UFC 93 preview

The UFC begins its stretch of three cards in four weeks Saturday with “UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson” from The O2 Dublin in Dublin,Ireland. The event will be headlined by a light-heavyweight clash between former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin and former PRIDE welterweight and middleweight champion Dan Henderson. The winner is expected to become a coach on “The Ultimate Fighter 9” opposite Michael Bisping.

The is an extremely close fight, there’s no doubt about it. Obviously, you’d have to give the edge in wrestling to Henderson, as he’s an Olympic-caliber wrestler. The striking is a little more even, as Henderson probably possesses a slight edge in power, but tends to get a bit wild at times.This is where Franklin’s level-headedness and ability to stick to a game plan will come into play. If Henderson gets wild, fully expect Franklin to be there to counter.

Henderson has never been knocked out in his career, while Franklin has never been submitted (or lost by decision). I expected this one to be a contest mostly on the feet, and I see Franklin, the slight underdog, coming back to America with a win after taking two of three rounds.

In the co-main event, it’s a rivalry fight as UFC Hall of Fame member Mark “The Hammer” Coleman returns to the Octagon for the first time in 10 years to face Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, the 2005 PRIDE Middleweight GrandPrix champion.

These two have a history, as Coleman defeated Shogun in a 2006 fight in PRIDE when Shogun broke his arm trying to post on a Coleman takedown. A near brawl escalated in the ring after between Hammer House (Coleman’s camp) and Chute Boxe (Shogun’s camp), which is why this fight has a bit of bad blood.

This is interesting because Coleman hasn’t fought since October 2006, while Shogun has been off since September 2007.

Much to my surprise, many people on the Internet have been talking about liking Coleman to win this fight. While MMA has been ripe with upsets in the past few years, a 44-year-old Mark Coleman, eight years removed from his last impressive win, stands almost zero chance of beating Shogun. His win over Shogun was a fluke. Shogun wins this however he wants.

In other bouts on the main card, expect Rousimar Palhares to submit Jeremy Horn in the first round, Chris Lytle to beat Marcus Davis by decision and Denis Kang to make a successful UFC debut, knocking out Alan Belcher in the second round.