Finally! It appears as though the UFC will really make the trip to Canada as rumours are swirling about a possible pay-per-view event to be held at the Bell Centre in Montreal on April 19th.
Normally I wouldn't get too excited about rumours of UFC heading to Canada since there have been numerous rumours over the last year and a half that never became reality. Yet, this rumour seems to be holding some truth to it.
Not only has Dana White announced a Canadian event in April (which he has done in the past), but there are several fights already in the works for the card, and also more importantly, April 19th at the Bell Centre is available.
So let's take a look at how the card is shaping up so far.
Main Event - Welterweight Championship Unification
Matt Serra vs Georges St. Pierre
Serra mentioned in a recent interview that he'd be healed and ready to go by April 19th. He also stated that he would have no problem fighting Georges St. Pierre in his hometown. This would be a big main event even if it weren't being held in Canada. The fact that this fight will be the main event of UFC's Canadian debut makes it extraordinary!
Georges St. Pierre looks like a completely different person than the one we saw in April of last year. After his knockout loss to Serra last April, St. Pierre switched training camps and hired a sports psychologist to help get his head on straight. The changes seem to have worked to perfection as GSP has gone on to win his last two fights in spectacular fashion. Georges is focused. A focused Georges St. Pierre is a fearsome Georges St. Pierre. He looks unstoppable.
In response to St. Pierre's dominant win over Matt Hughes at UFC 79, Marcus Davis pretty much spoke for all welterweights when he said "watching that was terrifying!"
He's right. There isn't a single welterweight who watched that performance and didn't think to himself "Oh crap!" St. Pierre made a huge statement and I expect that he will put on the same type of performance when he takes on Serra for the welterweight championship in front of his home crowd.
Serra has three ways to win this fight and all seem very unlikely; knockout, ground and pound, or submission. St. Pierre has demonstrated against all of the top wrestlers in the division that taking him down is a very difficult task for anyone. Serra's not the wrestler that Hughes, Koscheck, Trigg, and Sherk are so a takedown for Serra is very unlikely and that eliminates the ground and pound gameplan. Submission is a little more likely given that Serra is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt and St. Pierre will more than likely put Serra on his back. The thing here is that St. Pierre is no pushover on the ground either; St. Pierre holds a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Brown belt is one level lower than black belt. So St. Pierre will be well aware of the submission attempts and I don't see him getting caught in anything. The other unlikely scenario is he gets caught on the receiving end of a knockout punch for the second time. This is something that I see as very unlikely. St. Pierre's striking is so crisp and clean that I don't see him making a mistake. I attended one of his seminars just weeks after his loss to Serra and he mentioned that, aside from his personal issues, he injured himself in training and was only able to get back to full training two weeks out. He said he trained too hard and that by the time fight night came, he was too stiff and sore. He was only able to throw punches and kicks in ones and couldn't muster the strength to throw combinations. His inability to throw combinations is what caused him to get caught with that punch. Don't count on this being the case next time around. St. Pierre looks loose and I don't see this happening again.
If St. Pierre beats Serra to win the UFC welterweight championship in his hometown of Montreal, the fans will erupt!! It will be one of the most spectacular moments in recent UFC memory.
Rich Franklin vs. Travis Lutter
These two were supposed to meet at UFC 82 in Columbus Ohio, but Franklin suffered an injury and had to pull out of the fight. Instead of giving Lutter another opponent, the fight was postponed until the April 19th date.
Franklin last fought for the middleweight title in October, but was stopped in spectacular fashion by Anderson Silva. Lutter hasn't fought since he, himself, lost to Silva last February. That fight was downgraded to a 3 round bout after Lutter failed to make weight. Lutter lost a lot of respect from the fans, the UFC, and Anderson Silva. He will be looking to get back on track with a win over Franklin. Franklin will be looking to do the same as he'll be looking to get back to his winning ways in the middleweight division.
Karo Parisyan vs. Thiago Alves
These are two competitors who are knocking on the welterweight championship doorstep. Parisyan is coming off a win over Ryo Chonan. Although, not exactly an exciting win, but a win nonetheless. Thiago Alves is currently on a 4 fight winning streak with no signs of stopping.
With Thiago's exciting Muay Thai style and Karo's desire to put on an exciting fight to make up for the last one, this fight should make for an exciting matchup.
Jason MacDonald vs. Joe Doerksen
The two Canadian middleweights met before in the TKO organization. MacDonald won via rear naked choke. MacDonald is coming off a loss to Yushin Okami and is hoping to get back into title contention with a win over Doerksen. Doerksen is looking to redeem himself after suffering a knockout loss to Ed Herman. A clash between two Canadians in Canada should make for an interesting opening bout.
The reason I say opening bout is because the card will also consist of the following fighter who, as of yet, has no opponent named.
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. TBA
If Shogun is on the card, he'll most likely fight in the second last fight on the night. Even with his loss to Forrest Griffin, he is still a big name in the sport. There hasn't been an opponent named for Shogun yet, so lets run through the possibilities.
Keith Jardine is the most likely candidate to fight Shogun in Montreal. Both fighters have Forrest Griffin as a common opponent. Jardine beat Griffin by vicious technical knockout while Rua looked sluggish in his submission loss to Griffin.
Jardine is coming off the biggest win of his career against former UFC light heavyweight champ Chuck Liddell. The win puts him very close to a title shot. One more win should put him in the number one contender slot. Putting him against someone on a lower level than Chuck Liddell just wouldn't make sense, making Rua the most likely opponent. Rua is still considered one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world and he'd be looking to prove that against someone who beat the man that beat him.
Jardine has also been training with Georges St. Pierre and has made several trips to Montreal to train with him. All of this makes Jardine the prime candidate for an opponent for Rua.
Hector Ramirez in another name that might be tossed into the mix. Again, he and Rua share Griffin as a common opponent. Both fighters suffered a loss to Griffin. The UFC would be looking to put Shogun back into contention so they might not want to risk putting him against someone who could potentially beat him. Ramirez would be the perfect opponent in this sense, since he is not the threat that Griffin and Jardine are.
Don't expect to see Rua face Wanderlei, Machida, or Thiago Silva since they've all come from the same camp.
Also, other potential light heavyweight fighters already have fights near the April date so a fight with Rua won't be possible on the 19th. These fighters include Tito Ortiz (takes on Machida in May), Rashad Evans (fights Thiago Silva in May), and Houston Alexander who takes on James Irvin in March.
So the card so far looks as follows:
GSP vs. Serra (Welterweight Championship)
Shogun vs (Jardine or Ramirez)
Franklin vs Lutter
MacDonald vs Doerksen
----
Goulet vs TBA
Cote vs TBA
Stout vs TBA
I'll be in attendance for this event if it happens. When an official announcement is made about the event, I'll purchase a UFC Fight Club membership in hopes of getting VIP access at the event.
If anyone reading this has any information on the UFC Fight Club membership please fill me in. I've checked out the website and a few forums about it. Do you get to meet the fighters with the membership if you attend an event? Let me know.
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