| 07 May 2010
Let's try this again. Last month I was a little off in predicting the Anderson Silva-Demian Maia as a "must-see" fight, but I should be safe this month since The Spider isn't fighting again until August. But I was right on target predicted WEC 48 as the event of the month, even though its name mysteriously got changed to "Aldo vs Faber". Without further ado, here is the must-see MMA event and the five must-see MMA fights for the month of May.
May's Must-See Event
UFC 113 - May 8th
UFC 114 was my initial choice for the must-see event of May, but when Forrest Griffin had to pull out of his match versus Antonio Rogerio Nogueira due to injury, UFC 113 pulled into the lead for May's must-see card. The Lyoto Machida-Mauricio Rua main event is one of the most anticipated rematches of all-time, Josh Koscheck and Paul Daley are fighting for a coaches spot on The Ultimate Fighter 12, a title fight against Georges St-Pierre and the last word in their ongoing verbal war, and it will be interesting to see if Kimbo Slice's MMA game has evolved at all. Not to mention this is all taking place in front of arguably the most passionate MMA fans in the world, those that reside in Montreal.
May's Five Must-See Fights
UFC 113 - May 8th
Lyoto Machida vs Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua
As mentioned above, MMA fans have been waiting for this rematch for quite some time after Mauricio Rua got robbed by the judges in the first fight. With both men vowing to not let this one go to the judge's scorecards once again, the potential for an explosive finish are high. Which plays right into Machida's hands, as, just like Anderson Silva, he is all about counter-striking. But Shogun is as dangerous a striker as there is out there, and he hurt Machida worse than anyone ever has in the past, so he can't be counted out. Will justice be served with the belt finally going around Shogun's waist or will Machida prevail and, in the process, win back some of his mystique?
Josh Koscheck vs Paul Daley
The verbal war waged between these two men has been intense. But, more importantly, this fight is for more than pride - it's for a title shot. Josh Koscheck is the superior wrestler by far, but he has been talking about wanting to stand and exchange with Paul Daley, which could be flirting with disaster. Will Koscheck finally get over the hump and get a title shot, or will the brash Brit continue his meteoric rise to the top of the welterweight class?
Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery - May 15th
Alistair Overeem vs Brett Rogers
Alistair Overeem vs Brett Rogers is quite an odd heavyweight title match - Overeem hasn't defended his belt since winning it over two and a half years ago and his first title defense is against a man coming off a loss in his last fight. Despite all this, this is an exciting matchup between two big guys who like to stand and bang. In our recent interview conducted with Strikeforce's Light Heavyweight champ, King Mo, he predicted a Rogers victory. Will Mo prove prophetic? (P.S. Check The MMA Manifesto early next week for our interview just conducted with Alistair Overeem).
Andrei Arlovski vs Antonio Silva
This match is a must-see in order to determine whether former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski is all washed up at age 31 or not. Arlovski is coming off two losses, albeit to top fighters in Brett Rogers and Fedor Emelianenko, in which his chin looked suspect. Now, almost a year after his last fight, he is back versus a decent fighter in Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva. If he can't get by Bigfoot, it might be time to say nighty night to Arlovski.
UFC 114 - May 29th
Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson vs Rashad Evans
Just like in most of the other must-see fights for this month, bad blood between the two combatants adds to the excitement of this match. These two guys genuinely don't like each other and have been staging verbal warfare for months. Plus both guys like to bang and have heavy hands, so this match should live up to its billing. Will Rampage have ring rust after being out of action for over a year while he was busy being a movie star? Will Evans continue to show signs of having a glass chin like he has in his last two fights.
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