UFC 137 Fight Card: Nick Diaz, B.J. Penn And the 10 Biggest Attractions

UFC 137 will go ahead without welterweight king Georges St-Pierre and Carlos Condit.

Instead Nick Diaz and B.J. Penn will take centre stage as the main eventers of the evening.

In less than a fortnight’s time UFC 137 will be making its way to the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

And with it a host of supreme warriors will follow suit—seeking to showcase their skills whilst ensuring the end result culminates in them being victorious.

Even without St-Pierre and Condit headlining the main event, the show is still stacked to rafters with fights that could easily blow the roof off the Bay Center.

Here’s a sneak-peek at the match-ups that could emerge as the main attractions of the evening…

10.Eliot Marshall

Marshall (10-3) is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt fighting out of Grudge Training Center.

His lost to Vladimir Matyushenko at UFC Live: Vera vs. Jones more than a year ago, resulted in his subsequent release from the organization.

His return to the Octagon at UFC 128 failed to come to fruition. He suffered a TKO loss at the hands of Luiz Cané in the first round.

Marshall finds himself in the same precarious position as Brandon Vera does—only a win will suffice.

Anything else will be catastrophic for their UFC careers.

9.Brandon Vera

Vera features on the Preliminary card on Facebook—how the mighty have fallen.

The moniker “The Truth” at this present time is an absolute misnomer—Vera’s sobriquet could is easily be “The Lie” given his recent spate of disastrous fights.

First he lost to an aging Randy Couture, and regardless of “The Natural’s” legendary status, he should’ve and could’ve done better.

Next up was a vicious ground and pound, courtesy of newly crowned UFC Light heavyweight Champion Jon “Bones” Jones. The bout resulted in him requiring extensive surgery for his broken facial features.

Lastly he suffered a humiliating defeat to Thiago Silva at UFC 125.

During the fight, Silva rearranged Vera’s nose and what ensued can only be termed as a degrading b***h slapping fest.

The bout was later ruled as a no contest by the Nevada State Athletic Commission due to Silva having submitted a urine sample inconsistent with human urine after the fight.

Against Eliot Marshall, Vera has to produce the skills that most perceived he had before his fall from grace

Vera is in the last chance saloon—a win might be his only chance of salvaging his job in the UFC.

8.George Roop

George Roop is (1-1) since his return to the Octagon.

He was cut by the UFC brass after he amassed a (1-2) record in his first foray with the promotion almost three years ago.

His latest win over Josh Grispi gives Roop some leeway but not much.

A loss against Hatsu Hioki at UFC 137 could well see the Teams Tompkins fighter seeking employment elsewhere.

In Hioki, Roop is up against a highly ranked and efficacious MMA practitioner. He needs to bring his A-game to the Octagon to have any chance at an upset.

However, the likelihood of that transpiring seems slim.

7.Hatsu Hioki

On Oct. 29, the former Shooto lightweight champion makes his long awaited UFC debut against American George Roop.

The Japanese fighter has a solid Shooto base.

Coupled with his Brazilian jiu-jitsu expertise, could be a serious threat not only to Roop but the rest of the UFC’s featherweight division.

Hioki holds notable wins against Jeff Curan, Marlon Sandro, Rumina Sato and Mark Hominick (twice).

Hioki who recently put pen to paper and signed a multi-fight deal with the Zuffa based company will be eager to impress his new bosses.

And he has the tools at his disposal to make his debut a victorious one.

6.Roy Nelson

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 winner, like Cro Cop has lost two in a row, albeit by unanimous decision (versus Cro Cop's two KO losses).

“Big Country” knows that if he’s to get back in the heavyweight mix, he needs a victory at UFC 137 and an emphatic one at that.

Nelson has a solid chin. He proved that by weathering the storm of Junior dos Santos’ ferocious onslaught.

His only knockout loss to date was against the Belarusian Andrei “The Pit bull” Arlovski, but a Cro Cop head kick is a different matter altogether.

If he can’t take care of business against a fading warrior such as Cro Cop, then maybe his tenure in the UFC could be over. Dana White’s three strikes and you’re out policy might come into effect.

There’s a lot riding on this for both fighters.

5.Mirko Filipović

This fight could be the last hurrah for the storied career of the former Pride champion.

“Cro Cop” is on a two-fight losing streak and seems to have lost some of his mystique.

His successive losses to Frank Mir and Brendan Schaub both via KO may give an inkling to how far the head kicking specialist has fallen since his Pride days.

Cro Cop’s reign of terror in Pride was both clinically and vicious. Mark Coleman, Wanderlei Silva, Hidehiko Yoshida and Wanderlei Silva are just a few whom he left in his terrifying wake.

Cro Cop’s overall record in the UFC is 4-5.

At UFC 137, the Croatian assassin’s career will be determined by the outcome of his slugfest with roly poly Roy Nelson.

Win, and he might stay around for one last pay check. Lose, and it could be sayonara, good luck and thanks for the memories.

Right leg or left leg?

Hospital or cemetery?

You decide.

4.Matt Mitrione

Matt Mitrione has come on leaps and bounds since his crushing defeat of Marcus Jones at the Season 10 TUF finale.

He is now (5-0) in his mix martial arts career—defeating the likes of Kimbo Slice, Tim Hague, Joey Beltran and Christian Morecroft.

All but one of wins has come by way of either KO/TKO, which might suggest that “Meathead” has some reasonable punching power.

He will need to execute that punching power against Kongo to progress to the next phase of his UFC career.

3.Cheick Kongo

The French heavyweight produced one of the comebacks of the year.

He was almost put to sleep by Brock Lesnar’s sparring partner Pat Barry nearly four months ago, only for him to turn the tables and rocka-bye-baby the aforementioned.

Kongo has the athleticism and skills to trouble most heavyweights, but seems to lack that extra championship fighting ingredient.

If he wants to be taken as a serious contender and not just the gatekeeper to future prospects, he needs to raise his game.

He delivered against Barry, and if he wants to stay relevant in the heavyweight division, a win against the young Matt Mitrione is imperative.

2.B.J. Penn

The former two-division UFC champion is on a quest for a third shot at the UFC welterweight title—but first Penn will have to get past Nick Diaz.

With one win and a draw since his two defeats to current UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, winning will be utmost on his mind when the two go head to head.

Penn is an accomplished jiu-jitsu practitioner as well as having the both the grappling and striking ability to give Diaz or any other fighter for that matter a run for their money.

Penn definitely has the upper hand in the grappling department and might use it to his advantage.

Otherwise he could stand and bang and hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

Either way, Penn is certainly going to bring the pain come fight night.

1.Nick Diaz

The 209 son heads into UFC 137 having been bounced from the original headliner with Georges St-Pierre with Diaz’ no show at several press junkets organized by the Zuffa based company.

He was promptly demoted to co-main the event with “The Prodigy” as his alternate opponent.

That’s what you get when you mess with Uncle Dana. At least he wasn’t bounced from the UFC altogether.

For Diaz, this fight should be some sort of redemption for his petulant misdemeanors, and only a win will suffice if he wants another shot at welterweight glory.

This will also be the Stockton born brawlers first foray into Octagon since his last fight at UFC 65 almost five years ago.

The Cesar Gracie based combatant has got both striking and Jiu-jitsu skill sets in his arsenal.

He’ll utilize them to the best of his ability.

Right now Diaz is on an incredible 10-fight win streak.

I’m so hopelessly biased when it comes to the 209 son, nevertheless I expect him to continue that streak.

Gogoplata anyone?

Honorary Mention: Georges St-Pierre vs. Carlos Condit

The original headline event for UFC 137 between GSP and Carlos Condit was put on hold due a to knee injury sustained to St-Pierre whilst training for their bout.

It’s a cruel trick of fate for the UFC welterweight champion. I doubt Condit feels any better either.

He’ll have to wait in the wings whilst St-Pierre recuperates.

St-Pierre confessed to shedding tears after finding out he wouldn’t be able to defend his title at UFC 137.

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"I'm not going to lie, I cried yesterday," St-Pierre told SportsNets. "I had a ton of pressure falling off my shoulders, because for the last few days I was in the mindset that I was nervous for the fight. I was excited for the fight but I was also nervous to know if I was going to be able to fight."

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According to ESPN, the Georges “Rush” St-Pierre vs. Carlos “The Natural Born Killer” fight could now take place on Super Bowl weekend.

However, their bout slated for UFC 137 would’ve been an intriguing matchup if it had gone ahead, but that’s MMA for you.