UFC 109: The Most Intriguing Match-Ups You May Not See

UFC 109 takes place February 6 in Las Vegas and is headlined by two legends in the sport on mixed martial arts (MMA). Fighters.com tenth-ranked heavyweight “The Natural” Randy Couture (17-10) faces off against “The Hammer” Mark Coleman (16-9) in the light heavyweight division. There are a couple of fights on this card that I find very intriguing and are likely to not find their way onto the pay per view.

The first fight that sticks out is “The Filipino Assassin” Phillipe Nover (4-2) versus “The Saint” Rob Emerson (9-8). This is a fight that has big consequences for both fighters. Both fighters are coming off of back to back losses staring at the three strike rule. When you have a fight in which one fighter must win to stay in the UFC, it tends to bring out the best in them. This is special because both men are trying to avoid getting the dreaded pink slip from Dana White and Joe Silva.

Emerson is a very aggressive fighter that loves to stand and trade shots with his opponent. Nover is no stranger to striking as he has trained in one martial art or another since he was ten years old. He has been focusing on his jiu jitsu for a while now and may want to try and end this fight early with a take down and submission. Now matter where the fight goes you can be sure that these two will leave it all in the Octagon in hopes of keeping their job with the most recognized MMA organization in the world. Fireworks should go off inside the Octagon during this one and sadly we may not see it.

The next intriguing match up you may not see is between Mostapha al Turk (4-4) and Rolles Gracie Jr. (3-0). Mostapha is a man who has not been able to have any success since his arrival in the UFC. He has been TKOed in both fights which I don’t think he will have to worry about in this match with UFC newcomer Rolles Gracie. Rolles is undefeated with all wins coming via submission which is not surprising being that he is a Gracie. I am always intrigued by the chance to see a Gracie step inside the Octagon. After all, it was another Gracie that many of us watched eyes glued to the television, as he submitted much larger men with moves most of us had never seen before. Now we have yet another Gracie entering into the UFC. Rolles has been splitting his time training between Greg Jackson’s MMA and Team Renzo Gracie (13-6-1). It will be interesting to see how far along his stand up game has evolved as most of the Gracie’s have lacked solid striking. However going against an admitted submission wrestler in al Turk, we could see the fight hit the mat very fast and witness the newest generation of Gracie pull off a submission reminding us all of Royce Gracie (14-3-3) and the start of the UFC.

The last fight that I wish was on the main card features “All American” Brian Stann (8-2) welcoming “Mr Wonderful” Phil Davis (4-0) to the UFC. I know Brian Stann has not come in with guns blazing since he came over from the WEC but the fact that he has transferred to Jackson’s Academy should intrigue anyone. Jackson has a knack for making average fighters become top ten fighters. Brian is very athletic and Greg Jackson is sure to have given him some new tools for his tool belt. Brian is also a fan favorite due to his hero status as a recipient of the Silver Star while serving in the Marine Corps.

Phil is one of the world’s top prospects in the sport being a four time All-American wrestler at Penn State University, a national champion and finishing his college career with a record 0f 116-20. These are major accomplishments that have the MMA world watching and waiting to see how he will fare in the sport. Training out of Alliance Training Center in San Diego he has managed to keep his record perfect even if it was only four fights.

All Star wrestler and world class prospect debuting against the Marine Corp Captain who many call an American hero. Intrigued yet? I don’t know about you but I get very excited to see fighters making their UFC debuts, especially when the guy happens to be such a major prospect. If he beats Stan his status of prospect becomes set in stone and he will sky rocket in popularity. That is if anyone other than those attending the event actually were to see the fight.

Those are three most intriguing fights we may not see at UFC 109. Is there a fight I did not mention that you feel belongs here? Maybe a fight I mentioned that you laughed out loud while reading about here? As always you can join me on MMA Gospel Radio every Wednesday from 8-10 PM EST by logging into www.blogtalkradio.com/mmagospel. We have the “Cageside Chat” open where you can talk with our other listeners as well as myself and co-host. Hope to see you there.