The On Deck Circle

This article has been submitted by “The Anti-Virus” Kyle Norton.April 2nd will mark the thirteenth iteration of UFC Fight Night on Spike TV, headlined by a duel between fighters with two of the worst nicknames in the business, Kenny “Ken-Flo” Florian and Joe “J-Lau” Lauzon. This will be the UFC’s first trip to the state of Colorado since the Zuffa take over, being broadcast live from the Broomfield Event Center in Broomfield, Colorado. I won’t be breaking down the full card because there are eleven fights in total and only five will be aired. I also refuse to preview fights that are contested between fighters like Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, Roman Mitichyan, Tommy Speer or Jeff Cox.

Kenny Florian v. Joe Lauzon
Mark Delagrotte product Kenny “Ken-Flo” Florian takes on BJ Penn trained fighter Joe “J-Lau” Lauzon in Wednesday’s main event. Annoying monikers aside, this fight should be extremely exciting. Both fighters are very well rounded, have good cardio and look to finish fights. Joe Lauzon is on a six-fight win streak and three have come inside the Octagon including a stunning knockout of Jens Pulver. The strength of Lauzon’s game is definitely on the ground but he has been training diligently since the Ultimate Fighter with BJ Penn’s boxing coach, Rudy Valentino. Lauzon has better punching power than Ken-Flo and he may also hold the edge in size and takedowns but Kenny Florian will have something to say about that. Florian has really escalated his dedication to MMA since his loss to Sean Sherk and has improved his strength and conditioning on top of rounding out his already versatile skill set. This fight could really go anywhere depending on who gets the better of the early exchanges but I look for Kenny Florian to take a hard fought decision victory.

Karo Parisyan v. Thiago Alves
In another high-octane matchup, Karo “the Heat” Parisyan takes on American Top Team fighter Thiago “Pitbull” Alves. “The Heat” is one of very few fighters who have been able to seamlessly blend Judo into an MMA game. He is very dangerous in the clinch with strikes and throws and is a strong, unorthodox puncher. One thing that Alves may be able to take advantage of is Parisyan’s conditioning. Even though “the Heat” likes to do just that and put the heat on his opponents, he often gets flamed by that strategy and burns himself out by the third round (three heat references in one sentence, a new ODC pun record). Parisyan has consistently fought the best fighters in the welterweight division and this fight is no different. Alves has only lost once in his last seven fights (to Jon Fitch in June 2006) and is looking to put himself in possible title contention with a convincing win. “Pitbull” has very good striking at a distance and in the clinch as well as a strong ground game, as is the case with almost all ATT fighters. I expect an explosive fight with a lot of scrambles. Karo looked soft as always at the weigh ins so look for him to come out strong but lag in the later rounds allowing “Pitbull” to steal a decision victory.

Matt Hamill v. Tim Boetsch
Tim “the Barbarian” Boetsch steps in on short notice for the second fight in a row to take on Matt “the Hammer” Hamill. Boetsch fought David Heath at UFC 81 on very short notice and dominated the striker on the feet. Coming into that fight, Boetsch was said to be a wrestler with a good chin but he showed that he could mix up his hands and feet at range as well as use a strong clinch game in close. The weakness of his game, however, is definitely on the ground (especially off his back), which Vladimir Matyushenko showed in their IFL title fight. Matt Hamill is a similar case. Coming into the Ultimate Fighter, Hamill was a one-dimensional wrestler with a hunger to learn the MMA game. In his last fight, however, “the Hammer,” like Boetsch, showed a greatly improved striking game against Michael Bisping. A stalemate in the takedown game could grant us a very exciting showdown on the feet with a more than likely knockout. I feel that this knockout will come in the second round at the hands of Tim Boetsch, who will continue to impress UFC fans.

Kurt Pellegrino v. Nate Diaz
Fight fans will be treated with a well-needed dose of crazy Wednesday night. We were stripped of our opportunity to see Nick Diaz on Saturday night by the California State Athletic Commission but the other half of the “I Ain’t No Bitch!” Brothers, Nate Diaz, takes on Kurt “Batman” Pellegrino at UFC Fight Night 13. Training under Caesar Gracie, Nate Diaz has good boxing and very slick BJJ, as evidenced by his five submission victories in his last seven fights. His technical skills are complemented by a sheer love to scrap. I’m not sure if he is willing to throw down in a hospital like his older brother but he still lives to fight. In the other corner, co-founder of the Armory Kurt Pellegrino looks to climb back into title contention with a win over Diaz. “Batman” was one win away from a title shot when he lost to Joe Stevenson and needs to string a few wins together in the ultra-competitive lightweight class. Pellegrino is an explosive wrestler and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. He is a very decorated grappler so we could see a real chess match on the ground. That being said, I expect this fight to take place mainly on the feet until someone gets hit hard at which point it will take a marked turn for the mat. I’m probably picking with my heart here but I think Diaz might be able to take a decision win with his better boxing and reach advantage.

Houston Alexander v. James Irvin
Houston Alexander is highly overrated but exciting and James “the Sandman” Irving is 2-3 in his last five fights with the one loss coming to Lodune Sincaid…therefore, he is a bum. Someone is going to get their head knocked clean off his shoulders in the first round of this fight and it’s probably going to be Irving. That’s all the analysis that this fight deserves.

Main Card Bouts:
Kenny Florian v. Joe Lauzon
Karo Parisyan v. Thiago Alves
Matt Hamill v. Tim Boetsch
Kurt Pellegrino v. Nate Diaz
Houston Alexander v. James Irvin

Swing Bout:
Frankie Edgar v. Gray Maynard

Preliminary Bouts:
Marcus Aurelio v. Ryan Roberts
Din Thomas v. Josh Neer
Manny Gamburyan v. Jeff Cox
Clay Guida v. Samy Schiavo
George Sotiropoulos v. Roman Mitichyan
Tommy Speer v. Anthony Johnson

This article has been submitted by “The Anti-Virus” Kyle Norton.