5 Reasons to Watch UFC 137

UFC 137 is coming up this Saturday. Let’s hope that it doesn’t go down as the card that could have been great.

The card had UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre taking on Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz as the main event. The co-main event featured the former Champion B.J. Penn facing perennial contender Carlos Condit.

Diaz pulled a “Diaz,” if you will, and no-showed a couple of press conferences. Therefore, Dana White decided to pull Diaz from the main event. In stepped Condit to face St. Pierre, and Diaz was moved to the co-main event to take on Penn. Long story short St. Pierre gets injured, Condit is left waiting, and all of a sudden, Diaz is back in the main event but now against Penn.

The rearranged card now looks like this: Diaz/Penn, Cheick Kongo/ Matt Mitrione, Cro Cop/Roy Nelson, Hatsu Hioki/George Roop, and Jeff Curran/Scott Jorgensen. Not the greatest card of all time, but trust me, there is an upside.

Enjoy the five reasons why UFC 137 is a must-watch.

5. A Legit Undercard

Three fights caught my eye when looking at the undercard.

Brandon Vera makes his post-cut comeback when he battles Elliot “The Fire” Marshall. Vera was once on the fast track to stardom but has only seen mediocre success. "The Truth" has been fed to the dogs as he has gone against former champs or contenders fight after fight. He is in must-win territory as he is riding a three-fight winless streak.

The only question is: which Vera will show up on Saturday?

Tyson Griffin also looks to return to contender status as he fights his second UFC featherweight fight against Bart Palaszewski on Spike TV. Griffin was forced to drop to 145 pounds after he lost his last three fights at lightweight.

Bart Palaszewski is making his featherweight debut, as well as his UFC debut. The man known as “Bartimus” owns 35 wins in his MMA career and a win over Anthony Pettis. But when he sees a big name standing across him, he doesn’t fare too well. He has loses to Clay Guida, JZ Cavalcante, and Jim Miller.

For some reason, Dennis Siver is fighting Donald Cerrone on Spike TV, and Jeff Curran versus Scott Jorgensen is on the main card (all about Spike TV ratings). Siver has won eight of his last nine fights, and a win over former WEC champion Donald Cerrone makes him one of the front runners for a shot at Frankie Edgar’s title.

Don’t count Cerrone out though.

The Cowboy has won five in a row and derailed Charles Oliveira’s hype train with a first round TKO back in August.The winner of this fight might be a top three contender after Melvin Guillard and Jim Miller blew their chances.

4. Is This Cro Cop’s Last Fight?

Mirko Cro Cop is clearly past his prime (by about five years), but he keeps telling us that he still has fight left in him. Well, he certainly hasn’t been great in his last three fights.

He tapped out Pat Barry somehow after Barry was extremely nice during the whole fight. That win alone made people believe Cro Cop was back.

Stop the teasing Cro Cop. He followed up with one of the worst main event fights in UFC history when Frank Mir finally kneed him in the face at UFC 119. He looked outmatched and old against Mir, and nothing was different when he faced Brendan Schaub in his most recent fight.

He battles Roy “Fear the Mullet” Nelson this Saturday.

Dana White couldn’t possibly give Cro Cop another chance if he loses this time—right?

White gave Cro Cop the perfect matchup because Nelson’s back is against the wall as well. The fat version of Billy Ray Cyrus knows that Cro Cop will want to stand with him, so a KO may be in the making.

One thing is definite, a UFC career will end.

3. A Heavyweight Contender May Be Born

Matt Mitrione has gone from most hated fighter in season ten of the Ultimate Fighter to a possibly legit contender in the heavyweight division within the last two years.

Looking at Mitrione’s record, you will find out that he really hasn’t been tested yet in his young MMA career, unless you count Kimbo (clearly a joke). Four of his five wins have come via (T)KO, and his only decision came against Joey Beltran, which was a thriller.

Meathead looks to get some payback for his friend Pat Barry this Saturday. Barry was knocked out in one of the craziest finishes in UFC history by Mitrione’s opponent, Cheik Kongo. Kongo is known as one of the dirtiest fighters in the heavyweight division as he loves to clinch and throw knees, which are sometimes a little low. The man is a veteran in the sport and a win over him may get Mitrione a major contender in his next fight.

Expect fists to fly and someone to hit the ground early in the fight.

2. We Find out If Diaz Deserves a Shot at Gold

Nick Diaz is the best trash talker in the game next to Chael Sonnen and knows how to hype up a fight without using a presser. This time around it actually lost him a title shot. Many were questioning whether or not Diaz deserved the title shot in the first place.

Diaz unquestionably deserved the shot because he was the undisputed champ in Strikeforce and dominated everyone that was put in front of him. Diaz hasn’t lost since November 2007, and that was disputable.

Diaz is a finisher, period. He finishes fights and marathons. The current champion, Georges St. Pierre, hasn't finished a fight since UFC 94 and probably couldn't finish a subway sandwich.

Diaz will face a tough test in B.J. Penn as he will be the first former UFC champion Diaz will face since Frank Shamrock. Penn likes to stand up and do battle as he isn’t a fan of wrestling. Diaz is almost exactly the same, except with slightly better BJJ. Expect these two men to stand a trade. Penn has never  submitted and has only been stopped due to strikes once.

This fight will come down to who has the best chin. Nobody can knock out Diaz or Penn. Get ready for a war.

1. The Nick Diaz Post-Fight Interview

The fight will be terrific, but nothing is better than a Nick Diaz interview.

Who can forget the epic post-fight brawl in Nashville between the entire Cesar Gracie camp and Mayhem Miller? That fight didn’t even include Diaz and it was fifty times more exciting than the Shields/Henderson title fight.

Nick Diaz, win or lose, is always exciting in the post-fight interview.

If he loses, he will most likely call B.J. Penn a lucky son-of-a-bitch and blame the judges. If he wins, he will almost immediately start calling out Georges St. Pierre and proclaiming that he never wanted to fight him in the first place. Either way, it will be glorious and entertaining.

Diaz is a fan’s dream and a boss’ nightmare when he gets on a microphone. I can almost guarantee that at least twenty curse words will be said, not including the trash talk during the fight.

It will be a great night of fights and expect a lot of knockouts. Nick Diaz is a good enough reason alone to fork out some dough to buy this card. DON’T BE SCARED, HOMIE!!