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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The UFC brings another night of fights to Fox Sports 1 on Wednesday, but it's a card built more around its live audience than those on television. This is the third "Fight for the Troops" event the organization has run, teaming up with the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund to raise money to support "U.S. military personnel and veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury due to injuries sustained during their service in Iraq and Afghanistan."
To that end, they've brought several U.S. military vets to this card, from headliner Tim Kennedy, to co-main event fighter Liz Carmouche, and main card opener and Ultimate Fighter winner Colton Smith. Here are some quick thoughts and predictions for the event.
Tim Kennedy vs. Rafael Natal (Middleweight): This fight was supposed to pit Kennedy against Lyoto Machida, and given the performance Machida had against Mark Munoz, Kennedy may have dodged a bullet. However, Natal is a really good fighter in his own right, and comes into this event with wins in five of his last six UFC bouts.
Kennedy's got a very good grappling game, with relentless wrestling and solid jiu jitsu skills. Natal may be able to combat that with a more than adept ground game and an edge in the striking department. This is a close matchup, much closer than perhaps people are giving Natal credit. I think he's going to give Kennedy a tough fight, but I'm expecting Kennedy to pick up a decision win.
Liz Carmouche vs. Alexis Davis (W. Bantamweight): Carmouche and Davis both enter this event off clear victories in their last outings - Carmouche over Jessica Andrade and Davis over Rosi Sexton. Carmouche has had spurts in her career where she's looked quite good, but she doesn't have a history of results against top flight competition. That's what she's facing in Davis, who - while she may not be quite as well known as some of her contemporaries in the UFC - deserves recognition as one of the top female fighters in this division. Davis can hang with Carmouche on the feet, and she's got an edge in her ground game. It should be a fun fight, but I think Davis wins by submission in the second round.
Ronny Markes vs. Yoel Romero (Middleweight): Ronny Markes won't ever be accused of being the most exciting fighter to watch, but what he does, he does quite well. He's a 14-1 fighter who has picked up three straight wins in the UFC, defeating solid middle of the division guys in Karlos Vemola, Aaron Simpson, and Andrew Craig. Yoel Romero only has six career fights, and returned after a lengthy layoff to make his UFC debut in April with a stellar and violent flying knee KO. It's impossible to say where Romero truly is at this stage because we haven't seen much of him in the cage, and though Markes is a known commodity, Romero might be able to get past him. If Romero can't finish the fight early, though, it will be a long night for him, and Markes will do what he's been doing. Markes by decision.
Jorge Masvidal vs. Rustam Khabilov (Lightweight): Now this is a fun fight. Jorge Masvidal enters off a really good back and forth bout with Michael Chiesa, one he won by submission in the second round. Khabilov's last fight ended unfortunately early due to an injury to Yancy Medeiros, but in his UFC debut prior to that he put forth a thrilling performance by suplexing Vinc Pichel multiple times over. This is a real interesting matchup, because Masvidal's got a lot of big fight experience, and this is a chance for Khabilov to show he's capable of moving up the ladder. I'm taking a flyer on Khabilov by decision.
Colton Smith vs. Michael Chiesa (Lightweight): Colton Smith is really a one-sided fighter, in large part because he's still quite young in his MMA career. Chiesa was mostly the same way coming into the UFC, but he opened eyes with some solid striking against Jorge Masvidal in his last outing. The problem Smith faces into this fight is that his strength plays right into Chiesa's game, and I just can't see him going three rounds without getting caught in this one. Chiesa by submission in the first round.
=====Preliminary Card Quick Picks=====
-James Krause over Bobby Green by submission in the second round
-Francisco Rivera over George Roop by KO in the first round
-Steven Siler over Dennis Bermudez by decision
-Amanda Nunes over Germaine de Randamie by decision
-Lorenz Larkin over Chris Camozzi by decision
-Yancy Medeiros over Yves Edwards by TKO in the second round
-Seth Baczynski over Neil Magny by submission in the second round
-Derek Brunson over Brian Houston by decision
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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