If Dana White was planning on giving away a pay-per-view event at some point during his UFC tenor, it will be in the form of UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs Silva on December 6th. Easily four of these fights are main event worthy of a free card.
Especially if the trilogy match up of Nate Diaz and Gray Maynard are getting the nod these days. Hell most of the fighters on the main card have made an appearance on a main card in a PPV event.
Mark Hunt vs Antonio Silva
Mark Hunt and Antonio Silva are two of MMA’s biggest underdog success stories in recent years. Where Bigfoot earned a title shot after mind blowing wins over Fedor Emelianenko, Travis Browne, and Alistair Overeem, he fell short in a rematch against Cain Velasquez at UFC 160 by a first round TKO. No shame in losing to Velasquez, everybody does these days.
Hunt was on a five fight losing streak when a contractual stipulation forced the UFC to honor the remainder of his Pride FC contract. Even though Dana White asked him to walk away with the purses from every fight on his contract, Hunt chose to risk it all and go out as a warrior in the cage.
After dropping a loss against Sean McCorkle at UFC 119 in his UFC debut, he went on a four fight win streak consecutively against Chris Tuchscherer, Ben Rothwell, Cheick Kongo, and Stefan Struve. Out of the four, only Tuchscherer escaped without being laid out on the mat by The Samoan Assassin.
It will be interesting to see who catches who first. Both men have proven they should never be counted out until the ref waives off the action or the final bell sounds.
Maricio Rua vs James Te Huna
This fight is interesting for one simple reason: Both men are notorious brawlers. Where Shogun has been headlining events for years, Te Huna has fought tough opponents in the division in Alexander Gustafsson, Ryan Jimmo, Glover Teixeira, and Joey Beltran.
This one will definitely be settled on the feet. It’s a big opportunity for Te Huna to climb the ranks and break in to the top ten for once. He’s had opportunities before in fights with the two top contenders in the division in Teixeira and Gustafsson, but was finished by submission in both bouts.
Even though it may seem obvious that Shogun will attempt to exploit the clear strength he has in the ground game, Te Huna has a strong take down defense. More importantly, Shogun has a strong penchant for keeping the fight standing, even when he seems half unconscious on his feet.
It’s hard to see Te Huna defeating Shogun who has been facing world class competition and winning since the height of Pride FC. I believe whoever gasses first will lose this one since it promises to be a fast paced ordeal that will be settled while standing.
Ryan Bader vs Anthony Perosh
‘Darth’ Bader has been in many high profile fights over the past few years. Not only did he win season 8 on TUF, he’s fought almost every top ranked fighter in the light heavyweight division over the years since then, back in 2008. Some of the names on the list include Jon Jones, Rampage Jackson, Tito Ortiz, Lyoto Machida, and Glover Teixeira.
Bader goes out on his sword when he steps in to the cage. The two edges to this sword either find him brilliantly knocking out his opponents like he did against Keith Jardine, or getting caught rushing in like when he ran in to the wall of Machida’s fist.
Anthony Perosh has an interesting opportunity here to improve his UFC record to 5-2. If he loses, he’s going to miss out on his greatest opportunity inside the cage since he lost by TKO to Crocop, back at UFC 110 in 2010.
Another slugger’s paradise seems inevitable in this one, but don’t forget Bader is an excellent wrestling practitioner and will definitely look for the take downs to mix up the action.
Soa Palelei vs Pat Barry
Here is another high profile fight between two men that love to bang it out standing and also have been in some high level fights throughout their careers. Pat Barry is a kick boxing nightmare for anyone at heavyweight.
Soa is a monster of a heavyweight with a strong resume. Since losing to Daniel Cormier in 2010, he’s gone on a nine fight win streak, all ending by KO, seven of which in the first round.
Even though Barry’s record is more tarnished than Soa’s, it’s hard to imagine Soa’s tall frame won’t become the new home of Barry’s devastating leg kicks. Of course with the bigger frame comes the longer reach. In that sense, Soa will have a five inch reach advantage and judging by his past performances, he knows how to use it.
All four fights listed above could headline a free UFC fight card. Other entertaining fighters making an appearance on December 6th include Julie Kedzie, Nam Phan, Nick Ring, Alex Caceres, and more. Luckily for us, the TUF 18 Finale is not the where the UFC sets the bar for free fight cards.