UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion

The recent UFC 74: Respect was a kick-ass event that lived up to all the hype it promised. Millions of pay-per-view subscribers as well as the huge crowds at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas were not disappointed at all. The main event that featured Randy “The Natural” Couture defending his heavyweight title against gigantic Brazilian monster Gabriel “Napao” Gonzaga, who knocked out Mirko Cro-Cop to earn a shot at Couture.

It was a blood bath with Randy Couture breaking Gonzaga’s nose in the first round and continued to dominate. Eventually, Big Joe McCarthy had to stop the fight as the 44-year old Couture was just relentless in his attack on Gonzaga. Gonzaga had his moments, and Couture admitted that he got “rocked by the kid” but eventually it was the determination of Couture that got the better of Gonzaga and retained his UFC Heavyweight title.

Now, if that main event for UFC 74 was crazy, then UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion looks to even have a much bigger hype than UFC 74. First of all, it features a unification bout between the light heavyweight champions of the Ultimate Fighting Championships and the Pride Fighting Champions. Representing the UFC is light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, who knocked out respected mixed martial arts fighter Chuck Liddell to claim the title. Representing Pride FC is current light heavyweight, middleweight and welterweight champion Dan “Dangerous” Henderson.

Dan Henderson is no stranger to UFC and made an appearance in UFC 17: Redemption where he won a unanimous decision over Allan Goes and a split decision to Carlons Newton. But most of his fights after that were all in Pride FC, where he has some memorable wins against fighters like Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort.

On the other hand, Quinton Jackson is no stranger to Pride FC fighting since he also spent a number of years there, scoring big wins against Murilo Rua, Kevin Randleman, Horotaka Yokoi and Chuck Liddell, whom he beat in Pride Final Conflict 2003 before his title-win in UFC 71. Chuck Liddell seems to be the whipping boy of Rampage. Jackson debuted in UFC 67: All or Nothing where he knocked out Marvin Eastman.

While Jackson looks to be a bigger favorite over Dan Henderson, the most notable losses in Jackson’s career have come care of Wanderlei Silva. Silva has defeated Jackson twice in two bouts, the first with a TKO and the latest with knee KO. Dan Henderson is a bit more successful with a 1-1 record against Wanderlei. Henderson lost back in 2000 in a unanimous decision, but in their second meeting in 2007, Henderson destroyed Silva with an impressive back fist and a killer left hook KO punch. So - if we use their performances against Wanderlei Silva as the barometer (and Silva is a decent bar), then Henderson looks to have the advantage. Or else, we can count championships, and Henderson would have 3 against Jackson’s 1. Eventually, the math and the stats won’t count in the octagon, where fighting skills speak louder than the numbers.

Quinton Jackson is a wrestling-boxer kind of fighter while Dan Henderson is Greco-Roman Wrestling and Kick-boxing. Not that what you do really matters. All I know is that Jackson can kick ass and so can Henderson. If both players are standing up, I think whoever can score the first lucky KO-like punch can have the momentum to win it. If it gets to the ground, then maybe Dan Henderson might have the slight advantage. But then, Henderson might not be used to Octagon fighting since he’s had most of his recent Pride FC bouts in a boxing ring. Cage match is very different, and maybe that’s where Jackson’s a bit more experienced. In any case, The UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion main event looks to be explosive.

Other noteworthy matches on UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion include a much-awaited light heavyweight square-of between Matt “The Hammer” Hamill and Michael “The Count” Bisping. There’s also the Mirko Cro Cop versus Cheick Kongo fight card and the Houston “The Assassin” Alexander versus Alessio “Legionarious” Sakara, which looks to be another explosive match in terms of fighting styles and pound-for-pound power.

For more odds on UFC 75: Champion versus Champion, click here.