UFC 135 main card will kick off with a heavyweight battle between Ben Rothwell and Mark Hunt. Rothwell(31-7) has a better career with 18 knockouts and 10 submission victories. Rothwell's ground game is as dangerous as his striking skills. Hunt(6-7) doesn't seem successful in his MMA career unlike his kick boxing era. He seems to have faced more competitive fighters. His stand-up is dangerous as he is a really hard hitter. This goes a weakness regarding to his ground game. 6 of his losses are by submission, he lacks jiu-jitsu. So if the fights goes to ground Hunt might have little chance.
Second fight of the card will be between Nate Diaz and Takanori Gomi. Diaz (13-7) returns back to lightweight division with this fight. Veteran Gomi (32-7) is coming off from a loss against Clay Guida by submission @ UFC 125.
Diaz is a better rival on the ground where Gomi is better standing up. Diaz needs to keep distance and defend Gomi's striking standing where Gomi needs to avoid getting submitted. Both fighters careers are having hard time. Whoever loses the fight will mostly likely cut from UFC.
Another heavyweight fight to welcome between Travis Browne vs Rob Broughton. Browne(11) is holding a MMA record with 11 wins no losses and a draw against Cheick Kongo. 9 of his wins are either KO or TKO. He is a "VERY" hard hitter. You may remember him defeating "The Skyscraper" Stefan Struve with a Superman punch KO also earning KO of the night @ UFC 130.
Broughton(15-5) is also a hard hitter and seems better on the submission skills. He is not very well known among the MMA artists. Coming of over 5 victories in a row, his last fight was the first fight of his UFC contract . Broughton defeated Vinicius Queiroz with a third round submission @ UFC 120.
The Co-Main event of the night is "Matt Hughes vs. Josh Koscheck". Hughes (48-5) is in his last moments of his career. This is the last fight of his UFC contract. Even with a win or a defeat I believe he will be retiring from UFC. The Hall of Famer Hughes is almost 38 years old with 2 times Welterweight Championship achieving seven title defences. He states ”It’s competition. That’s what drives your top athletes in the UFC. It’s about getting in there against one other person and mixing it up. The fact that it’s just me and one other person competing in there, that’s my big drive right there.” He also told that they are going to figure out what to do after the fight. Josh Koscheck(15-5) the former challenger (fought before Shields) of Welterweight Championship against GSP was sidelined with a broken orbital bone to heal. He is younger and hungry for the fight. Their styles are pretty much the same. If Hughes wasn't at his best day at B.J. Penn fight which he was defeated by KO in the very first moments of first round we shall expect a close match up. If not probably Koscheck will be retiring him with a superior performance. So will the pride and determination win over hunger ? We shall see...
And the main event. The light heavyweight championship bout: Jon "Bones" Jones vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. Through the weeks there have been so much trash talking between them.
The weigh in stare down was also so funny, both fighters talked to each other during photo shooting. It went something like this;
Rampage: "I'm gonna end your hype bra(?)(or "tomorrow")"
Jones: "Let's go baby, "
Rampage: "Yea, I'm serious,"
Jones: "I'm ready,"
Rampage: (Total guess here, hard to tell) "I'm going to give you a lot of problems", or "I'm making you a promise"(?) - Possibly even "I'm gonna end your hype, I promise"
Jones: "I'm ready baby,"
Jones: "Come on baby, let's go"
Rampage: "Yea"
So what about the fight? Jones(11-1) never lost a fight except a disqualification against Hamill. His talents are unrivaled. His reach is the best in UFC with 84.5" where Rampage is just 73. This gives him the ability to deliver punches and strikes with more angles and from longer distances. With his unorthodox striking skills and the reach advantage he is incredibly powerful on his feet. He is not the heaviest puncher in the division. Rampage(32-8) earned his title shot against Jones by defeating Matt Hamill and Lyoto Machida. He hasn't been stopped by KO for almost 6 years. His chin is incredibly strong and Jones should not have the opportunity putting him to sleep. He has tremendous power in his hands and he is a better counter puncher. Jones' chin ain't tested yet and as Rampage has KO power in his both hands there may be surprises. For ground gaming; Rampage has a wrestling background, but he is way too weaker than him on the mat. Jones also has better take downs and if he takes Rampage down and ground and pound on him he may end up the night earlier than expected.
Rampage says "He is better than ever." He reportedly spent a million dollars to prepare for the fight and get the best shape ever. At the weigh ins he promised a best performance.
