UFC 126 Preview | Thebigtip

Anderson Silva VS Vitor Belfort

Saturday night will see MMA great- Anderson Silva, try to extend his record for consecutive title defences- to nine. He is set to face the biggest test to date for the much-coveted Middleweight belt. Silva will look to turn in a conclusive performance on Saturday following his last two unconvincing title defences. The first against Chael Sonnen in August, saw the Brazilian dominated for four rounds before pulling off a remarkable submission in the final round. His April title defence will be remembered for all the wrong reasons, following a comedic performance against Demian Maia which saw ‘The Spider’ prance around for five rounds and crawl to a unanimous decision victory.

There is no doubt that Saturdays main event will be an intriguing battle, Belfort is without doubt the best striker that Silva will face in the octagon and ‘The Spiders’ striking looked suspect in his last title defence against a far inferior striker to Belfort. Belfort will need to come out all guns blazing early on in the fight and look to upset Silva’s rhythm in much the same way that Sonnen did.

Forrest Griffin VS Rich Franklin

UFC 126 will also see the return of Forrest Griffin after a one year lay-off, he will face off against fellow American Rich Franklin in the Light Heavyweight division.

Ring-rust will be the main concern for Griffin after a long lay-off from a shoulder injury, this will be a crucial fight for both fighters who will need a win to propel themselves up a congested Light Heavyweight ladder. Franklin is also looking to gain some momentum following a lay-off of his own, the 36 year-old has not put on his gloves since a knockout win over Chuck Liddell in June where he sustained a broken ulna bone.

Both fighters enjoy standing and trading, so this one could come down to who finds their range early on.

Jon Jones VS Ryan Bader

Another mouth-watering clash on the card pits together two fighters, who with a win will be knocking on the door for a shot at the Light Heavyweight crown. Both Jon Jones and Ryan Bader have been blitzing through recent opponents and Saturday night will be another chance for fans to see the prospects in action. Both fighters come from strong wrestling backgrounds with Jones specialising in Greco-Roman wrestling and Bader adopting a more traditional wrestling background, having come through the American collegiate wrestling system. I would give Jones an advantage in the stand-up and his whopping 215cm reach could be the key to victory for the 23 year-old.

Bader will need to utilise his wrestling in this match-up, and the 27 year-old will need to take his opponent down and close the reach advantage to have any realistic chance of winning. Bader will be facing a superior striker but has the tools to be a spanner in Jones’s works, this will evolve around imposing himself physically and if able to get the fight to the ground, smothering and frustrating his opponent and looking to strike from this position.

Main card predictions:

Silva

Franklin

Jones

Ellenberger

Torres