UFC 144: Ranking Every Fight on the Card

Photo credit: ESPN

Don't get me wrong. I love watching fights. I order every pay-per-view, watch every prelim on basic cable, and even dial up the under-undercard on the Internet. I also DVR everything and rewatch all the interesting parts.

This Saturday's UFC 144 card, coming to you from Saitama Super Arena in Japan, will be no exception.

But at the same time, a man will feel the need to multitask. That's why it's good to have a guide stick to help you separate the must-see TV from the stuff you can track with one eye.

Consider this list that guide stick. 

12. Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields

Photo credit: BJPenn.com

Welterweight

Look. Even the fighters aren't excited. I think Lorenzo Fertitta is actually sleeping with his eyes open.

Seeing as how we're stuck in a universe with no rewind button, we're also stuck with a fight that's not nearly as compelling now as it would have been in 2008.

As it is, neither of these former champions appears ready to contend again anytime soon, regardless of the outcome Saturday night.

Shields, 33, has lost two straight, but is still a top welterweight until evidence proves otherwise. A win probably doesn't mean anything immediate for the division, but would probably mean that viewers just watched a 15-minute game of Twister without the spinner.

Akiyama, 36 and cutting to 170 for the first time, has lost three straight, and is still not a top fighter until evidence proves otherwise. A loss probably means an anticlimactic UFC exit, while a win would mean...I don't know. Another fight at welterweight and a new hit single, maybe.

11. Takanori Gomi vs. Eiji Mitsuoka

Photo credit: MMAMania

Lightweight

Gomi has taken some steps down in competition lately. Once a top-flight 155er, he'll face a consummate journeyman and injury fill-in for his not-especially triumphant return to Saitama.

Though a loss would be his third in a row, Gomi's accomplishments and marketability will likely buy him more time. And in any case, a loss seems extremely unlikely.

This fight, like any fight, has the potential to be a good one. But on paper, there's not a whole lot on the line here beyond Gomi's pride (no pun intended). 

10. Riki Fukuda vs. Steve Cantwell

Photo credit: MMAConvert

Middleweight

Two classic cases of failure to launch, though each came under different circumstances.

The judges handed Fukuda a loss in his UFC debut against Nick Ring, though in a clear sign of Dana White's opinion of that decision, Fukuda got a winner's bonus anyway.

Cantwell is 1-4 in the UFC, and that lone win came in his debut. More was expected of the WEC's last light heavyweight champion. If he loses to Fukuda, I'd be shocked if he wasn't released. Like, a who-does-he-have-pictures-of kind of shock.

9. Takeya Mizugaki vs. Chris Cariaso

Bantamweight

Cariaso isn't excessively well known, but he is a pretty good fighter. He's won six of his last eight. The only defeats? Renan Barao and a close one to Michael McDonald.

People have expected big things from Mizugaki, and he's had a nice career, but he's never really delivered against top opponents.

8. Zhang Tiequan vs. Issei Tamura

Featherweight

Zhang's a grappler, 15-2 overall and 1-1 in the UFC.

Tamura's a fill-in for the injured Leonard Garcia. We'll see how he does.

I actually like these late-breaking fill-in fights, in certain instances. You could see a dominating performance from the favorite (see Dustin Poirier vs. Max Holloway) or you could see the next Brian Ebersole.

Either way, fun stuff. 

7. Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski

Photo credit: MMAGospel

Featherweight

Hioki's a top-three featherweight. He's also a bit of a grinder in the Jon Fitch mold. Palaszewski is quite the opposite, being a brawler first and foremost (he actually earned KO of the Night honors in his last fight, against Tyson Griffin). 

So it's an interesting stylistic matchup, and I suppose Palaszewski has the puncher's chance, but if I had to bet, I would say his fire isn't quite hot enough to burn through the stifling blanket that is Hatsu Hioki.

Wake me when Hioki gets a top-10 opponent. 

6. Yushin Okami vs. Tim Boetsch

Photo credit: MMAMania

Middleweight

Okami recently took his place at the back of a long line of Anderson Silva victims. The powerful and well-rounded Okami will surely be looking to start a new winning streak this Saturday, but he'll have to do it against the powerful and well-rounded Boetsch, who rag-dolled Nick Ring in his last contest to run his own streak to two. In fact, the thudding wrestler's only loss in his last seven fights came against Phil Davis, before he dropped down to middleweight, where he is huge. 

5. Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Vaughan Lee

Bantamweight

Could this be win or go home for one of Japan's favorite fighting sons? Who knows, but if the hard-hitting but oft-injured Yamamoto can't pull this one off, it would be his third straight UFC loss and fourth in five overall.

My gut feeling is that, unlike Gomi, Yamamoto could be in real trouble with another loss. That lends some drama to this one. That, and it could be KO of the Night if the "Kid" is on his game. I imagine that would get something of a reaction from the Super Arena faithful. 

4. Quinton Jackson vs. Ryan Bader

Light heavyweight

To my mind, the interesting question in this one is whether Bader will choose to bang with "Rampage" or try to control him on the ground.

But outside the Xs and Os, it will be interesting to see how Jackson, still fairly fresh off a loss to champ Jon Jones, measures up against another one of the division's young bucks, particularly in an arena that witnessed so many of his career highlights. 

3. Mark Hunt vs. Cheick Kongo

Heavyweight

Both of these men like to hit. Hard. And both are enjoying big surges later in their careers.

I'm seeing a slugfest here, between a bowling ball of a brawler in Hunt and the marble-cut kickboxer in Kongo. It's the kind of big-scary-musclebound-guys-beating-the-hell-out-of-each-other kind of match that drives decibel levels through the top of the Saitama dome. 

2. Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon

Lightweight

Combined, these men have 11 post-fight bonuses in their last 22 fights (including Pettis' last three in the WEC). The winner would be well positioned for a shot at the lightweight title.

Putting on my Carnac hat for a second, yes...I see a couple of fireworks in this one.

(Photo h/t: ProMMANow)

1. Frankie Edgar vs. Benson Henderson

Lightweight

You have to give the nod to the fight that has the gold.

But even if it wasn't the title fight, the match would still be compelling, as the never-quit boxing of Edgar gets its latest Impossible Test against well-rounded Henderson, the division's number one contender with a bullet.

No matter where or how long it goes, this fight's going to deliver.