Wednesday, August 27, 2008

UFC 88: "Breakthrough" Liddell Vs. Evans Preview

The UFC will be making their first appearance in Atlanta on September 6 for a pay-per-view show entitled "UFC 88:Breakthrough."

This event will be taking place at the Philips Arena and the first match will take place at 8:00pm ET.

The pay-per-view show will begin at 10:00pm ET.

The main event will be a match-up between Rashad "Sugar" Evans and Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell. The winner of this match is likely to be the next in line for a title shot against UFC Light Heavyweight champion, Forrest Griffin.

It is very well known that the UFC wants Liddell to win so they can match him up with Griffin for the title at the end of the year. 

This probably  means that if Evans wants to win this fight against Liddell, he better knock him out or submit him, because he most likely won't get a decision in his favor if the fight goes to the judges.

Evans has a 16-0-1 record  while Liddell is 21-5.

It will be the first fight of the year for both fighters.

Evans is coming off a victory over Michael Bisping and Liddell is coming off a victory over Wanderlei Silva.

The Iceman will want to keep this fight standing, but he must be able to avoid a takedown by Evans.  

While Evans' stand-up is solid and improving, the edge goes to Liddell on the feet. 

Liddell hits very hard and his game plan is to knock out Evans with his fists.

Evans was a wrestler in college and will probably try for some takedowns and slams.  Liddell has a great sprawl though and won't be easily taken down.

For Evans to win, he must withstand the heavy hands  of Liddell, and then do some damage with kicks and punches. 

Evans can try to utilize kicks  since he doesn't have to worry about The Iceman trying to go for a takedown. 

Evans has never tasted defeat before in his professional career, but this will be his toughest challenge yet.

One advantage that Evans has is that his training partner, Keith Jardine, fought and defeated Liddell last year.  Jardine is sure to have given Evans some tips on how to fight Liddell.

Evans is younger and more athletic than Liddell and will probably be in better shape than Liddell.  Conditioning will be a factor  if this fight goes more than one round.

Besides the main event,  there are other fights on the ten-fight card that are intriguing.

Rich "Ace" Franklin will move up a weight class to take on Matt "The Hammer" Hamill in a light heavyweight battle.

Hamill  is a big light heavyweight fighter and will be much bigger and stronger than Franklin. 

Franklin was a big middleweight fighter and is now a small light heavyweight fighter.

It will be very interesting to see  how Franklin contends with the strength of Hamill. 

Although Franklin no longer is the UFC middleweight champion, he is still one of the more popular fighters in the UFC.  

Hamill  is known for being a cast member on The Ultimate Fighter and also for being deaf.

Other  notable fighters on the card include Dan Henderson, Karo Parisyan,  Ryo Chonan, and Matt Brown.

The card is stacked from top to bottom,  and  the fans in Atlanta will be in for an exciting night of  action and intensity. 








5 comments:

Anonymous said...

War Liddell! Evans sucks and is a boring fighter. Can't wait to see the lights go out for Evans!

Anonymous said...

Are u kidding me? Evans is going to take it to Chuck. Just like D. Wizzle said, Evans is going to get his takedown and then ground and pound chuck to get the decision. Ow Ow Ow that is what chuck will be screaming.

Anonymous said...

Great analysis. I didn't know Rashad was undefeated. his first lost goes down next saturday night. No way no wway he beats the icmen!

Anonymous said...

Great analysis. I didn't know Rashad was undefeated. his first lost goes down next saturday night. No way no wway he beats the icmen!

Anonymous said...

Should be a great fight and I might have to go to a bar to watch it. I want Rashad and Karo to win and Hamill also because he is deaf and a true hero to us all.