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UFC 120: It's London Calling

Brendon Murnane

Brendon Murnane

Written on Friday, 15 October 2010 19:59

As Mike Goldberg would say, 'Here we go'!

Yes that's right, it's time for another UFC with the latest event, UFC 120, set to take place in London this Sunday AEST.

This is the fourth event to be held at the O2 arena and the fifth outside of the United States this year.

Once again the UFC have done a stellar job of putting together a card that extensively represents the home crowd.

At UFC 120 there will be four British fighters on each of the preliminary and main cards with the event being headlined by Manchester's own Michael "The Count" Bisping.

Bisping, whose record in the UFC stands at nine wins and three losses, will take on the Japanese superstar Yoshihiro Akiyami (1-1).

Bisping (pictured, above) is on a win-loss run that has lasted his past four fights. His last fight inside the Octagon was against Dan Miller which he won by decision. Akiyami's only victory in the UFC came in his debut against Alan Belcher which, like his loss to Chris Leben at UFC 116, won fight of the night honours.

This should be an interesting main event with Bisping renowned for his stand up whilst the more experienced Akiyami is extremely dangerous off his back.

Dan Hardy is also in action for the first time since he was dominated by the Welterweight Champion Georges "Rush" St. Pierre at UFC 111.

Hardy was taken to school by the Canadian but showed great resilience in his ability to escape from two deep submission attempts. He was heavily criticised for his non-existent take down defence in the title fight with St Pierre.

Since the fight, Hardy has worked extensively on different areas of his game in preparation for his fight with American Carlos Condit. "I've come back with a whole new skill set," explained Hardy. "Things I've not necessarily used in the past. I have had added technical assistance from a new secret weapon, new skills which will not work in Condit's favour on the night."

Hardy will be the home crowd favourite and is confident that he will dominate Condit throughout the fight. "It could be a rough 60 seconds or it could be rough 15 minutes. It all depends on how well he takes a punch." Condit is coming off two wins with his last fight being an impressive technical knockout of Rory MacDonald.

The next fight on the main card is between John Hathaway and Mike Pyle in the welterweight division.

Hathaway has an amassed an impressive four-run win streak inside the UFC and the Brit will want to put on an impressive performance in what will be his second fight in his home country.

Hathaway's last fight was against brawler Diego "The Nightmare" Sanchez where he showed his takedown technique as well as his ground and pound. Pyle is coming off a submission victory against Jesse Lennox via triangle choke and hopes to add another submission of the night to his resume.

On paper this is a really good match up and one that UFC matchmaker Joe Silva should be disappointed if it doesn't vie for fight of the night honours.

The next fight is in the Heavyweight division between Muay Thai specialist Cheick Kongo and Travis Browne.

Browne is an up and coming fighter who defeated James McSweeney in his UFC debut and will look to keep the fight on the feet. "I definitely will stand and trade with him (Kongo) and show him what I've got," Browne told Sherdog.com.

Kongo, a UFC veteran, knows he will have to be careful of his younger opponent and is wary of his heavy hands. "He is a tall guy who has a good ground game. He also hits very hard and shows great strength in the clinch," said Kongo.

The last fight on the main card is between Englishmen James Wilks and Canadian submission specialist Claude Patrick.

Patrick will be looking to finish the fight with his signature guillotine choke and hopefully take home submission of the night honours. Wilks on the other hand is prepared to allow the fight to go to the judges if he can't get an early submission. "The main thing I have to do is watch his submissions. He's very technical, and I need to stay away from his submissions. If I can do that, I think I can finish him by KO or submission, but if not, I'll just do what I have to do to grind out a decision," he told Sherdog.com from London.

 

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