March 2, 2012 – Tonight’s going to be an exciting night for MMA on cable television with the UFC taking over Sydney Australia’s Allphones Arena with an event that features the Thiago “Pitbull” Alves taking on Martin Kampmann in the welterweight main event along with the commencement of the UFC flyweight title tournament including Demetrious Johnson, Ian McCall, Joseph Benavidez, and Yasuhiro Urushitani. A middleweight clash between Ultimate Fighter season 11 winner Court McGee and Costa Philippou rounds out the main draw for the UFC on FX 2 card set to begin on the channel beginning at 9PM ET.
Talking about the main event, UFC President Dana White is excited to see which fighter comes out on top as potentially a future title contender in the division. “Alves vs Kampmann is a big, important win for one of these guys,” he says about the fight. “Alves has scored more knockdowns and as many knockouts as any welterweight in the UFC, while Kampmann has finished 11 opponents. Both guys want to get back up there and push for a title shot, and this is a huge fight in both their careers.”
White is also excited for the flyweight tournament as it will complete for the picture for traditional weight classes within the UFC.
“It’s a testament to how big the sport has become that we can now do this flyweight division. A lot of people have been waiting for this weight class to arrive, here it is, and we are very excited. These two fights are going to set the tone for this division and show everyone what the UFC 125lbs division is all about.”
We already took a look at the UFC on FUEL Prelims here on TXMMA.com the other day with Andrew Craig, TJ Waldburger, Aaron Rosa, and Daniel Pineda all set to compete on the undercard. Now let’s take a look at the main card in further detail and break down all the rest of the bouts set to go down on FX tomorrow night.
UFC on FX 2 – Main Card Preview and Predictions
170 lbs. – Thiago Alves (19-8) vs. Martin Kampmann (18-5)
Preview – The main event of the evening brings forth this battle between powerful puncher Thiago “Pitbull” Alves taking on former top divisional contender Martin Kampmann. As a matter of fact, both these guys were teetering on the top of the division in the past but have fallen on tough times in recent years and are just now making their way back.
For Alves, he’s looking for his second win in a row after submitting Papy Abedi this past November. Criticized for not making weight in a few of his past fights, he had no problem this time around and has rehydrated back to a whopping 197 lbs. after last night’s weigh-ins. Meanwhile, Martin Kampmann is also looking for his second in a row after taking out Rick Story at UFC 139. He lost two tough ones to Diego Sanchez and Jake Shields prior to that.
This is going to be a battle between Alves’ power punches and “The Hitman’s” more patient striking style. Kampmann would seem to have the technical advantage but Thiago’s aggression is bound to give him problems as Martin has a penchant for wilting under pressure from forward-minded opponents. Kampann may have the advantage if the fight goes to the ground but we may not get to see that as both of these guys love to strike. This is one of those main events that would be more telling if it were a five-round fight but in a three-rounder, I see Alves dictating the pressure and thus the decision.
Prediction –Thiago Alves over Martin Kampmann by split decision.
125 lbs. – Joseph Benavidez (15-2) vs. Yasuhiro Urushitani (19-4-6)
Preview – Joseph Benavidez is both the odds-on favorite to win this fight and is also widely regarded as the favorite to win this entire tournament. Training alongside Urijah Faber, Chad Mendes, and crew at Team Alpha Male, Joseph has beaten some of the best bantamweights in the world not named Dominick Cruz and is now looking to continue that dominance in the 125 division. He’s got the skills to do it too.
As for his Yasuhiro Urushitani, he’s coming in with some success while fighting for Shooto out in Japan. The majority of his wins have come by decision and he’s also got more draws than losses in his career.
Looking at this bout, it’s really hard to give the Japanese fighter a chance. Vegas oddsmakers currently have him at over +1300 as the underdog, meaning he’d need nothing short of a miracle to win this fight. As for Benavidez, he can finish this one in any number of ways – on the feet, with a submission, or basically any way he wants. Look for him to dominate on the way to a future flyweight title fight against the winner of Johnson/McCall.
Prediction – Joseph Benavidez over Yasuhiro Urushitani by submission.
125 lbs. – Demetrious Johnson (14-2) vs. Ian McCall (11-2)
Preview – The first flyweight bout ever to grace the UFC’s octagon is going to be quite an exciting affair with this bout featuring Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson taking on “Uncle Creepy” Ian McCall. Both these guys are skilled, strong, extremely fast, and ready to make a name with a win in this semi-final tournament fight.
Demetrious Johnson has been a force at bantamweight throughout his career. Outside of an anomaly loss to Brad Pickett back in 2010 and his most recent decision loss to 135 champ Dominick Cruz, he’s beat everyone in his path including Kid Yamamoto and Miguel Torres. Now we’ll finally get to see what he can do as he drops down to his natural weight for the first time in awhile.
Like his opponent, Ian McCall has also experienced tons of success albeit on the regional circuit against Darrell Montague and other guys like Cody Wheeler. He also shares another thing in common with “Mighty Mouse” in that he also has a decision loss to Dominick Cruz and currently has the distinction of #1-ranked flyweight in the world while fighting in the weight class for California’s Tachi Palace Fights.
When it comes to this fight, it’s going to be a battle of Johnson’s speed and pressure wrestling versus “Uncle Creepy’s” Muay Thai and submission skills. This will be a close fight that could go either way but Johnson should take it on account of his speed and ability to control his opponent along with his familiarity with tough opposition while fighting in the UFC octagon.
Prediction – Demetrious Johnson over Ian McCall by split decision.
185 lbs. – Court McGee (14-1) vs. Constantinos Philippou (9-2)
Preview – The live broadcast on the FX network begins with this bout featuring tough Ultimate Fighter 11 season winner Court McGee taking on solid veteran Constantinos Philippou. Those familiar with Court “The Crusher” should know him as a tough-as-nails type resilient type of fight that simply knows how to win fights. He followed up his stint on TUF with 2 straight wins in the octagon to bring his winning streak to 8 in a row since the only loss of his career to wily beteran Jeremy Horn way back in 2007.
As for Philippou, he’s currently 2-1 but hasn’t exactly set the world on fire in the majority of his fights to date. He did put his last opponent to sleep however in Jared Hamman and is training by noted striking coach Ray Longo so his skills can’t be discounted.
Constantinos Philippou is a strong veteran with some power In his punches but Court McGee has the testicular fortitude to outlast him. The longer this fight goes, the more it moves in the favor of McGee. Once he can get into a group and establish a rhythm, look for the TUF-winner to grind him out until a decision.
Prediction – Court McGee over Constantinos Philippou by decision
UFC Broadcast Info for this Evening
5:30pm ET / 2:30pm PT – Facebook Fight
Heavyweight bout – Oli Thompson vs Shawn Jordan
6pm ET / 3pm PT – Live Prelims on FUEL TV
Featherweight bout – Mackens Semerzier vs. Daniel Pineda
Welterweight bout – TJ Waldburger vs. Jake Hecht
Middleweight bout – Kyle Noke vs. Andrew Craig
Featherweight bout – Cole Miller vs. Steven Siler
Light Heavyweight bout – Anthony Perosh vs. Nick Penner
Light Heavyweight bout – James Te Huna vs. Aaron Rosa
9pm ET / 6pm PT- UFC on FX Live
Middleweight bout – Court McGee vs. Costa Philippou
Flyweight bout – Demetrious Johnson vs. Ian McCall
Flyweight bout – Joseph Benavidez vs. Yasuhiro Urushitani
Welterweight bout – Thiago Alves vs. Martin Kampmann
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