UFC 133 Fight Card: What Constantinos Philippou Must Do to Beat Jorge Rivera

What do you know about Constantinos "Costa" Philippou, besides the fact he's a Cypriot who was defeated by Joe Henle in the elimination round of TUF 11 and has a loss against Nick Catone?

Exactly.

Now if you have seen Philippou fight before, you're probably much more well-acquainted with his striking game than I admittedly am.

What I have heard is that Philippou is a very good striker, and one that some say is a better striker than Rivera.

As can be expected, this likely means that on paper, he sucks on the ground, but Philippou may be more versed on the ground than we think.

Nonetheless, the fight will stay standing, as most would expect it.

That could mean that while Rivera definitely will have no takedowns for Philippou to defend, the 15-minute affair gives Philippou 15 minutes to expose the rather one-dimensional striking of Rivera.

If defeating Rivera means throwing him off a bit by pinning him against the cage, so be it. Pin a man against the cage, and within moments of doing so, he will be breathing heavily.

Wear Rivera out, get off the shots first, land as flush as possible with counter shots, and when Rivera is hurt, pull the trigger and do not stop emptying the clip until the ref steps in.

All of the above is Philippou's only hope of beating Rivera.

He can do it in one round, in a round-and-a-half, or he can do it with only 10 seconds left in the third round for all anyone cares.

If Philippou wants to shut Rivera down, it doesn't matter when he finishes him.

For Philippou, it's just a matter of getting the job done.