Denis Kang will finally make his UFC debut and will make his
inaugural Octagon appearance against The Talent Alan Belcher on the
main card
of UFC 93 which will take place in Dublin Ireland. The UFC website made
official, what has been rumored for quite some time, in fact Kang was
almost a contestant in the inaugural
Ultimate Fighter TV show but the deal fell through before the show was
to debut. The ATT fighter has over 40 fights to his name and is
coming off an impressive first-round knockout of Marvin Eastman in the RAW
organization in Canada. (NOTE: Look for an interview with Kang on MMARR in the coming days.)
In other action Marcus Davis will meet Chris Lylte in a bout
between two former boxers. Davis is 7-1 in the UFC with a recent loss to Mike
Swick and a win over Paul Kelly and not surprisingly, Lytle also has a loss
followed by a win in his last two fights, losing to Josh Koscheck and defeating
Paul Taylor by decision. With a record of 5- 7 in the UFC, Lytle may be nearing
the end of his opportunities if he does not perform well in this bout.
Rousimar Palhares makes his third Octagon appearance against
the ultra-experienced Jeremy Horn. Few middleweights have had the tough road
into the MMA mix that Palhares has endured, with bouts against Ivan Salaverry
in his first bout, against former Pride middleweight and light heavyweight
champion Dan Henderson in his second bout, and a Jeremy Horn, of over 100 pro
bouts in his third. The interesting part about this is the fact Horn may be the
underdog in this bout despite his astronomical edge in the experience
department. Palhares is considered one
of the strong up-and-comers in the 185 lbs. class and could be a future
contender for Anderson Silva.
The full card is as follows.
Main Card
Rich Franklin vs. Dan HendersonMark
Coleman vs. Mauricio Rua
Denis Kang vs. Alan Belcher
Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle
Jeremy Horn vs. Rousimar Palhares
Undercard
Tomasz Drwal vs. Ivan Serati
Tom Egan vs. John Hathaway
Dennis Siver vs. Nate Mohr