Nerdcore Boxing

If you love MMA, this weekend’s UFC will be a treat. There might not be a main event that stirs up national press, but this is the deepest fight card I ever recall seeing.

I want to highlight a few of the interesting matchups:

Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans - Racially charged trash talking from Ortiz puts the grudge factor behind this fight. Since loosing his belt, Tito has been a gatekeeper to other contenders, he’s one notch below the elite, but better than the rest. Personally I think there is no place for racist comments in sports and I’ll be rooting for Rashad.

Chris Lytle vs. Drew Fickett - Lytle is a welterweight contender, former pro boxer and all around badass. I’m always exciting to watch him fight. He just came off a loss to ground and pound specialist and MMA legend Matt Hughes.

Nogueira vs. Herring - Two top heavyweights that came over from Pride will be battling it out. Nog, one of the best submission fighters in MMA, could easily be the next UFC heavyweight champ.

Anderson Silva vs. Nate Marquardt - Anderson Silva is an uber-aggressive Muay Thai fighter in the Chute Boxe tradition. Silva is so tall his long legs make it more difficult to defend against takedowns. He’s no slouch on the ground, but I keep waiting for a ground and pound fighter to exploit this weakness.

Sean Sherk vs. Hermes Franca - Sherk is the lightweight champ, a short stocky ground and pounder. Franca is a well rounded brawler. You won’t see technical boxing from Franca but he has heavy hands and he’s not afraid to throw bombs.

Stephan Bonnar vs. Mike Nickels - Bonnar is always fun to watch, I’ve been a fan since the first season of the Ultimate Fighter reality show. Bonnar doesn’t sport big knockout power but he’s a very technical boxer. Besides being a former national Golden Gloves champ, he’s also a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

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