.
Font announced his presence in the bantamweight division with a thunderous knockout of George Roop and follow-up beatdown of Joey Gomez a year and a half later. John Lineker proved a tougher nut to crack, ultimately breaking Font down en route to a wide decision win. Five of his wins, including his last three, have come by knockout.
Ian Entwistle wins big and Ian Entwistle loses big. He’s either going to get a Performance of the Night-winning heel hook or Font’s going to play the drum solo from "Hot for Teacher" on his head.
I’m thinking the latter.
Entwistle’s lost twice in the UFC by holding onto a hopeless heel hook and getting obliterated for it. Even Rousimar Palhares, legendary bastion of rationality that he is, has the sense to transition to something else when the leglock’s not there. If "Enty" didn’t learn the first time, he’s probably not going to learn the second time. Font punishes his desperate submission attempts for his third UFC knockout.
Prediction: Font by first-round TKO
135 lbs.: Davey Grant (10-2) vs. Damian Stasiak (9-3)
Assorted issues kept Grant, the runner-up on The Ultimate Fighter 18, out of action from his November of 2013 to February of 2016. Upon his return, he outclassed Ecuadorian submission artist Marlon Vera in a bloody London affair. He’s tapped eight opponents, all of them by form of choke.
Stasiak’s five-fight winning streak, which featured four submissions, ended in his UFC debut when Yatzin Meza outwrestled him for fifteen minutes. "Webster" had a better time of it in his sophomore effort, which saw him submit Croatia’s Filip Pejic in less than half a round. He will have a three-inch height advantage.
Stasiak’s major issue against Yaotzin Meza was that his takedown defense simply wasn’t up to par. Grant is, at least on paper, a more fearsome wrestler than the MMA Lab product and can certainly hold his own on the mat against "Webster." The Pole is difficult to finish, true, but a decision loss is still a loss.
Stasiak is going to spend the majority of this fight on his back and he doesn’t have the tools to win it from there. Grant pleases the hometown crowd with a dominant decision win.
Prediction: Grant by unanimous decision
170 lbs.: Leon Edwards (11-3) vs. Albert Tumenov (17-3)
Edwards opened his UFC career with a controversial decision loss to Claudio Henrique da Silva, then bounced back with dominant victories over Seth Baczynski and Pawel Pawlak. He fell to Ultimate Fighter 21 winner Kamaru Usman, but managed to defeat Dom Waters in his most recent fight. He is an inch shorter and a year older than Tumenov.
"Einstein" also ran afoul of a Brazilian grappler, in his case Ildemar Alcantara, in his promotional debut. He proceeded to rattle off five consecutive wins, three of them by brutal knockout, before succumbing to Gunnar Nelson’s grappling in May. Nine of his last eleven wins have come by knockout, eight of them in the first round.
I’m struggling to find a winning strategy for Edwards here. He’s a solid, fairly powerful striker going up against an excellent, ridiculously power striker. Tumenov’s a nightmare on the feet and Edwards really has no choice but to face him there.
Nelson found success stifling Tumenov’s striking and scoring takedowns, but he has a much better transition game than Edwards and the Brit has yet to show the sort of wrestling offense that it takes to trouble Tumenov. The Russian bounces back from his second UFC defeat with an emphatic knockout.
Prediction: Tumenov by first-round knockout
Main event may be a freakshow, but there are some gems on the way there.
See you Saturday!