October 23, 2009

Let's make some money fellas
What: UFC 104: Machida versus Shogun, an 11-bout card from the Staples Center in Los Angeles
When: Saturday, Oct. 24, at 10 p.m. ET on pay-per-view, with a live preliminary show airing on Spike at 9 p.m. ET.
Why you should care: Because Machida is the closest thing we have to a profound, peerless Martial Artist (capitalization intentional); because whether “Shogun” has found his old form or not, he will make it exciting; because Ben Rothwell is going to force Cain Velasquez to scramble and work like hell to overcome his size; because judo remains an underrepresented style in MMA and Yoshiyuki Yoshida can counter Anthony Johnson’s stand-up with the highly technical ploy of dumping him on his head.
Fight of the night: Machida’s unblemished record raises stakes for every second he’s in the ring; Shogun will stay in his face.
Sleeper fight of the night: Joe Stevenson-Spencer Fisher: Three rounds of Fisher getting scooped up and then working overtime on the feet to compensate.
Pre-emptive complaint: Chael Sonnen-Yushin Okami might be a concentrated effort to keep blood pressure among viewers steady; Okami, talented as he is, makes Ricardo Arona look like Jet Li.
Hype quote of the show: “I just saw what he wrote about me, and I am going to punch him in the face for that, plain and simple.” — Fisher on Stevenson’s verbal warfare. At least he’s not in Fisher’s head. -Sherdog
Yours truly will be sitting first row on the Octagon..-TO