On Saturday the UFC will arrive at the Nationwide Arena, in Columbus Ohio, not only to find out who's the best middleweight fighter in MMA as the UFC middleweight champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva will face off with the former PRIDE middleweight champion Dan "Hollywood" Henderson, but also to unify both titles. Also we'll see a refocused Heath "Texas Crazy Horse" Herring taking on a highly confident Cheick Kongo.
Main-Event: Anderson Silva ( 20 - 4 ) vs Dan Henderson ( 22 - 6 )
It's really a great match-up as we see two of the best middleweights in the history of MMA and reigning champions to decide who's pound-by-pound the best middleweight in the world today.
The UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is on a impressive winning streak and crushed all of his opponents since he came to the octagon, including former UFC middleweight champion Rich "Ace" Franklin twice. He is a phenomenal Muay Thai fighter with solid Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, who improved his game every time he stepped into the cage.
Dan Henderson is a fantastic fighter with a great all around game of his own. He achieved the most success of his career in Pride Fighting Championships, where he earned titles in both the Middleweight and Welterweight divisions. After dropping a unification match at 205 with Quinton Jackson, Henderson looks to return to prominence in the 185-pound division.
It's really hard to predict what will happen in this fight, it could end either via a brutal knockout or submission, but one thing is for sure, it won't go the distance. Henderson should be able to neutralize Silva's striking game with his world-class wrestling skills, as long he doesn't get caught with a knee or elbow while in the clinch, control him once on the ground and pound his way to victory
My Prediction: Dan "Hollywood" Henderson via T/KO, round 3
Co-Main-Event: Heath Herring ( 27 - 13 - 1 ) vs Cheick Kongo ( 21 - 3 - 1 )
This is a significant match-up for both of these fighters. Kongo wants to steady his claims for a title shot, whereas Herring needs a win to get himself back into the title picture.
Heath Herring is looking forward to get back on track after his luckless decision loss against Antonio "Minotauro" Nogueira at UFC 73, where he was only a couple of hammer-fists away from the biggest victory of his career. Herring is a decent wrestler with solid stand-up who also showed his knowledge of submissions in the past.
With that said, this could be a though challenge for Cheick Kong, who's coming of a unanimous decision win against Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic. First of all, I don't think that Kongo "lives up to the hype", and even though he defeated Filipovic that wasn't so meaningful, it's no secret that CroCop never has arrived mentally at the octagon. Kongo is a good stand-up with great physical strenghts, but he doesn't possess a potential ground game or takedown defence.
As for the stand-up the most would say they're pretty even matched, but if the fight goes down on the ground, the advantage swings clearly to Heath Herring. The question is, can he work his way into the clinch to take Kongo down without getting caught in the process?
My Prediction: Heath Herring via submission, round 2
written by Blitz
