UFC 109's Rob Emerson: "My Mind Is Finally Catching Up With My Body"

In addition to a stacked fight card on the televised portion of the event, UFC 109 will also feature several explosive bouts on the preliminary card.

One such matchup will be a battle between two Ultimate Fighter veterans in Rob Emerson and Phillipe Nover.

Despite not winning the competition, both fighters showed promise on their respective TUF seasons and even garnered praise from UFC President Dana White. In fact, White was so impressed with Nover that he compared the Brooklyn, NY native to a younger version of UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

Emerson did not receive the same amount of hype as Nover, but regardless White acknowledged Emerson's toughness and willingness to stand and bang countless times on season five.

Unfortunately, they both have yet to live up to their hype inside the UFC's Octagon. 

Nover boasts an uninspiring 0-2 record with losses to Efrain Escudero and Kyle Bradley, whereas Emerson has gone 2-2-1 in the organization. This is a very significant fight for both competitors as it could be a classic example of a "loser leaves town fight" in which the loser will receive his walking papers from the UFC.

"The Saint" realizes his position and is confident in his ability to turn his career around starting with a victory over Nover at UFC 109 this weekend.

"My career up to now has been kind of lackluster; I've been performing at about 50-75 percent of my capabilities, and I think 2010 is going to be a huge year for me," Emerson told Affliction Vision.

Emerson is correct in the sense that his career has been rather dreary so far. Other than a brutal knockout victory over current WEC featherweight contender Manny Gamburyan at UFC 87, Emerson hasn't beaten anyone noteworthy.

The heavy-handed lightweight is coming off back-to-back losses to Kurt Pellegrino and Rafael dos Anjos. With his back against the wall and one loss away from being cut from the UFC's roster, Emerson has rejuvenated his focus and is mentally prepared to make an example out of Nover.

"I think it's a great fight for me at a great time. My mind is finally catching up with my body now, and I'm finally going to put performances on that I'm proud of," Emerson said.

Time will tell if "The Saint" can make a comeback in 2010 and prove his doubters wrong in the process. Stylistically, his best bet would be to avoid going to the ground with the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and turn it into a war on the feet.

Say what you want about Emerson's all around skills, but you cannot deny his power. Emerson packs a tremendous amount of heat in his strikes, which could be Nover's downfall come Super Bowl weekend.

This article was originally featured on fiveknuckles.com