This Saturday at 9:00 PM live on SPIKE TV, the UFC will put on a free show the likes their fans have never seen. That night the pound-for-pound best fighter in MMA right now, Anderson Silva (22-4), will step into the Octagon to take on James Irvin (14-4-1). The reason the UFC and president, Dana White, chose to put on this free show on Saturday is to counteract the first PPV event that the clothing brand, Affliction, is putting on featuring Tim Sylvia and Fedor Emelianenko. This is a very strategic move on White's part and he decided to pull out the big guns by putting Silva on the fight card as the main event.
This will be Silva's first fight in the light heavyweight division, a division stacked with talent from top to bottom. Silva currently holds the middleweight title and nobody has even come close to taking it from him since he won the title. His opponent is one of the hardest hitting fighters in the UFC. Irvin has hands of steel, the likes of which Silva hasn't seen yet.
Irvin comes into this weekend having won his last two fights including an amazing, albeit controversial eight second knockout of Houston Alexander back in April. Of his last seven wins, six came via TKO or KO. He truly has some of the best knockout power in the UFC and I wouldn't be surprised if he actually knocked out Silva on Saturday night. Silva has some KO power of his own, but he's stepping into a fight against a much bigger guy and one that's used to walking around at 205 rather than 185.
I honestly expect this fight to turn into a slug fest. Neither guy has anything to lose. If Irvin loses, he'll have lost to one of the best fighters in all of MMA. If Silva loses he can chalk it up to never having fought at the higher weight class. It could turn into a classic fight, and for free, what more could you ask for?! As far as who I think will win the fight? I'll take Irvin on a whim to actually knockout Silva in the second round.
In addition to the Silva/Irvin fight there are two other fights worth noting on the card this Saturday night. Brandon Vera (8-2) will take on Reese Andy (7-1) in light heavyweight action and in the lightweight division we'll see Hermes Franca (19-5) against Frankie Edgar (8-1). The Franca/Edgar fight could end up stealing the show as both are coming off losses in their last fights. A win by either guy could catapult them up the rankings in the lightweight division, a division currently headed up by champion, BJ Penn. This one could go either way, but I'll pick Edgar by decision.
This will be Andy's first fight in the UFC, and man did he get a bad draw. Vera is coming off disappointing back-to-back losses after starting 8-0 in the UFC. Those losses (to Tim Sylvia and Fabricio Werdum) halted his ascension up the rankings in the heavyweight division. Vera was one of the smaller heavyweights, and smartly decided to drop down to LHW. Saturday night will be his first fight at 205. A win this weekend, especially one in convincing fashion, could put him right in the middle of the LHW title picture, a belt currently held by the new champion, Forrest Griffin. So Vera is going to come into this fight and let it all hang out. If this fight stays standing, I can't see Andy pulling off the upset. With that said, my pick is Vera by TKO in the first round.
It should be a good show Saturday night, and for free, who could ask for more? It will be interesting to see the TV ratings for both the UFC and Affliction events this weekend. My guess is that the UFC will attract more people simply because its free.