Monday, June 4, 2012

UFC 146 will answer these six questions

The UFC is billing this weekend's bouts as literally the biggest main card of all time because a whole lot of big dudes are fighting on the main card. It will answer these six questions.

1. Who is the best heavyweight in the UFC?* Of course this question will be answered. With the UFC heavyweight belt on the line, the main event is designed to answer that question. However, it has to have an asterisk on it because of the Alistair Overeem shenanigans before the bout. He was suspended from fighting for nine months because of abnormally high levels of testosterone, and his own actions kept him from fighting on this card. Through no fault of their own, Frank Mir and Junior dos Santos' bout will have an unsatisfying "what if" hanging over it.

2. How did Cain Velasquez recover from his first loss? From the second Velasquez stepped into the cage, he was a freight train. He started his career with nine straight wins, topped off by a TKO of Brock Lesnar for the title. Dos Santos stopped that train with a 64-second knockout, and this is the first time fans will see Velasquez since then. Will he be able to fight back to get a win over Antonio Silva, or will Velasquez suffer his second loss?

3. Can Dan Hardy stop his epic losing skid? "The Outlaw" has four losses in a row in the UFC, which is an unheard of number. Fighters have been cut for much less. After losing to Chris Lytle in August, Hardy took time away from the sport. He doesn't have an easy fight in Duane "Bang" Ludwig. We'll find out Saturday night if he can finally right the ship.

4. Is Jason Miller more than a TV star? "Mayhem," and his awesome dog Gator, starred on both "The Ultimate Fighter" and "Bully Beatdown." He is engaging, funny, and knows how to be the star of a show. However, that didn't help him in his first fight back in the UFC in six years, as Michael Bisping manhandled him. Miller's bout with C.B. Dollaway will give him a chance to prove he belongs in the UFC.

5. Can an all-heavyweight card be exciting? The UFC is taking a gamble with this card. Though the idea of an all-heavyweight card is good in theory, in practice, it's dicey. Heavyweights can provide great knockouts, but they can also provide wheeze-fests like Travis Browne's bout with Rob Boughton or Frank Mir's with Mirko Filipovic. The pressure is on these 10 men to deliver.

6. Who will Daniel Cormier fight next? The newly crowned Strikeforce heavyweight champ will supposedly have another fight in Strikeforce, but his best tests will be in the UFC. UFC 146 is chock full of heavyweights who could test Cormier's wrestling and striking. Who will his next opponent be? See the main card for the answer.

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