UFC 203

As much as I would like to talk about UFC Hamburg, we have to talk about the big fight card coming up this weekend. That's right I am talking about UFC 203. Now it was great to see Ryan Bader, Alexander Gustafsson, and Josh Barnett all get wins, UFC 203 will be a monster card to watch.

You have it all in this fight card: Heavyweights who like to throw bombs, the return of the California Kid, the debut of a Pro Wrestler, and the kid who wanted to fight the Pro Wrestler turned MMA fighter, also you have the hometown heroes battling to defend their land.

So let us dig into this event and talk about a couple of fights:

Jessica Eye vs Beth Correia

This is one of two match ups where there is a hometown hero battling to defend Cleveland (I guess you could say LeBron did it as well). Beth Correia was regarded as one of the baddest women to throw down in the UFC, after getting beat by Ronda Rousey she took another fight in Raquel Pennington and lost in a split decision. Beth is going to need to get a win to keep herself relevant among the UFC Elites, but she is going against a tough opponent in Jessica Eye.

Jessica is coming off of 3 fight losing streak and is 1-4 in her last five fights. Normally the UFC will cut fighters like this, but with Cleveland coming up it made sense to keep her to showcase her. One more loss and you can expect her to get cut from the UFC.

Both fighers need this win or face being pushed out of the UFC world.

Urijah Faber vs Jimmie Rivera

Faber returns to the Octagon a few months after losing to Dominick Cruz. In the last six fights Faber is 3-3 overall. He has the ability to beat most opponents but has trouble trying to grab the brass ring and become champion in the UFC. He continues to be a bench mark in the UFC, which makes you wonder how much longer can he be that mark.

Jimmie Rivera is an interesting fighter in himself. He lost his second professional fight ever, and since then is 19-1, he is 3-0 since his debut in the UFC. Most of his wins have come off decisions, Faber loves to grind out fights as well. This fight will be interesting to watch and could be a possible "Fight of the Night" both fighters will throw down and should be fun.

 Fabricio Werdum vs Travis Browne

This will be a fight that could end quickly, but the time before this fight went to decision. I do not expect this fight to go that far again but it could. Both fighters know each other well and should be ready to throw all the bombs in the world to KO the other.

Fabricio Werdum is coming off of lost to the Champion Stipe Miocic. It was by KO and Werdum showed his hands are not as good as he thought. He is going to have to work on his defense especially with an unpredictable Travis Browne coming through Cleveland.

Travis Browne is also coming off a lost to Cain Velazquez. Who would have thought Cain would be throwing wheel house kicks, made me 100% unpredictable. Eventually a few combos would land and out would go Travis. In his last 6 fights Travis is 3-3, with this win should put him in the hunt for a title shot especially with knowing the fight in the main event is a Heavyweight Championship fight.

Stipe Miocic vs Alistair Overeem

Here is the second of two Hometown fights. I would expect the winner of this fight go on to fight Cain Velazquez or the winner of Werdum/Browne.

Stipe is a monster who finished Fabricio with no problem. However he is running into to a buzzsaw known for throwing nasty kicks and has some deadly hands. Stipe is going to have to focus on getting inside on Overeem and go for the KO. He is also going to have to grind out Alistair, he does not have the endurance to bang for five rounds. Stipe has great hands and most of his wins have come from KO or TKO.

When it comes to Alistair you can not help but think about the year suspension due to PEDs, however 3 of his last 4 victories have come VIA TKO or KO. Alistair still has heavy hands and deadly kicks. If Stipe wants to win this fight, he is going to have to pressure Alistair and take away his advantage.

CM Punk vs Mickey Gall

I chose to showcase this fight last for a few reasons. This will be the first time in the UFC a fighter will debut with a 0-0 record, but Mickey Gall has only 2 professional fights in his career (both ended by submission). Now this fight goes one of two ways: 1. CM Punk loses his debut and the UFC becomes a laughing stock for putting so much time into him; 2. CM Punk wins his debut and Mickey Gall is always the guy who lost to a Professional Wrestler. Sure you can make the argument CM Punk has trained in BJJ for most of his life...but even he says he will always be a "white belt for life." CM Punk has the advantage in this fight due to being able to look at video of Gall's last two fights and making a game plan around him. How do you game plan for CM Punk? He has 0 amateur fights and 0 professional fights. It is not like you can go back to his WWE days and game plan him. I am interested to see how this fight goes and we will find out in 6 days.

What do you guys think? Let me know and we can chat it out.

Also, you can tweet me at cm_miller85 or getthekoblog. You can also email me at getheko@gmail.com

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