UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch preview
by Mike Williams on February 25, 2011

When judging the quality of a fight card, it's important to look at more than just who might be considered a highly marketable fighter. Match ups make for great fight cards and Joe Silva has put together some intriguing ones for this event at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia.

The line up for this card has been criticized in a similar fashion to that of UFC 95 in London, England, a card that produced a consensus submission of the year by Demian Maia, spectacular knockouts by Paulo Thiago and Dan Hardy, and a main event fight of the night between Diego Sanchez and Joe Stevenson.

UFC 127 has a similar kind of potential.

Kyle Noke vs. Chris Camozzi

The Australian Noke will be enjoying the home field advantage here. He's riding a four-fight winning streak, two in the UFC, and both were second round stoppages. Now sitting at 18-4 overall and currently training with the Jackson camp, Noke is looking to find his way into a title picture.

Camozzi is a tough competitor in his own right. As a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter he was able to fight his way into the house but a broken jaw kept him from continuing on his quest so he was forced to leave the show. He made his UFC debut at the finale show and was successful in a unanimous decision over James Hammortree.

Chris Lytle vs. Brian Ebersole

Any fight involving Lytle has the potential to be an instant classic. Seven of last eleven fights have ended in a performance bonus. He's 8-3 during that span and has now  ripped off four in a row, including 2 stoppages. This guy is 30-17-5 for his career and now feels as though he might be sniffing the door of a title shot.

Although Ebersole will be making his UFC debut, he has even more pro fights than Lytle. He's 46-14-1-1 for his career and it's no coincidence that 11 of his last 12 fights have taken place in Australia. He's 11-1 in those fights and although many people won't know much about him coming into this fight, he's fought and defeated some high-quality fighters like Matt Horwich and Nick Thompson.

George Sotiropoulos vs. Dennis Siver

Dana White has stated that a win here will put the Aussie Sotiropoulos in the picture for title contention. Sotiropoulos is on a serious roll right now, having won 8 in a row (7 in the UFC) and 2 of his last 3 fights were fights of the night. He's taken out some tough competition with wins over Joe Stevenson, Kurt Pellegrino, and Joe Lauzon but Siver will be no pushover.

Siver is a very powerful lightweight who happens to be on a nice roll of his own. He's now 5-1 in the UFC and has earned himself four performance bonuses since his arrival. Of his 17 pro victories, nine have come by way of submission and five by knockout. A win over a fighter of Sotiropoulos' caliber, especially in a hostile environment, could go a long way toward getting "The Menace" in the title picture.

Michael Bisping vs. Jorge Rivera

Bisping is an interesting character. He has three losses in his career- Rashad Evans, Dan Henderson, and Wanderlei Silva. Those three former champions have beaten many tough guys over the years. To Bisping's credit, he's beaten Yoshihiro Akiyama,

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Make sure to check back with us the day of the event for free, live, round-by-round coverage of UFC 127right here at FiveKnuckles.com! Join expert analyst Mike Williams as he takes you through the entire fight card blow-by-blow and then keep it right here for all the post-fight news and notes you can handle!

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HOW WILL THE THIAGO ALVES VS. MARTIN KAMPMANN FIGHT END AT UFC ON FX 2?
Alves def. Kampmann via TKO/KO
Alves def. Kampmann via submission
Alves def. Kampmann via decision
Kampmann def. Alves via TKO/KO
Kampmann def. Alves via submission
Kampmann def. Alves via decision
TAKE ANOTHER POLL!