Michael Bisping vs Chris Leben
You might be able to see why UFC 89 is being broadcast for free on SPIKE. At the same time, I am interested in this main event. These two are both hard headed guys who will very likely stand and bang for the majority of this fight.
This one has been a long time in the making. These two were suppose to step into the octagon several months ago but Leben was arrested on previously pending charges–pushing the fight back. As far as the actual fight; I see Bisping taking this one but I have a hard time seeing him stopping Leben. He has finished his opponents in his last two fights though.
Leben is in, probably by far, the best shape of his life. So my instinct would say that Bisping has better cardio but who knows now. This will be the best looking Leben we have ever seen.
Where does the winner of this fight go? Likely, directly into the cage with Anderson Silva. Not an enviable place to be. In his octagon debut Silva beat Leben. Personally I don’t give Bisping a chance either. That being said, I don’t know who I do give a chance. Only Paulo Filho would put up a good fight at this point and I believe he and Silva are friends and do not want to fight. Filho is set to defend his WEC middleweight title next month in a very tough fight against Chael Sonnen; who he beat in a controversial stoppage previously.
So whoever the winner is, enjoy it while it lasts.
Prediction: Bisping by TKO
Keith Jardine vs Brandon Vera
I might have stated on here previously that I dislike Brandon Vera. He lost his 2 of his last 3 fights; only beating Reese Andy by taking him to decision. In other words, Vera is overrated at this point. Jardine, on the other hand, is underrated. He has (somewhat) recent wins over Liddell and Griffin. Vera is cutting down to 205 for the second time and admitted it was tough against Reese Andy. I’ll be interested to see how he handles it the second time around.
Looking beyond this fight there are a handful of guys in front of Jardine within the Light Heavyweight picture while Vera is not even in that picture yet (a win would put him right there). The winner might be inline to fight someone like Lyoto Machida with the winner getting a title shot.
This one will not go to the judges. KO of the night warning.
Prediction: Jardine by KO
Luiz Cane vs Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
Some people have Sokoudjou very highly ranked. We are talking top ten Light Heavyeight. I can’t go that far yet with a guy who is 1-1 in his UFC career and just 5-2 overall. He is still very young though. Both of these fighters debuted back at UFC 79 so there is not a ton to go on here.
My overly precise prediction is that Sokoudjou wins in spectacular fashion and he begins being talked about much more.
Prediction: Sokoudjou by TKO
