UFC 138 Fight Card: Which Undercard Bout Could Steal the Show?

A few days ago it would have been easy to guess which fight would steal the show at UFC 138.

A fight between Paul Taylor and Anthony Njokuani was planned and as Taylor had a penchant for stealing Fight of the Night and Njokuani a penchant for striking, it seemed like a foregone conclusion.

Then Taylor got into a car accident and got pulled from the card.

Now with the fight off the card, UFC 138 is riddled with newcomers and second-tier talent that has been bumped up a notch.

This makes it hard to guess who might be able to steal the show from Chris Leben and Mark Munoz, which isn't an easy task.

However, there is one other fight that might steal the main event's thunder.

The co-main event between Brad Pickett and Renan Barao.

Both are bantamweights, which helps the argument.  What smaller men lack in size they usually make up for in exciting matches. And more importantly, Pickett has won both Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night back when he was with the WEC.

Now he faces submission specialist Barao.  The Brazilian has submitted two of his three opponents back in the WEC and won a decision victory over Cole Escovedo at UFC 130.

However, Barao had also knocked out a few opponents himself before he made his way to the UFC.  He might not be as good on his feet as Pickett, but he has done enough to end a few fights.

When the two step in the cage together, it should mean that either standing or on the ground, both men should be looking for the finish.

For a man like Pickett, who has the nickname "One Punch," he will obviously try to keep the fight standing.  Barao will probably look to take the fight to the ground and submit his opponent.

However, this also might be one of the rare fights where both fighters feel comfortable on either level and just scrap.  Either way, the fight might just steal the spotlight from the main event.

As always, we'll find out on fight night.