UFC 135, DREAM 17 and Bellator: Rating the Weekend Fights for Their Fun Factor

This weekend is stuffed to the gill with decent fights. So many, in fact, that it's going to be difficult to rank all of them.

So, in the spirit of picking the best fights, Strikeforce challengers has been eliminated.

Strikeforce challengers has never had the most competitive matchups, and there are plenty of other interesting options.

With that said, let's get to the breakdown:

One star = Only use this as an aide to cure insomnia. Or a method of torture.

Two stars = Drink enough alcohol and this fight might entertain you.

Three stars = Decent fight. Just like most matinee movies, you won't remember it three hours after it happened, but you'll enjoy yourself while you're watching it.

Four stars = A good fight. Something that will keep you on your toes every once in a while, and you'll have a smile on your face the next morning as you remember it.

Five stars = Are you glad you saw this fight? It had a little bit of everything, and it will get you through Monday at work when you wonder why you need your paycheck. It might even be something you brag about watching.

Six stars = They don't get much better than this. Your voice is a little hoarse from all the yelling, but it was worth it. It'll be hard getting to sleep, and by tomorrow you will have read every scrap of post-fight news you can find on the web.

Seven stars = They don't get any better than this! Ever! Forget sleep, as you won't be getting much—if you get any at all. You will be refreshing news pages for new articles and breaking information and, by Friday, your voice still won't sound normal.

Now that that is done, let's get started!

Bellator: Ed West vs. Luis Nogueira

This fight has several old-as-time classics wrapped into one match.

The veteran, West, versus the young gun, Nogueira—the grappler versus the striker, the company man versus the newcomer.

All of these are interesting elements, though none as much as the second one. Nogueira isn't as experienced on the top level as West is. With that said, West usually hasn't won on the top level. This is where the fight definitely gets interesting: Is the prospect something real or imagined?

On Saturday we get to find out.  

As for the fight itself, West seems to not be able to finish over half of his opponents, but, at the same time, he doesn't seem stagnant.

Overall: Two stars

This fight can be seen Saturday night on MTV2.

Bellator: Chase Beebe vs. Marcos Galvao

It seems almost unfair that Galvao is in this fight. Many thought he won his fight with Warren, and the only people who didn't notice this were the judges. Still, these things happen in MMA.

In Chase Beebe, he fights somebody who has been at the lowest level of MMA, having lost five fights in a row and now having won five fights in a row.

His losses have been to decent fighters in the bantamweight and featherweight division. However, his wins haven't. This tells us a lot about where Beebe stacks up.

Galvao, on the other hand, also has a bit of a problem losing fights when he steps up in competition.

It all comes down to how they've won fights. For Galvao, he usually sees the final bell, whereas Beebe seems to love choking people out.

It'll be an interesting affair if Beebe can choke out Galvao—who has never lost by submission—as well as being a decent contest, but will not be anything to write home about.

Overall: Three stars

This fight can be seen Saturday on MTV2.

Bellator: Wilson Reis vs. Eduardo Dantas

Whenever two Brazilians get together, most people expect ground work and submissions. Although this may be a little biased, in this case it's true.  

Both fighters seem to love quick-moving scrambles on the floor, and they both seem to not like being passive while on the ground and quickly move for submissions.

Some fans don't like ground wars, but that is just a part of the game—one that most fans find enjoyable.  

Watch out for this match to be one of those ground wars.

Overall: Five stars

This fight can be seen Saturday on MTV2.

Bellator: Joe Warren vs. Alexis Vila

Sometimes Warren is involved in exciting fights, while other times he seems to be in a snoozer. It's hard to tell what he's going to do.

For that matter, his opponent is the same way.

Vila is an Olympic wrestler from Cuba who won bronze in the 1996 Atlanta games, but he seems to like scrambling his opponents' brains by knocking them out. Still, he does get wrapped up in slow grappling as well.

This fight is a risky one. Watch it and you might see the fight of the night. On the other hand, you might pass out and not wake up until the middle of next week.

Overall: ?—but for the sake of being professional, four stars.

This fight can be seen Saturday on MTV2.

DREAM 17: Rodolfo Marques vs. Yusup Saadulaev

It's tough to say what will happen when these two get in the ring.

Marques is 13-1, and Saadulaev is 8-0-1—with neither man's competition being that stiff.

Marques wins by decision.

Saadulaev has had a few submissions.

With prospects, it's hard to tell how well they will fight, since neither is seasoned and usually the match is their first step up. They also have a tendency to be erratic because they are so nervous. On the other hand, this might mean that they are willing to try riskier stuff than they normally would.

We'll find out Saturday.

Overall: Three stars

This fight can be seen Saturday on HDNet.

DREAM 17: Masakazu Imanari vs. Abel Cullum

Imanari is known as master of the leg locks, and one look at his record shows why: He loves to sink the heel hook. He is decent at getting armbar, too.  

The truth is that Imanari is dangerous on the ground. It's easy to see that he will try to get this fight onto the ground as quickly as possible.

So will Cullum, who is no slouch when in comes to submissions. Cullum seems to have a bad record, but he really suffers from a lack of smaller fighters in the U.S., resulting in him having to fight in higher weight classes.

In fact, I believe that this fight will have some decent grappling, although I think it will be a bit more stalled then fans would like.

Overall: Three stars

This fight can be seen Saturday on HDNet.

DREAM 17: Bibiano Fernandes vs. Takafumi Otskuka

It's almost never good to see a rematch where a man beat another by unanimous decision, unless the decision was dubious or the fighter who lost has been on a winning streak.

Otsuka hasn't done either. He is one fight removed from a loss and seems to be a middling fighter with a 12-8-1 record.

Fights like these are made in boxing, not in MMA. This matchup gets a bad rating just for that fact alone.

Overall: One star

This fight can be seen Saturday on HDNet.

DREAM 17: Hideo Tokoro vs. Antonio Banuelos

Antonio Banuelos is like any other fighter cut by the UFC: decent enough to beat most other fighters, but not good enough to be with the very best.  He usually goes the distance, having enough boxing and ground ability to stay game with anyone.

Tokoro, on the other hand, is a submission fighter who has fought some decent competition. He even has a draw with Royce Gracie. Tokoro may be getting older, but he still seems to be a great fighter who can pull off a win.  

The fight should be decent, but Banuelos' hesitancy to mix it up and ability to survive (but not win) might get in the way.

Overall: Three stars

This fight can be seen Saturday on HDNet.

DREAM 17: Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Gerald Harris

Gerald Harris is finally trying to get a few wins together after being cut by the UFC. He is an interesting fighter in the fact that he seems to end his fights in an exciting manner, even if the fight itself wasn't very good, ultimately being cut because of how much he underperformed.  

The rankings for the fights are made on how explosive the fight is—not the ending of the fight, but the whole fight.

Nakamura is someone who has also had a run in the UFC, although it was at 205. The drop to middleweight might do him good when it comes to stepping up in competition, and this Saturday we'll find out. The best guess is that it won't, though.

Except for an exciting ending, expect a boring match.

Overall: Two stars

This fight can be seen Saturday on HDNet.

DREAM 17: Satoru Kitaoka vs. Willamy Freire

Willamy Freire was cut from the UFC after just one fight. He lost to Waylon Lowe and was immediately removed from the roster. That can usually mean two things:

1. It wasn't an exciting fight.

2. It wasn't a close fight.

Against someone like Waylon Lowe, that is a bad sign. Against Kitaoka, it is a terrible omen.

The man has wins over Paul Daley and Takanori Gomi, but he submitted both of them.

Freire might be able to succeed in not being stopped, but he is definitely way out of his league. It should be apparent in his fight on Saturday.

Overall: Two stars

This fight can be seen Saturday on HDNet.

DREAM 17: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Yan Cabral

I refuse to break down this fight, since Sakuraba should not even be fighting, period.

He is a great fighter who has been in too many incredible fights to be constantly used for his name value like this.

This fight is ultimately a disgrace to the sport.

Overall: Zero stars

This fight can be seen Saturday on HDNet.

DREAM 17: Takeshi Inoue vs. Caol Uno

Caol Uno is a pretty good fighter, one who almost became the UFC lightweight champion, but drew with BJ Penn and lost to Jens Pulver.

However, the Uno that fought in those fights is not the Uno that is going to step into the ring this Saturday; too many fights and too many great opponents have deteriorated the talented lightweight's abilities.

Takeshi is known for his lion mane of hair and sometimes suplexing people. He is also a very quick fighter whose feints are even speedy. A few years ago this fight would have been a lock for one of the fights of the night, but today—and with Uno's decline—it's downgraded to a decent one.

Overall: Three stars

This fight can be seen Saturday on HDNet.

DREAM 17: Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Joachim Hansen

This very well might be fight of the night.  

Hansen is known for his exciting fights, while Kawajiri is certainly no slouch himself. Both men no how to stand and trade, but they also have talent on the ground.

Yes they have losses, but only to top competition. Other than that, they usually end as the victor with their hand being raised in the air.

Both of them have been in the ring against each other, but it ended in a DQ when Hansen nailed Kawajiri with a groin shot.

That shouldn't happen this time. Instead, expect some fireworks and something special from this one.

Overall: Six stars

This fight can be seen Saturday on HDNet.

DREAM 17: Shinya Aoki vs. Rob McCullough

At this point, most MMA fans know what they get when they see Shinya Aoki, and that is a ground fighter who is going to try and submit his opponents. Sometimes that makes for a decent fight, sometimes it doesn't, but it always means technical MMA.  

Rob McCullough is a knockout artist who was a force in the WEC back in its early days, although he might not be as effective now. The truth is that McCullough hasn't knocked out anybody of importance for a while, and is probably outmatched here.

Still, it's the main event, and I think it will be a decent fight that shows off a more technical level of MMA.

Overall: Four stars

This fight can be seen Saturday on HDNet.

UFC 135: Ben Rothwell vs. Mark Hunt

The entire UFC 135 card could be covered, considering they are fights with decent matchups, but these are the ones people will be paying for—making them the most important.

Starting off the list is the Rothwell-Hunt fight. Hunt is known for being a kickboxer who, at one point, dominated several great fighters in MMA. Then he went on a losing streak where he was submitted or knocked out, only to rebound with a win over Chris Tuchscherer.

Rothwell was not nearly as exciting in his UFC debut, but he has actually finished 28 of his 38 victims. Hunt has enough openings and should be able to be number 29. It will be a pretty good match, but ultimately overshadowed by the rest of the card.

Overall: Three stars

This fight can be seen Saturday on PPV.

UFC 135: Nate Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi

Nate Diaz just doesn't seem to be in bad fights—probably because he is good with his boxing and superb on the ground.  No matter where his opponent wants to go, Diaz is game to try them.

In Takanori Gomi, Diaz gets a guy who will love to stand, trade and has some serious power in his fists. Diaz might not oblige him, since that wouldn't be a smart game plan, but this is a Diaz brother we're talking about.

On the other hand, Diaz has been successful in his UFC career, and he might take it to the ground and dominate. That would be fun as well, although in a different way.

Whether it's a submission, or knockout win, or a slugfest, this one should entertain.

Overall: Five stars

This fight can be seen Saturday on PPV.

UFC 135: Travis Browne vs. Rob Broughton

Browne is quickly making a name for himself in the UFC.  In his debut, he fought to a draw with Cheick Kongo in a fight most thought he had won. Then he knocked Stefan Struve out with a superman punch.

Broughton has only fought once in the UFC, taking out fellow-newcomer Vinicius Queiroz.  

It's hard to say what will happen when these two men get in the cage, but it's two heavyweights who love to slug, and that's hard to argue against watching.

Overall: Four stars

This fight can be seen Saturday on PPV.

UFC 135: Josh Koscheck vs. Matt Hughes

Matt Hughes is starting to slow down, but for one of the most dominant fighters to ever enter the octagon, that doesn't mean much. Very rarely has Matt Hughes' opponents seen the final bell when he beats them.

As for losses? Well, it seems that Hughes has never seen the final bell when it comes to a loss.

He is rarely in a boring fight, and the best chance for one of those is if he can passively use his wrestling on an opponent who doesn't know better.

Koscheck isn't that kind of opponent. Although Koscheck started out as a pure wrestler when he first came into MMA, he is now an accomplished fighter. Unlike Hughes, Koscheck has seen the final bell in defeat and victory more often—which doesn't make him any less entertaining.

This is probably going to be one of the best fights of the night.

Overall: Six stars

This can be seen Saturday on PPV.

UFC 135: Jon Jones vs. Quinton Jackson

When fighters are exciting and dominant, they tend to get into main events and be on pay-per-views. This is the case for this match.

Jon Jones vs. Quinton Jackson should be the most exciting fight of the night. Between the athleticism, martial arts ability and skill that comes from routinely facing the top competition, it should blow away everyone who watches. 

Most likely, this will be a striking war, but even if it gets to the ground, it shouldn't be slow or boring.

We've all seen a Jackson slam and they aren't pretty.  

As for Jones? Vera's shattered on the first Versus card is enough to show how dangerous he is off his feet.

A main event worthy of being on PPV.

Overall: Seven stars

This fight can be seen Saturday on PPV.

Your Thoughts?

What do you think will be the most exciting event?

Which fight do you think will be the most exciting?

Let me know.

And as always, thanks for reading.