UFC

TUF 9 Finale - Livelihoods go on the line

by Ben Blackmore , 19 June 2009

Forrest Griffin, Matt Serra, Rashad Evans, are we about to witness the next champion born out of the TUF house?

When it comes to iconic moments inside The Octagon, the battered, exhausted, completely dishevelled figures of Forrest Griffin and Stephen Bonnar embracing after THAT classic cannot be bettered.

Are we about to get another war? The potential is there...

For the first time since Michael Bisping, the UK will have a TUF winner. But will it be Ross Pearson or Andre Winner who catapults himself to stardom in Las Vegas?

At welterweight there's more UK hope as James Wilks meets DaMarques Johnson in what could be a blink-and-you'll-miss-it contest.

And then there's the main event... Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez running into the tornado that is Clay Guida in an attempt to earn a shot at the title. Are you foaming at the mouth yet? Sanchez will be.

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DIEGO SANCHEZ vs CLAY GUIDA

Diego Sanchez walks head-on into a storm this weekend, knowing that the promised land awaits on the other side.

Clay Guida will not stop. He will keep coming and coming and coming, so much so that the ref will have to physically drag him back to his corner at the end of each round.

That is Clay Guida, and that is what made his fight with Tyson Griffin one of the most memorable we've seen.

Just one problem. Guida lost that bout with Griffin.

Since then though Guida has won four of his last five, and he had Roger Huerta beaten in that sole loss before a miraculous recovery of epic proportions by Huerta.

What does Guida bring? Energy, relentless wrestling, a solid chin, and an insatiable will to win.

Sanchez has to keep the fight standing. He may have the superior Jiu-Jitsu, but that hardly helped Nate Diaz during Guida's last outing.

Sanchez is arguably one win from a title shot. He out-struck Joe Stevenson, he is a middleweight-turned-welterweight-turned-lightweight, and he has the strength to stuff Guida's suffocating takedown attempts.

However, wrestlers have been the Achilles heel of Sanchez's 22-2-0 career, Josh Koscheck (albeit in a strike fest) and Jon Fitch have got the better of him, but will he have too much power at 155?
PREDICTION: Guida - unanimous decision

ROSS PEARSON vs ANDRE WINNER

Whisper it quietly but the UK is coming to take over the lightweight division. With Terry Etim tipped for great things, The UFC are about to throw two more Brits into the mix in the shape of "Rossy P" and "Dre".

Two genuine talents, expectation is that both men  - win or lose - will end up with futures in The UFC.

Winner trains with Dan Hardy as Team Rough House. Pearson was going to do the same, but now TUF Finale rivalry means "Rossy P" has been working out at the Wolf's Lair ahead of the biggest fight of his life.

Pearson is heavy handed for a lightweight, he wears opponents down with his wrestling game, he's a nightmare opponent.

Winner is the technician. Deadly in the clinch and accurate in the stand-up, he will want to dictate the range, although his BJJ offers a solid escape route if Pearson takes the fight down.

Both will eventually train together, but for now they pose huge obstacles to each other in the bid to land that £100,000 contract.
Prediction: Winner - unanimous decision

DaMARQUES JOHNSON vs JAMES WILKS

How about a UK double? Can James Wilks keep UK MMA riding on the crest of a wave by defeating American Bisping-hater DaMarques Johnson?

Johnson always looks close to losing before he finds a way to win. An admirable quality or a weakness ripe for exposing?

Seemingly in trouble against Dean Amasinger before using the escape route that was Amasinger's Achilles heel - the triangle choke, Johnson then met more adversity in the semis, rocked so badly by Nick Ozipczak that he nearly lost the fight, although to his credit he showed great heart to come back and triumph.

Wilks enters as the underdog, a Leicestershire-born combatant fighting out of California with a Jiu-Jitsu background.

Submission victories via heel hook and armbar took him to the semis, where he beat Frank Lester for a second time - this time with knees - to reach the final.

Johnson's strength is his BJJ, Wilks likewise. Does the Brit have the striking capability to roll with the American?
PREDICTION: Johnson - TKO

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