Breakdown of UFC 132

UFC 132 is the biggest pay per view of the year to date. This card has some huge fights featuring larger than life fighters and some great potential. Young fighters trying to get into title contention, legends trying to assure their fans that they are still relevant in a quickly evolving sport, and two rivals fighting for a belt and for revenge. UFC 132 has the makings to be fight card of the year. I know you’re thinking “Yeah right Tito's washed up, Wand and Leben are both fighting more so for relevance than a title shot, and six out of eight of the Domin8tor’s last fights have gone the distance,” but hear me out. Lets start from the beginning of the pay per view:

• Dennis Siver vs. Matt Wiman – A lot of people are saying this match up doesn't make any sense with Siver just coming off his huge win of the previously undefeated George Sotiropoulos. But they don't give Matt Wiman enough credit. Wiman is riding a very impressive three fight winning streak, including a first round submission of Mac Danzig, which was controversial as Danzig had not tapped and was still conscious. With that said, Siver is also on a three fight winning streak with a R1 submission win over Andre Winner. Siver is a kickboxer which makes that sub at a high level more impressive, so this match up makes perfect sense. I think either way, whoever wins this fight is one fight away from the belt. The key to this fight for Siver is simple, keep it standing, he is a former German kickboxing champion and he hits like a mule. He does have three submission wins under the UFC banner and is steadily evolving, but his deadliest weapons are best executed while standing. The exact opposite is true for Wiman who comes from a wrestling background. Wiman needs to take down Siver, grind on him and tire him out for a decision win. If he can't get the takedown, I see a bad night ahead for Wiman. My official pick for this fight is Siver by TKO, backspinning kick in Round two.

• Carlos Condit vs. Don Hyun Kim- I have been waiting for Condit to fight since his very impressive KO of Dan Hardy, (who I am also a fan of.) so This fight has got me very excited, I’m also excited because this fight puts both fighters in the hunt if not puts them next in line for a shot at GSP. This fight is very interesting for me because of the fighters’ styles, Condit is more than anything a finisher with only 1 of his 26 wins going the distance, which is honestly one of the most impressive stats I've ever seen in MMA. Most of them have come by submission, but Condit also has some great stand up with 11 wins by TKO or KO. Kim on the other hand does things a little differently with exactly 50% of his fights going to decision. He employs a more grinding style with his black belt level judo and wrestling background but this seems to work as Kim is undefeated . The key for Condit in this fight is to not let Kim execute his grinding style. Condit is more than capable of knocking out Kim while they stand and honestly its not a disadvantage to be taken down due to Condits excellent jiu- jitsu game. He just needs to make sure that he doesn't let Kim lay and pray for three rounds. Condit needs to be actively defending the take down when standing and landing his shots. When it goes to the ground, and I say when because I believe Kim’s 4th dan black belt in Judo and his wrestling combined can get the job done, Condit needs to be actively working sweeps and sub attempts trying to finish like he so often does. The key for Kim is to smother Condit with a work ethic a kin to Jon Fitch and continuously clinch, throw, takedown, and control Condit for three rounds while watching closely for submissions. This is a very tough fight for me to call so don't bet the farm on this pick, but I'm taking Carlos Condit by rear naked choke in the third round.

• Tito Ortiz vs. Ryan Bader With this match up I can't help but think that this is Dana White’s way of giving Tito the last chance he begged for, while also making sure it’s his last time in the octagon. This has Knockout of the Night written all over it! Ortiz and Bader are very similar fighters on paper, they're both wrestlers, have powerful takedowns, and ground and pound with some great conditioning. But in reality Bader is a lot younger, stronger, faster, and better at what he does than Tito. Bader is a young hungry fighter with great wrestling and some serious knockout power. Tito is very much on his way out of the sport. Although Tito has some good wrestling, it is not good enough to be a threat to Bader. Also, Tito has no knock out power to speak of. The key for Bader in this fight is to overwhelm Tito with his superior athleticism and power. The key for Tito is to set up the take down as best as he can, while also implementing his ground and pound. He should also try to use the fact that a loss means retirement as fuel for the fire. With all that said, I see this having the potential to be Tito Ortiz’s best fight ever. If he really wants to fight and be the best in the world again, I can't help but think he has some lingering fire left in him and that we’re going to see a tiger at its most viscous just before death. If Tito doesn't get knocked out in the first round I see him showing us the biggest display of heart that he has shown in any fight. Now even with all this the most likely situation is that Tito won’t be able to show cas any of his heart and my official pick for this fight is Ryan Bader by KO in R1.

• Wanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben I have a theory that I apply to Mixed Martial Arts that has proven pretty successful, and I'll share it with you because it applies to this fight. Whenever there is a fight that is hyped up as two very skilled fighters who will truly test each other and showcase pure technical fighting it ends in a very quick knock out. The most recent example being Vitor Belfort vs. Anderson Silva. The second part to this theory is when you have two fighters who are knock out artists and absolute savages. When there is no way that the fight will leave the first round, the fight ends up going to the judges score cards and the awesome knockout never happens. The example here is Junior Dos Santos vs. Shane Carwin. I'm putting Silva vs. Leben in the second part of my theory. Both of these guys throw bombs with no regard to there own well being, so according to my theory this fight will go to decision. It has all the makings of Fight of the Year if they fight the way everyone is expecting them to, but that’s not going to happen. I believe what were going to see instead of two brawlers slinging leather is Chris Leben slinging leather trying to knock Wandy’s head off and Wanderlei doing something he rarely does which is game plan. Wanderlei wants to get back in the hunt, he wants to fight for a belt and lately he hasn't shown that he's still that animal who risks it all for the fans and will fight anyone. In his last fight with Bisping, Wand was constantly trying to finish but he was sticking to a game plan until the last ten seconds of the fight and after that he refused to take a fight against Brian Stann, a smart move if you ask me. That’s not to say Wanderlei won't go for a finish and thats not even to say he won't be viscous. I just think that he will be a more intelligent fighter than we're used to seeing. The key to winning the bout for Wanderlei is to use well timed fits of rage with takedowns to keep Chris Leben off guard, and kicks to keep him at a safe distance. The key for Chris Leben in this fight is to force Wanderlei to engage him in a brawl and watch out for the clinch but even here his success chance is a 50/50 at best. Leben could possibly take Wandy down if he gets into trouble. His style just isn't safe enough to give him anything more than a puncher’s chance and after taking a beating from Brian Stann and pretty much everyone else he fights whether he wins or loses, we don't know how much chin Leben has left. My pick for this fight, Wanderlei by unanimous decision.

• Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber Ok I’m calling it, this is going to be the Fight of the Night very possibly the year. It wasn't an easy decision especially with Wandy and Leben on the card, but Cruz and Faber have a few things that Wand and Leben don't. Number 1 and the most important factor is that they hate each other. Urijah Faber is Dominick Cruz’s only loss and the spoiler of Dominick’s WEC debut. On top of that, there has been some trash talk back and forth over the past four years which is exactly what drives great fights and motivates fighters to perform excellently. Example, GSP vs. BJ 1 and Chuck vs. Wand. I think this fight will go down among the two examples as one of the greatest back and forth battles ever. The second thing that Cruz and Faber have that Wandy and Leben don't is a belt on the line. Nothing is more important to a high level fighter than having that belt and being considered the best in the world. Dominick’s motivation to keep it and Urijah’s drive to be on top again will force these fighters to fight as if there lives were on the line. Number 3, Cruz and Faber are at the very top of their division and have a very elite skill set to bring to the table, where Wand and Leben haven't been considered elite in a very long time. I believe we will see a bloody war filled with flying leather, submission attempts, takedowns, and probably even a scary 4th round trip to see the cage side doctor, but the fighter will insist that he's fine and we will get to see the end because this fight will go to a very close decision. Keys for Dominick Cruz are his movement and foot work, he needs to overwhelm the challenger with strikes coming from all angles and some very fast combinations mixed with some quick explosive but careful takedowns to beat up Urijah. Dominick needs to out strike and out class him to a decision. Keys for Urijah Faber, he needs to cut Dominick off in the cage, run him into the fence and start throwing some bombs. Land some shots from clinch and score with a take down, lather, rinse, and repeat. The longer this fight is on the ground the better for Urijah because he has some very dangerous jiu jitsu, as Dominick already knows. My official pick for what I'm calling as fight of the year is ….drumroll… Dominick Cruz by unanimous decision, but I think Urijah will win at least one round making us all hold our breath while the score cards are read, I also predict a rubber match before their careers are over.