UFC 111 - St. Pierre vs. Hardy

I'm still here people. Just been real busy. I must say I am touched by everyone's concern.

Anyway, this Saturday night on PPV some interesting matchups and some world class fighters for sure:

GSP vs. Dan Hardy (WW Championship)
Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin (INTERIM HW title)
Ben Saunders vs. Jake Ellenberger
Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves
Jim Miller vs. Mark Bocek

Nate Diaz vs. Rory Markham
Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Brown

Kurt Pellegrino vs. Fabricio Camoes
Rodney Wallace vs. Jared Hamman
Rousimar Palhares vs. Tomasz Drwal
Matt Riddle vs. Greg Soto

GSP vs. Hardy - What can you say. Whenever GSP fights, it is almost always a work of art. Been almost a year though, since he beat Alves, and he did that with a pretty severe injury in the groin area for most of the fight. There is nothing IMO, but a puncher's chance for Hardy here. Having said that, it could happen for sure. One punch is all it might take and with the strange rash of fighters trying to stand with strikers they shouldn't be standing with, I guess you never know. GSP has the best takedowns. I don't care how good Hardy is at defending them, Hardy will be put on his back during this fight. I look for GSP to win. Never seen Hardy close to being finished in the UFC, so will be interesting to see if GSP can finish it. Hardy can only win by KO (unless there is another injury to GSP). GSP can win by any number of methods, including decision. I don't see Hardy beating GSP in a decision either.

Mir vs. Carwin - Well, Carwin has been on the shelf almost as long as Lesnar, and it is unfortunate because Cain, JDS, and even Mir have really upped their games and performances in the meantime. So much so that this 'interim' title here seems rather silly. But Mir does have a win over the current champ, and has looked great since then. Carwin has never been out of the first round his entire MMA career. My gut says that Carwin will somehow win this fight, but I could really see it going either way. I see this fight being more of a standup deal than anything else.

Saunders vs. Ellenberger - It may seem like this fight shouldn't be on the main card. Ellenberger is a replacement for Kampmann. Ellenberger is 1-1 in the UFC. His loss was to Condit, where he gave Condit all he could handle. Saunders is a very very exciting fighter, no doubt. Plus he is a TUF alum, so I am very happy this fight is going to be shown. Both these guys are aggressive, tough and well rounded. Should be a very very fun fight. Trust me

Fitch vs. Alves - REMATCH. Last time Fitch finished Alves, although that was several years ago. I really don't think anyone can finish Fitch. He is just too tough. And he always does enough to win by decision. I would like to see Fitch return to his finishing ways, however, as I'm sure would the UFC. Alves is MUCH improved since the last time they met, but I still feel this is Fitch's fight....but it is very very close. Winner of this will likely face the winner of GSP vs. Hardy.

Miller vs. Bocek - This is an interesting LW matchup that may turn out to be quite exciting. Bocek is a BJJ guy. Miller is a wrestler with great BJJ too. I'm hoping for a ground clinic, rather than sloppy standup from two ground guys. I like Miller in this one.

Diaz vs. Markham & Almeida vs. Brown are scheduled as freebies on Spike just prior to the PPV.

Diaz vs. Markham - Diaz is beefing up. Literally. Jumping to the WW division. He said he was tired of starving himself to stay at 155, and we all know how skinny he looked. I will be very very interested to see how he looks at WW. Markham is tough. Good power. I'd give a ground advantage to Diaz, but feel if it goes there, Diaz is the one who will have to make it happen. Diaz should win, but the big variable to me is, size. Diaz needs to really add muscle to compete at WW, especially after being dominated by many LW wrestlers.

Almeida vs. Brown - Another great matchup of really good fighters for free on Spike. Almeida is all about BJJ. Brown is no slouch on the ground, but will likely try to keep this one on the feet. Brown is tough tough tough and I think fun to watch. I look for Brown to take this one.

Then keep in mind too, that on Thursday we get Florian vs. Gomi!! Great week for MMA!