Weigh in stare down. Photos by Ester Lin

The only semi-major event going on this weekend will be Strikeforce Challengers 9 that will feature Sarah Kaufman making her first title defense against Roxanne Modaferri (check out here new highlight vid from Fightlinker.

As a fan of both fighters it will be hard to watch and even harder to pick, but I will be glad for an event this weekend. Not to mention having the site back up is pretty nice too.

Photo by the great Ester Lin

At the MGM Grand in Las Vegas this weekends UFC event thanks in no small part to last weeks upset of consensus #1 heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko. Will feature a championship bout that should shake up the rankings even more as current champ Brock Lesnar defends his belt against undefeated interim champ Shane Carwin. I will be focusing on the main card and spike prelim bouts.

Main Card

About as close as were going to get to the real thing

UFC Heavyweight Championship

Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin

I doubt I can offer any special insight into this bout or uncover some unforeseen angle/variable. Since the aftermath of UFC 111 when Carwin won the interim strap people have been salivating over this fight. The similarities between these two opponents are uncanny at best, both have won NCAA titles (Brock D1, Shane D2), have ridiculous reach (Lesnar 81′, Carwin 80′) and both fighters swing the two biggest glove sizes in the UFC (4XL for Brock, 5 for Shane). Both men have relied on their hulking size and nigh superhuman athleticism to overwhelm their opponents.

They will finally come face to face with an opponent who can cancel out their athletic prowess in one another. Lesnar may have a slight edge in wrestling but Carwin is no slouch in the rasslin’ department and is the more multifaceted fighter than Brock who has to get you down and maintain top position before he does his most effective damage. Lesnar is also coming off a 10 month plus lay off due to illness, a major hurdle for most fighters especially one with as little cage time as Lesnar who is competing at the highest level possible. These combined disadvantages do not bode well for the current champ. I expect Carwin to make short work of him

Carwin – via TKO

Co-Main Event
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Chris Leben

Leben is stepping in for Wanderlei Silva on short notice to face Sexyama. The Crippler is a good company man and will make this an exciting fight. Akiyama on the other hand went from fighting an mma legend/superstar to now having to deal with an iron headed brawler who is can derail his title aspirations. If Leben can pressure Akiyama into a brawl, he may win, but Sexyama strikes me as a guy who knows he needs to win and will do his damndest to grind out a win.

Akiyama – via Split decision

Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Stephan Bonnar

Bonnar is REALLY washed up.

Soszynski – via UD

George Sotiropoulos vs. Kurt Pellegrino

When two seasoned grapplers step in the cage you will either get a ground war or bad kickboxing. Since Sotiropoulos has some professional boxing experience, Pellegrino is a wrestler primarily I will give George the edge in being well rounded and having more tools. This fight is evenly matched and should get an awards bonus (fight of the night or sub) I see Sotiropoulos continuing his flawless UFC career.

George Greek Noise – via UD

Chris Lytle vs. Matt Brown

Another fight destined for a awards bonus is a rematch between two exciting welterweights. I see Lytle busting out his submission skills once again.

Lytle – via Sub

Spike TV Prelims:

Brendan Schaub vs. Chris Tuchscherer

Brocks training partner vs Carwins lol. I like Schaub but Tuchscherer’s wrestling pedigree will come into play. Logic be damned.

Schaub – via Sub

Seth Petruzelli vs. Ricardo Romero

The Kimbo killer returns to the UFC, I hope this new guy isn’t as good as his record makes him out to be.

Petruzelli – via TKO