UFC 111 is shaping up to be huge, but it should have been huger. Unfortunately Thiago Alves got pulled from the card due to brain irregularities, scratching his matchup with Jon Fitch (which was the fight on this card I was most looking forward to). Regardless, the top two matches on Saturday night are both mega, as the Brits say. The Georges St-Pierre-Dan Hardy matchup is looking to be a beauty, but does anyone really think Hardy has a legit shot at beating GSP (if the entries in our MMA Pick ‘Em Contest are any indicator, then the answer is no). GSP is too well-rounded right now to be beat by anyone, so my money is on him getting the W over Hardy, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it went the distance. It’s true that anything can happen once the cage door swings shut, but Hardy winning would have to be considered a huge upset.
The co-main event match between Shane Carwin and Frank Mir is even more intriguing. But first off, let me rant about this being for the “Interim Heavyweight Championship”. What is the point of this, other than making this a five round fight? Brock Lesnar is expected to come back this summer to defend his belt, correct? Then why create an interim title at this point? And if Lesnar isn’t expected to come back then he should have his title stripped from him. Creating interim champs cheapens your titles – one champion per weight class, please and thanks. Ok, now on to the match. The sparks should really fly in this Carwin-Mir match, with huge implications for both fighters (other than becoming “interim” champions). Is Carwin for real and deserving of a title shot over Junior dos Santos and/or Cain Velasquez. And has Mir overlooked Carwin due to his obsession with getting another shot at Brock Lesnar? My guess is Mir, with his added muscle/weight and experience to become the first man to beat Carwin. But, what do I know? Oh yeah, a lot – I’m leading the MMA Pick ‘Em Contest!
And make sure to tune in to the prelim matches airing on Spike TV before the PPV. Nate Diaz makes the jump to welterweight to fight Rory Markham and anytime Diaz fights it is “must-see TV”. The dude might have a big mouth (both inside and outside the cage) but he puts on entertaining fights.
Check back with The MMA Manifesto tomorrow night for live play-by-play and an interactive chat of UFC 111.
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