UFC Weekend 105 Preview: Randy Couture "The British Are Coming "

"The British are coming" was the cry heard by American soldiers during the battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775, and the man who shouted it, Paul Revere, will forever live on in the minds of United States citizens as a silent reminder of the patriotism of that historic time.

This weekend, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, led by "Captain America," Randy Couture, will be staging its 105th event and, once again, setting sail for overseas into English territory.

This time it's the Americans who are coming, and the UFC's No. 1, 170-pound welterweight contender and lethal cage-fighter Mike Swick had better be firing on all cylinders on Saturday when he faces the dangerous up and comer Dan Hardy of the UK.

Swick, a 30-year-old native of Houston, is representing one of the foremost MMA Stables in the world, American Kickboxing Academy, and he is—for all intents and purposes—a masterful kick boxing-style fighter.

From the referee's signal to fight, Swick wastes no time cutting off the cage and applying pressure to his retreating opponents, who are unwary of his hand speed and accuracy.

Then, utililizing his nickname, he—quickly—displays his fearsome blitzkrieg style of attack which brought sudden endings to more than half of this lighting like pugilists previous 14 contests.

This game plan, which we have witnessed many times before, was also was used by Matt Serra in his defeat over Georges St-Pierre; it's quick, lethal, and extremely effective—and Swick has it down to a science.

Secondly, in Swick's diverse arsenal is his self-proclaimed Swick-o-tine.

It's a product of Brazilian jujitsu, or judo, known as the guillotine-choke-hold. Pressure to the throat from the forearm is an air-choke, the other form, where the neck is cranked tightly, proceeds to cut-off arterial blood flow to the brain, both types will cause sudden, and painless unconsciousness.

Quick Swick has mastered—and perfected—this move, and he applies it while having his opponents back firmly trapped against the cage. And you can be sure that—once Swick gets his hooks (feet) in the proper position, there will be no escape other than tapping or snoozing.

Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy is indeed the real deal.  He has extremely impressive past UFC wins against Rory Markham and Akihiro Gono, but his most impressive performance was a win his last time out against Marcus Davis.

Davis, who calls himself "The Irish Hand Grenade," has a background in amateur and professional boxing and is known to have lethal hands.

Yet, in this writer's opinion, he lacks solid defense and as a result gets hit far too much resulting in losses which are, to say the least, ugly to watch.

Hardy faced off with Davis at the UFC's 99th event held in Cologne, Germany, in June of this year. It was a brawl and a grudge match of sorts between the two which began with Davis, who has Celtic roots, bragging about the success he enjoyed against British sub-par opposition.

Whether this was all hype—prearranged to boost promotion for the fight—is unknown to this writer. But the smack-talking got serious when Hardy began openly insulting Davis and calling him among other things, a "wannabe Irishman," and jokingly saying that Davis' internet site resembled an explosion at a St. Patrick's day gift shop.

What was explosive, however, was the three-round-war waged between the two, which went to Hardy by a narrow split-decision margin, and justifiably so.

Also, noteworthy to mention that, since that time, there have been many rumors regarding a rematch, which would undoubtedly promise to be another great fight.

First thing's first, however; The Outlaw from Manchester, England, needs to sneak  "quickly" past—pardon the pun—a much improved, and more dynamic Swick, a fighter who I contend has all the tools to give the current 170-pound champion—and my countryman—Georges St-Pierre, all he can handle.

Hardy versus Swick will be the fight to watch in my opinion, a win for either man is of the utmost importance here, a title shot is up for grabs so everything in the both fighters careers is on the here, thus, a stand-up striking fan's dream match should ensue, and I'm more excited to see it than the headlining event.

The main course in this British-cage-fighting-pot-luck-supper, involves an over-the-hill Couture, struggling to hang on to his fading youth, against Brandon Vera, a younger, bigger, stronger, and much tougher competitor in comparison to Couture at this point.

Honestly, I love Couture's fights—his longevity in the sport of cage-fighting is stoic and admirable. However, my true feelings are that it's time for "The Natural" to hang em up for good.

The other match-up doesn't thrill me.  It involves Michael "The Count" Bisping, who will be attempting to get back on track against part-time Canadian cage fighting veteran Denis Kang, after being cold-cocked by Dan Henderson earlier this year.

All in all, this event with the added USA vs. Britain flavor should leave us bloodthirsty fans with our fight cravings quenched and satisfied, so good luck to all fighters, no matter which country they hail from.

UFC 105, Saturday, Nov. 14, at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England.

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