Quarterly Rankings
When UFC 102; Couture vs. Nogueira takes the stage in Portland, Oregon Saturday night it's a mixed bag of mixed martial arts. UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture will enter the octagon for the main event at the ripe age of 46. On the contrary, 23 year-old Todd Duffee will be making his UFC debut on the undercard that same night. As the sport continues to evolve so does the diversity of its competitors.
In addition to the 23 year span in the ages of the competitors, several countries will also be represented, including Poland. Krzysztof Soszynski was born in Poland and raised in Canada. "The Polish Experiment" will take on Brandon Vera in what's scheduled to be the first fight on the main card. Both men have fought at heavyweight during their careers but this bout will take place at 205lbs. Soszynski is 3-0 since entering the UFC and a winner of 6 straight overall. Three of those six wins have come by kimura armbars but don't be fooled by this. Eleven of his pro wins have been by stoppages due to strikes.
Vera was originally slated to face Matt Hamill on the card but Hamill was injured and replaced by Soszynski. Vera has since stated the he expects it to be "a long night" for his opponent and said that he's interested to find out if Soszynski will even be able to hit him. "The Truth" has had an up and down career thus far by running the table in his first eight pro fights but now dropping three of his last five. A standout wrestler in high school and later in the United States Air Force, Vera has become an accomplished striker in mixed martial arts with seven of his ten career wins being by KO or TKO.
The Nate Marquardt vs. Demian Maia matchup is one that many fans believe should be the co-main event on this card. Nate "The Great" won the King of Pancrase Middleweight Title in 2004 and had won seven consecutive fights before running into the wall that is Anderson Silva in '07. After defeating Jeremy Horn at UFC 81 he faced off against Thales Leites at UFC 85 and lost a controversial split-decision due to two fouls and subsequent point deductions. He's now won back to back fights and expects to use Maia as his third victory in a row.
The general consensus is that Maia has the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in all of mixed martial arts. He's undefeated in his mma career with eight of his ten victories being a result of submission. Maia isn't a jiu-jitsu who's lost on his feet though, his judo skills are sharp enough to get his own takedowns or score reversals when someone dares to try to take him to the mat. Virtually all mixed martial artists have some degree of jiu-jitsu training these days and there are some great ones out there but Demian Maia's skills are on an entirely different level. Although Marquardt is in possession of a solid ground game, he'll have to be very careful of the smoothest transitions in the game.
Chris Leben and Jake Rosholt is another matchup of contrasting styles. Both men come in with relatively well-rounded games but Leben likes to brawl and is primarily a wrestler. Leben showed a propensity to struggle against strong wrestlers early in his career but has improved his ground game and his takedown defense over time. With one of...
Click here to Register!