UFC on FX 2: 5 Things We Will Not See

Tonight, the UFC is back for the final card of the first quarter. It seems strange that we will have to wait six weeks before the next major UFC event. Hopefully the live episodes of The Ultimate Fighter will satisfy our cravings in the meantime.

Coming to you live from Sydney, Australia, the UFC plans to deliver an exciting lineup of fights. There are several things that you can expect to see: a main event that delivers with lots of leg kicks and counter strikes, the return of former Ultimate Fighter winner Court McGee, the debut of UFC's new flyweight division and the ridiculously amazing mustache of Ian McCall.

On a side note, I am taking bets on whether or not McCall will tie a helpless dame to railroad tracks and laugh maniacally only moments before he makes his way to the cage.

However, there are several things that you can be sure that you will not see tonight.

Sudden Death

In hopes of making sure that the tournament moves along smoothly and in a timely manner, it was announced that in the event of a draw after three rounds, the flyweight tournament fights would go to a sudden death round in order to determine a winner.

This policy was also adopted in the first two rounds of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, where it was also not needed. Only one fight in the first two rounds of the GP went to decision, and Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum certainly didn’t come out to be a draw.

Although I expect to see at least two decisions on the main card tonight, I think that draws are rare enough that we won’t see any need for sudden death tonight.

Ironically, flyweight competitor Yasuhiro Urushitani has been in 29 professional fights. Six of those bouts have been scored a draw.

Less Than 3 Submission of the Night Nominees

Anytime that Cole Miller is on a card, you can expect to see an exciting fight that is likely to end in a submission.  With three Submission of the Night awards currently resting on his mantle, it’s likely that Cole has dusted off a place to fit No. 4.

Although his opponent Steven Siler has 11 submission wins of his own, it appears to be far more telling that he has lost via submission in five of his nine losses.

Fellow Ultimate Fighter alumni Kyle Noke also finds himself on the cards tonight. Noke has finished his opponent in all three of his UFC victories and has won via submission in eight of his 19 professional wins.

T.J. Waldburger returns to the UFC for the first time since September in a welterweight bout with Jake Hecht. Waldburger will be looking for his second Submission of the Night award and his 12th career tapout.

A Decision in the Te-Huna/Rosa Fight

Aussie fighter and four-time UFC veteran James Te-Huna is not a fan of going to the scorecards. As a matter of fact, in his 19-fight career, he has only gone the distance once.  In his last bout, Te- Huna made quick work of Ricardo Romero, knocking out the American only 47 seconds into the first round.

Looking at his opponent, Aaron Rosa, you’ll find that the two pugilists share a combined 15 T/KO victories due to their tendency to throw heavy leather.

This fight is my pick to win both Fight of the Night and KO of the Night if it can get into the second round.

Pink Slips

Aside from Kyle Noke and former bantamweight No. 1 contender Demetrious Johnson, not a single fighter on tonight’s card is coming off of a loss. Considering that both men are sizable favorites in their fights this evening, I don’t anticipate either fighter leaving without a W.

Barring a truly embarrassing performance from any fighter, it is unlikely that Joe Silva will have to make any awkward phone calls on Monday morning.

A Main Event with a Knockout

Despite each man having tremendous striking prowess, don’t go into tonight’s main event expecting to see a knockout. Martin Kampmann has seen the judge’s scorecards in his last four fights. Additionally, he hasn’t finished a fight with strikes since his welterweight debut in 2009.

Additionally, if Kampmann finds himself in trouble in this contest, expect him to find a way to use his impressive grappling to nullify the striking advantage that Alves will likely enjoy.

Likewise, Thiago Alves has gone to the scorecards in five of his last six fights and hasn’t stopped a fight with strikes since 2008. As a fighter with an un-evolved gameplan,  Thiago never threatens to take his opponents to the mat, so they are better able to focus on avoiding and countering his impressive striking.

I hope I’m wrong.