Penick's Take
UFC ON FX 2 PREVIEW: Penick's quick thoughts and fight picks for "Alves vs. Kampmann" main card
Mar 2, 2012 - 4:30:59 PM UFC ON FX 2 PREVIEW: Penick's quick thoughts and fight picks for "Alves vs. Kampmann" main card

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

The UFC returns to Australia this week for the third straight year, hitting Sydney's Allphones Arena with the second UFC main card dedicated to FX. The network has aired three preliminary card broadcasts for UFC pay-per-views thus far, but only January's Melvin Guillard vs. Jim Miller headlined event in Nashville was dedicated to FX.

This week sees a welterweight bout between Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann in the night's main event, with both fighters hoping to reestablish themselves in the UFC's 170 lb. mix. Additionally, the flyweight division makes it's debut with four fighters vying to get into the very first UFC Flyweight Championship bout later this year. Here's what Friday's main card has in store:

Thiago Alves vs. Martin Kampmann (Welterweight):

Alves is a one-time title challenger in the welterweight division, and he's coming off a very good - and needed - win over Papy Abedi last November. He's got a very dangerous Muay Thai attack, and has a fairly decent ground game, but he's struggled with fighters who can press the pace on him and keep him off balance against the cage.

Martin Kampmann suffered two consecutive decision losses that he felt he shouldn't have lost in 2010 and 2011, but bounced back with a win over Rick Story in his last fight. Like Alves, he likes to concentrate on his striking attack, but he's also quite adept on the ground as well.

This is a fight that can easily end in one of the two of them being knocked unconscious, though we haven't seen either of them fighting to their potential in the last several years. If this is going to turn into a firefight, it's going to be Alves' brute power going against Kampmann's technical striking attack, and it should make for an entertaining matchup. Kampmann's been on the receiving end of a couple of beatings in his career, but he's dished out a few as well. However, Alves has only been stopped twice in the UFC, and the last time that happened it was almost six years ago. I've got Alves continuing to get back on track with a second round TKO.


Joseph Benavidez vs. Yasuhiro Urushitani (Flyweight):

Urushitani is the least-known fighter coming into this four-man flyweight field. The Shooto 123 lb. Champion, the 5'5" Japanese fighter has spent nearly the entirety of his 11 year career in his home country, and this will be his first time he's ventured out of Japan since a 2006 bout in South Korea.

Benavidez, on the other hand, is a completely proven commodity. He had been an exciting bantamweight, who most felt was one of the top three or four bantamweights in the world. His fights with Dominick Cruz were really close, and in fact I scored their title fight in Benavidez's favor when it happened.

This is a fight that pits an extremely well-rounded Benavidez against a skilled competitor in Urishitani, but I don't see any reason Benavidez can't establish himself as the man to beat at 125 lbs. He's immensely fast, has definite power in his strikes, has very good wrestling, and a very good submission game. I've got Benavidez via submission in the second round.


Demetrious Johnson vs. Ian McCall (Flyweight)

Johnson is another fighter who UFC fans have been wanting to see in a more natural environment. He found a lot of success as a bantamweight despite a severe size disadvantage against everyone he came up against. His success brought him all the way to a Bantamweight Title shot, but much like Benavidez, he fell short to Dominick Cruz by decision.

McCall, affectionately known as "Uncle Creepy" by his fans, has made his name as a top flyweight entirely on the outside. He, too, has a loss to Cruz as a bantamweight, his coming in one of his three fights in the UFC. McCall is a fairly well rounded fighter, holding several wins by TKO or submission, and he is a serious threat to Johnson in this matchup.

This is sure to be an evenly contested fight. McCall's striking and submission game will challenge Johnson's speed and wrestling, and both will be out to stake their claim to a shot at the very first UFC Flyweight Championship. This is going to be a very tough fight for each of them, and though Johnson is the more proven fighter to this point, I'm going to lean towards McCall taking a unanimous decision.


Court McGee vs. Constantinos Philippou (Middleweight)

McGee, the season 11 winner of The Ultimate Fighter, won two fights in 2010 to kick off his UFC career, but injuries kept him out of action for nearly a year after that. However, he returned last September and put forth a solid performance in a decision win over Dongi Yang.

Philippou lost his UFC debut last March, but then defeated Jorge Rivera by decision before decimating Jared Hamman in his last outing. His striking isn't the most polished or technical, but he's got very heavy hands that can mean trouble for anyone when he connects.

With that said, McGee is a very durable middleweight, with his sole loss coming by decision four years ago against Jeremy Horn. He's been put in some bad spots before, only to snatch back victory, and if Philippou can't stop him quickly he'll be in for a very tough fight.

Philippou is going to try to rough up McGee throughout the fight, and he may succeed in doing so, but I'll lean towards McGee to pull off a decision win in this one.