Whether you watched it early Saturday morning or caught the replay in prime time, UFC on Fuel TV 6 was an opportunity for MMA fans to get more acclimated with fighters from various Asian countries while catching two former champions in Rich Franklin and Cung Le in action. At the end of the evening, fans were given an exciting finish that saw the former UFC middleweight champion sprawled out on the Octagon floor. Going forward, these are some sensible fight suggestions that will help build upon the success of these athletes in suitable ways:
Cung Le vs. the winner of Chris Leben vs. Karlos Vemola
Call it wishful thinking, but this matchup is suggested based on the hope that Leben defeats Vemola when they meet up at UFC 155. Leben is returning from suspension after being defeated by Mark Munoz last November. Pairing him with Cung Le creates the type of stereotypical matchmaking that has been used in the past by those in power within the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Leben vs. Le would be a straightforward striking campaign, in which one of the two athletes would wind up separated from consciousness.. Leben has been booked like this consistently in his career, and this would be another opportunity to take advantage of his typical fight strategy. Le was booked in such a bout against Wanderlei Silva, and even though he was on the losing side, they both put on an exciting fight that was loved by those watching.
Karlos Vemola creates a different conundrum because he is able to win fights using more styles than just one. While he does have the ability to out-strike his opponents, his grappling abilities have also brought him success during his Octagon run. If placed against Le, one expects that he would look to take this fight to the ground rather than trade blows with the Vietnamese-American fighter.
A fight against either Leben or Vemola would be a strong feature on a free event at some point in 2013.
Thiago Silva pulled out a victory over Stanislov Nedkov by submission in the third round, but he was not as impressive as he was in past outings. The former Brazilian standout has not been able to garner the same intensity of interest that followed him into the cage when he first arrived in the UFC. Matching him against Matt Hamill, who is another fighter that hasn’t looked great in victory, creates a fight that keeps them both active within the mid-tier of the 205 weight class, but gives them both one more bout before being thrown against the bigger names.
Hamill would have the clear wrestling advantage, but Silva’s ability to change positions on the ground would be key. He also has very damaging ground and pound, so once he gets into position you can expect him to rain down shots on Hamill towards a stoppage. This type of fight should be featured on free television.
Dong Hyun Kim vs. John Hathaway
Kim was coming off of a rib injury that ended an anticipated bout against Demian Maia too early. He was matched against another grappling standout in Paulo Thiago, and this time he was able to do more than enough to garner the decision victory. Kim has been one of the more consistent fighters in the welterweight division, but he has been unable to break into the high rankings of the weight class. Placing him in a matchup with John Hathaway would not only test the British fighter to see if he is ready for tougher opponents, but would create an opportunity to set Kim up to face the better names that are available at 170.
Kim has shown an improved striking game to go along with his Judo abilities. That would be vital for fighting against Hathaway who is a very well versed grappler, but isn’t as strong in the striking area of this fight. Hathaway’s wrestling is much improved and he’s used it to score takedowns at will, so it would be interesting to see if he can have that same success with takedowns against Kim, who would be looking to get the fight to the ground as well. Dong Hyun Kim vs.John Hathaway would be a strong opening fight for a pay-per-view in 2013.
One week before UFC 154, the organization’s first foray into China led to a solid event. As they continue to aspire towards developing these fighters into bigger names, these fights will help establish the competitors from this card as ones who will end up much better known throughout the MMA world.
