Quarterly Rankings
What a week for the UFC! Ultimate Fight Night 19 turned out to be an incredible card in Oklahoma City. The event aired on Spike TV in the U.S. and led directly into a successful season premiere for the 10th season of The Ultimate Fighter. Well, successful unless your name is Abe Wagner, who was brutalized by John Madsen in the season's first fight. The UFC will also be making its debut in Dallas, Texas this weekend. As if that wasn't enough to have Dana White pulling his hair out, wait, ..never mind. With all of that going on, the UFC will also, for the first time ever, air an undercard for free on Spike immediately preceding the pay-per-view portion of the event. Let's get to the fights.
When the first fight on the main card is probably the favorite to earn "Fight of the Night" honors, you know that you're in for a night of action. When five-time Fight of the Night winner Tyson Griffin takes on Hermes Franca, who's also won it once, the maintenace crew should make sure that the octagon bolts are tightened. If history is any indication, these two will test every connection on the cage. Griffin is 6-2 in the UFC and 13-2 overall, his most recent win coming over a very tough Raphael dos Anjos. Griffin controlled the better part of the fight and even survived a nasty compression lock on his leg in which he endured the pain for what seemed like forever.
Franca, a tough guy in his own right, is well-versed in submissions. Of his 26 career wins, 11 have come via submission while 6 have been by knockout. The former WEC lightweight champion was once in command of an 8 fight winning streak with wins over such fighters as Spencer Fisher, Nate Diaz, and current WEC champ Jamie Varner.
The next fight on the card is an intriguing battle between welterweights Josh Koscheck and Frank Trigg. Koscheck, a Pennsylvania native, was a star on the rise at one point of his career. The four-time NCAA Division I All-American wrestler is coming off of a shocking upset loss to Paulo Thiago at UFC 95 and he'll be entering the octagon with a chip on his shoulder to prove that was a fluke.
Trigg is returning to the UFC after 4 years of fighting in different organizations. Also an accomplished wrestler, Trigg is no stranger to the floor but he hasn't had much success against elite wrestlers. He may be looking to keep this fight standing after seeing Koscheck get caught by Thiago.
The original card had Martin Kampmann taking on Mike Swick in a welterweight fight that would have possibly produced a number one contender. Swick was forced to spectator status due to an injury suffered while training and will be replaced by Paul Daley. Kampmann is a winner of 11 of his previous 12 bouts, his only loss coming at the hands of Nate Marquardt, a highly ranked middleweight. Since moving to welterweight Kampmann is 2-0 with a notable victory over former WEC welterweight champ Carlos Condit.
Daley will be making his UFC debut. A Muay-Thai specialist, Daley has (T)KO'd 16 opponents during his 21-8-2 career. The former Cage Rage champ is no stranger to top competition, having faced the likes of Jake Shields and Nick Thompson among others.
In a heavyweight battle that could lead the winner to a title shot,...
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