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The UFC returns to Japan this afternoon with a welterweight showdown between Brazilian legend Wanderlei Silva and American Brian Stann headlining a six-fight card. We’ll have live updates from 2.00pm AEDT this afternoon.
Brian ‘All American’ Stann (12-5) 6″1′, 205lb vs Wanderlei ‘The Axe Murderer’ Silva (34-12-1-1NC) 5″11′, 205lb
The main event marks the return to Japan for Pride legend Wanderlei Silva, whose achievements in in the now defunct organisation have seen him written into the history books.
The Brazilian brawler is getting on in years now though and many are suggesting that this may be his last fight, so he will surely be looking for one of his brutal trademark knockout finishes.
Standing in the way of this potential fairytale ending to Silva’s career is former WEC light heavyweight champion Brian Stann. A decorated officer in the US marines, Stann is tough as they come and possesses a great chin and heavy hands.
This bout is being fought at 205lbs although both of these fighters have been fighting at middleweight more recently in their careers.
It has fight of the night written all over it and may come down to who connects first, but I am backing Stann to prove his durability and get the TKO victory in the third round.
Mark ‘Super Samoan’ Hunt (8-7) 5″10′, 265lb vs Stefan ‘Skyscraper’ Struve (29-5) 7″0′, 238lb
This heavyweight match-up sees a young prospect, Dutch giant Stefan Struve, take on K1 kickboxing and Kiwi Pride veteran Mark Hunt.
Struve is currently the tallest fighter on the UFC roster and he uses his length and reach to great effect in both his kickboxing and submission games.
Struve has been impressive in his last few outings, finishing Lavar Johnson and Stipe Miocic. The ‘Skyscraper’ has a knack for nice finishes and his reach is the second longest in the UFC.
Hunt will have a considerable height and reach disadvantage but the ‘Super Samoan’s’ lacklustre record does not tell the whole story.
Hunt has fought Fedor, Josh Barnett, Mirko ‘Crocop’ Flipovic and has wins over Wanderlei Silva, Cheick Kongo and Ben Rothwell.
I’m predicting that Stefan Struve will want to take this fight to the ground and he will have a considerable advantage there, if he does so he should win this via submission in the second round.
Takanori ‘The Fireball Kid’ Gomi (34-8-0-1NC) 5″8′, 155lb vs Diego ‘The Dream’ Sanchez (25-5) 5″10′, 155lb
Former title contender Diego Sanchez makes his return to the lightweight division after a four-year absence.
Sanchez is known for his excellent cardio and junkyard dog-like ferocity, this in conjunction with the fact that he has never been finished in a professional fight means he is a tough match-up for anyone.
This is not to take Gomi lightly, the former Pride champion has huge power in both hands and will be looking to stand and trade.
‘The Fireball Kid’ has been inconsistent in recent times however he still possesses the skills to compete with the best and he will be pumped up in front of a home crowd.
This being said I can’t see Gomi being able to deal with the takedowns or submission game of Sanchez and I see him being finished by either a submission attempt or a TKO in the third round.
Yushin ‘Thunder’ Okami (28-7) 6″2′ 185lb vs Hector Lombard (32-3-1-1NC) 5″9′ 185lb
This middleweight fight sees Cuban-Australian judoka Hector Lombard take on former title contender Yushin Okami.
Hector Lombard is the former Bellator middleweight champion and after a sloppy debut loss against Tim Boetsch he blasted Rousamir Palhares in his last bout, Lombard uses his elite judo background less and less these days but his hand speed and punching power have been more and more on show.
Okami is coming off a big win over Alan Belcher who he beat in classic smothering fashion earning a unanimous decision.
The key to a win for Lombard is not so much to stop the smothering game of Okami, as this is incredibly hard to do, but to pick his shots due his power to avoid takedowns.
I feel we will see a return to his old judo tricks in this fight as this may be the key to reversing Okami’s attacks.
I predict this will be Lombard’s ticket to a contender spot, he will stuff Okami and reverse his attacks before dominating him and earning the TKO in the second round.
Mizuto ‘Pugnus’ Hirota (14-5-1) 5″7′, 145lb vs Rani Yahya (17-7) 5″6′, 145lb
Hirota versus Yahya is a classic striker versus grappler showdown with the Brazilian Yahya having some of the best submissions in the UFC.
Yahya has 15 of his wins by way submission and has some hype leading into this fight after a lovely north-south choke submission of Josh Grispi.
The Japanese Hirota has 8 KO victories to his name and also has decent ground and pound. If he can avoid Hirota’s heavy hands then I see Yaha finishing the tough former deep lightweight champion by submission in the second round.
Dong Hyun ‘Stun Gun’ Kim (16-2-1-1NC) 6″1′, 170lb vs Sayir ‘The Great’ Bahadurzada (21-4-1) 5″11′, 170lb
The fight between Dong Hyun Kim and Siyar Bahadurzada is a very interesting fight in that these are two wily fighters in their respective ways.
Dong Hyun Kim has always shown very solid grappling, evident in wins against Nate Diaz and TJ Grant. His striking has improved in recent times but it is not quite on the level of his opponents.
Bahadurzada is a tough, well versed striker who has a lot of power. He has 11 KOs that include some snappy finishes.
The key to this fight is that if ‘Stun Gun’ can hold down the Afghani Bahadurzada he may be able to grind out a decision, but equally if ‘The Great’ can stop the takedowns and keep it on the feet I believe he will get a stoppage via KO.
I predict the latter happening in the second round.
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