UFC 154 fight card: Francis Carmont vs Tom Lawlor fight prediction, preview and breakdown

A rough and rowdy mixed martial arts (MMA) match up of lower- to mid-tier Middleweight fighters will grace the UFC 154 pay-per-view (PPV) main card later tonight (Nov. 17, 2012) at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Tom Lawlor is never in a boring fight, forcing the action from the jump with excellent wrestling and a nasty uppercut he'll drive home while opponents are in close. A more technical fight favors his opponent, Francis Carmont, who would love to use his reach and range advantage to sprawl and brawl and keep Lawlor at bay.

Thus far, Carmont's three Octagon appearances have shown him to have a good head for tactics and keeping calm in the eye of the storm -- most of his losses early in his career were hard-learned lessons, and that often makes for a better fighter with time to develop.

Lawlor isn't going to win an at-range striking battle, but he excels in a brawl. Look for "Filthy" Tom to go right after Carmont and try and pin his against the cage, take him down and rough him up ... bring him out of his element, so to speak.

Check out a complete breakdown of the UFC 154 main card fight between Francis Carmont vs Tom Lawlor below:

The Breakdown

Carmont easily defused Karlos Vemola, another middleweight tough-guy type, and has shown some real technical acumen on the ground and standing as well. As the more diverse striker, he may have plenty of openings from which to choose if Lawlor can't bring it to the mat early, particularly flying knees and uppercuts and Lawlor changes levels to shoot in.

The Pick

Lawlor is one of my favorite guys in the UFC watch because he gets the most out of his ability and leaves it all in the cage, every time. However, Carmont's training with Tri-Star and the top cadre of Canadian talent there is obviously paying dividends, as well as the good amount of experience he's had in a long career.

Carmont will prove the better striker, especially from range, and be tricky and wily enough off his back to keep Lawlor defensive. He'll pile up points and down the stretch, land a huge shot or two on the fading Lawlor and pounce to close the show en route to a third-round knockout.

Carmont via knockout

Be sure to join MMAmania.com this evening for LIVE, detailed UFC 154 results of all the "St. Pierre vs. Condit" pay-per-view (PPV) action. It will include blow-by-blow coverage of the Facebook video stream, FX "Prelims" bouts, and of course, the PPV broadcast. We'll start RIGHT HERE at around 5:45 p.m. ET and carry straight on through early Sunday morning.

See you later!

Jason Probst can be reached at twitter.com/jasonprobst