In what will end up being for the UFC Heavyweight Championship, Tim Sylvia looks to re acquire the very title that was stripped away from him against ever the ever improving and dangerous Andrei Arlovski. Both are stand up fighters and love to “bang” and in what will truly be a war, Arlovski will not only attempt to win the UFC heavyweight championship, but also become the first man to defeat Sylvia in MMA competition.

Sylvia returns to competition for the first time since his drug suspension stripped him of the UFC heavyweight title some time ago and has vowed that the performance enhancing drugs he took were a mistake and will never happen again. He is training extensively with Team Miletich, sparring and working on his ground game with fellow Miletich members Jeremy Horn and the up and coming Justin Eilers. Sylvia brings big punching power, and unbelievable size and strength, surely a devastating combination. He relies on his stand up game, utilizing his reach and size advantage to dissect and tear apart his opponents with a long stiff jab attack from outside the reach of his opponents. No one has been able to test his ground game, and that is one question mark that looms over his head, he does train groundwork with Horn and the rest of Team Miletich, so when tested he should be able to perform. Arlovski on the other hand has already proven to be adept on the ground.

Arlovski was originally from Minsk, Belarus, but now fights out of Chicago Illinois and is a sambo expert with devastating punching power he has improved his stand-up tremendously, slugging it out with strikers Pedro Rizzo and Ian Freeman, and KO’ing fellow Belarusian Vladimir Matyushensko. Arlovski has already been in the octagon on five different occasions, losing by KO to both Rizzo and former UFC champion Ricco Rodriguez, but is on a winning streak that has earned him his championship opportunity.

I believe this fight has the potential to be fight of the night. Both are excellent strikers and love to slug it out and KO their opponents. Both have only fought one similar opponent in Rodriguez, with Sylvia winning by KO and Arlovski losing by TKO. Arlovski does seem to have some trouble with bigger fighters and Sylvia will be the biggest fighter he will have to faced to date. I believe Sylvia will come in with the game plan of keeping his hands high and look for his openings. Rizzo found his opening when he fought Arlovski and capitalized by hitting him with a right hand that not only knocked him out, but broke his nose in the process. Sylvia will be looking to expose the chin of Arlovski, while utilizing his reach and size advantage to keep from going to the ground. Arlovski, on the other hand, might try to stand with Sylvia and trade bombs. Cabbage did expose some holes in Sylvia’s defense when they fought and proved that Sylvia can be hit. I believe that the real difference will be if Arlovski will be able to take down Sylvia if he gets into trouble in the standup. Take him down, and Arlovski will put Sylvia in a position that no other fighter has been able to achieve and possibly work his way into a ground and pound stoppage or a submission. If unsuccessful, then he will surely be on the losing end of this fight. When it’s all said and done, I think Sylvia will have something to prove coming off his suspension and will come out determined. Both fighters will have their moments, but Sylvia will eventually land his devastating right hand and KO Arlovski late into round 3.

Wesley Correira Vs Mike Kyle

In a battle of heavyweight contenders, Hawaiian Wesley “Cabbage” Correira takes on AKA’s Mike Kyle in what is sure to be a slugfest as both fighters are talented strikers, with knockout power. Cabbage has been demolishing his opposition lately and looks to add Kyle to his win list and Kyle, on the other hand, looks to prove that he belongs in the UFC.

Cabbage comes into this UFC on a solid winning streak with his last loss at UFC 39 against the then upstart, former heavyweight champion, Tim Sylvia. Cabbage has reeled off six straight victories against difficult opponents, ranging from UFC veteran Tank Abbott to rising young talents such as the hard hitting Joseph “Diesel” Riggs and Miletich fighting systems standout Justin Eilers. He has improved each time he has fought, displaying not only a rock solid chin, but also Muay Thai skills that were put on display in his battle against Abbott. Cabbage is a no nonsense fighter, and as such his game plan is never changes, and he will be gunning for the KO. He trains with newly crowned UFC welterweight champion BJ Penn and is sure to have a decent ground game, even though he hasn’t displayed those talents as of yet. Cabbage has had some problems with fighters that were more mobile with good hand speed in the past, so that may play a factor in this fight. He has however, vowed to dedicate more time to training, and hopefully at UFC 47 he can build upon past performances as he has so far in his young career.

Mike Kyle is making his debut in the UFC octagon, but he is a seasoned veteran of mixed martial arts. He is currently the WEC heavyweight champion and has a very solid record with only two defeats to his name, both of which he was winning until he got knocked out. Kyle has displayed good hand speed, a very solid ground and pound game, and KO power from both hands with all of his victories coming via KO, TKO, or submission from strikes. None of his fights have gone the distance as of yet, which makes one wonder about his overall stamina. He hasn’t been truly tested since his two losses to Dan Bobish and Paul Buentello, facing off against mainly B level fighters in smaller shows. He has said that he has worked on his cardio for this match-up with Cabbage, so he may be planning to take this fight the distance.

Kyle will have his hands full with Cabbage, as Renzo Gracie standout Alvarez proved, it is not easy to take Cabbage down. Cabbage knows his key to winning this fight is to keep it standing, where he has proven that he can and will slug it out with the best of fighters. Kyle’s only chance to win this fight will be to take Cabbage down early and work the ground and pound. If he tries to stand and trade, he will get knocked out. Kyle needs to take Cabbage to the ground, stand with him and be prepared to meet the sandman, Cabbage will be able to impose his will, eat Kyle’s best punches, smile and come back for more. Cabbage by vicious KO in round 2.

Hermes Franca vs. Yves Edwards

This is an exciting evenly matched up fight of contrasting styles, and once again, we are bitten by the grappler vs. kick-boxer bug. As we have seen on numerous occasions this fight will again be won by the fighter who is able to keep the fight in their realm of expertise for long enough to capitalize. Yves is an impressive striker with a good sprawl and an ever improving ground assault, an element of his game we saw at UFC 43 against wrestler Eddie Ruiz who had to work hard to escape a triangle choke attempt while Edwards was on his back, a rarity to say the least when stand up fighters are involved. Although his sprawl has improved he has been taken down and controlled by good wrestlers in the past, most recently Tesuya Kawajiri was able to take him down and a combination of sound ground defense and an unwillingness to open up resulted in Edwards only recent loss in a rather dry inactive fight that was his first in approximately 2 years.

Franca’s ground assault is an active one and he will not be content to hold Edwards down, he will look for the finish, from start to finish and stay active more so as the fight goes on. Speaking of start to finish, Franca is a notoriously slow starter, he seems content to measure his opponent for much of the early goings. Franca will want to be active from bell to bell as his early inactivity contributed to his controversial decision loss to Josh Thomson which went to the decision. Franca’s takedowns will need to be on task in order to take Edwards down and he will probably want to start a little stronger then he has in the past as losing the first round of this fight could be ring the death knell for Franca who usually comes on stronger as the fight goes on. He cant afford to get behind the eight ball against Edwards who also wont slow down as the fight goes on. As such Franca has an uncanny ability to find openings and close the deal, and I feel that Franca will have revenge on his mind and find his mark late in the fight after a somewhat slow start and go on to submit Edwards, possibly in the third round, setting up an anticipated rematch against Josh Thomson for the UFC 155 pound title. Edwards will be game from front to back, but will come up just a little short on this night, and come back to haunt Franca at a later date.

Tiki Ghosen Vs Chris Lytle

Khalil Ghosen better known as “Tiki” is making his 4th appearance in the big show and some are wondering what he did to get here in the first place. The truth is, while he hasn’t fared well in the UFC he has done more then some of the others who have entered the UFC in recent events. In fact all three losses on his overall record have all come in the Ultimate Fighting Championships and he will be looking to right that ship and take his UFC record to 1-3. To be fair his three UFC have all been very tough competition, after two straight losses in the UFC to Welterweight tyrant Sean Sherk and now AKA trainer “Crazy” Bob Cook, he went off to win three straight fights before being brought back to face young gun Robbie Lawler, eventually losing by KO in his third try in the big show. All three of his losses came at the hands of fighters that have a combined record of 33-2-1, there is no shame in losing to top competition. Two wins later, one against tough competitor Ronald Jhun, he is back in the UFC to face Chris Lytle, who at 13-10-5, on paper has a lower winning percentage then “Tiki” who is 7-3.

Both competitors have recently faced and lost to the Ruthless one Robbie Lawler. But Lytle is coming an impressive victory over a man that defeated Robbie Lawler, Pete Spratt. Both these fighters have the tendency, and ability, to step into the middle and bang, more then likely that is exactly what the UFC is betting on it. I have no problem with a fight like this happening if no other reason, then to entertain the crowd. Ghosen is also a local Californian and has a good following in the area so he should be able to sell his fair share of tickets. In terms of stand up proficiency, Lytle is a good boxer and should have the better hands, but “Tiki” is has more well rounded stand up game mixing in kicks into his steady kickboxing arsenal. Lytle has more experience in the ring having fought in more then double the amount of fights that Ghosen has, but I think that this fight should be a well matched and entertaining balanced contest that starts on the feet and ends with only one fighter hitting the mat. Both will likely be looking to stand and trade and be the last one standing. When the dust clears after three rounds, that is if it lasts that long,. I feel that Lytle will have the hands to keep “Tiki” at bay and although he will probably eat a leg kick or two on his way, should have enough to win an entertaining three round unanimous decision.