Something To Prove: Looking Ahead To UFC 118

On August 28th, Boston Massachusetts is set to host UFC 118 in what is one of the organizations most significant events in a long while. The event has significance for the UFC, but also for MMA as a whole. When the sport was in its early stages it featured competitors from all different types of martial arts.

The fighters would square off to see which type of martial arts would reign supreme. Over time, fighters realized that rather than being particularly dominant in particular martial art, it was better to be versed in several martial arts in order to have a more complete game and an answer for fighters of all different styles.

From there the sport gradually evolved into what we have today. Fighters now train in all areas with experts in each of those areas in order to ensure they have a well rounded game. Several years ago, Royce Gracie stepped into the Octagon to prove that his style of fighting could triumph over all others (and he was defeated, handily) and now a man who has never even competed in a MMA is blowing the same ignorant horn.

James Toney, an elite boxer and a champion in multiple weight classes, will step into the Octagon for his first MMA bout and square off against Randy Couture, an elite fighter in his own right. Toney had no grappling experience prior to agreeing to this bout, yet he seems remarkably confident that he will be able to stop Couture's takedowns.

However, Randy Couture (along with every other rational person) thinks he's going to be able to take Toney down with ease and pound him out. At this stage in his career Couture should consider this bout a gift. Randy's managed to remain relevant in the sport, but he's looked slower than he used to be in his past few fights. He's unlikely to get another fight he's this likely to win again in his career.

In less than two weeks Couture looks to prove how much MMA has grown since its origin and that a legitimate MMA fighter will beat a fighter who only knows one martial art every time.

In other action, Frankie 'The Answer' Edgar looks to prove that his victory over BJ 'The Prodigy' Penn wasn't a fluke. 'The Answer' already proved to fans that he could hang in there with the former champ months ago when he defeated BJ by decision. The victory, however, was somewhat controversial with many fans feeling Penn could have received the decision.

In my opinion, the fight was basically a draw. Neither fighter was ever in any serious trouble, not did they manage to hurt each other or score any knock downs. The fight was five rounds of neutral boxing with Edgar briefly taking Penn down twice. Frankie stayed busier and moved around more and that's probably what won him the fight.

I think in this fight Penn may look to take Edgar to the ground, an area in which Penn should have a significant advantage. It was reported that BJ went into the first bout with rub injuries and that may have been what made him hesitate to go for the takedown in the first fight. Without a doubt 'The Prodigy' will be looking for a decisive victory to reestablish himself as the elite fighter at 155lbs. Edgar also will be wanting a decisive win in order to prove he is the true champion and remove the doubt in people's minds that came with the first fight.

The winner of the fight will be facing the winner of another fight on the card, Kenny 'Kenflo' Florian vs Gray 'The Bully' Maynard. Maynard is undefeated in his MMA career and even holds a victory over current champ Frankie Edgar, but he faces perhaps his sternest test yet in Florian.

If Edgar successfully defends his title then I'd like to see Florian win because I think a match up between him and Edgar would be crazy entertaining. If BJ regains the title, I'd like to see Maynard win this fight because BJ has a history of having trouble with large wrestlers and so Gray would be an interesting test for him.

Demian Maia returns to the Octagon after his public embarrassment at the hands of Anderson Silva to take on Mario Miranda. Maia needs to show us something new in this fight because in this sport he's not going to able to survive on his tremendous jujitsu alone. Also, Nate Diaz looks to move his way up the welterweight ladder by defeating gatekeeper Marcus Davis. Fans who know these fighters are expecting fireworks.

My Picks:

BJ Penn
Randy Couture
Kenny Florian
Mario Miranda (this one involves a lot of guess work; I haven't heard much about this guy)
Nate Diaz