UFC 138: Why Anthony Perosh vs. Cyrille Diabate Will Be the Fight of the Night

This weekend's UFC 138 may be short on name power, but it certainly has what matters most—firepower. When Anthony Perosh and Cyrille Diabate open the night's main card, there may not be too much on the line, but the fight has "Fight of the Night" written all over it.

All too often, a card stacked with some of MMA's biggest names fails to deliver the exciting night of fights that we expect. As the stakes rise, fighters become more likely to take the safe road—not a very entertaining one.

UFC 138 should deliver a truly exciting night of fights. While there aren't many well-known fighters on the card, they just may become well-known after November 5th.

This fight could offer a little bit of everything—stand up, the clinch and ground work—and could really end in any fashion. Sounds like a recipe for Fight of the Night to me.

Here's why.

Size

Everyone loves a heavyweight clash. Unfortunately there isn't one on this main card—but the fight between Diabate and Perosh is close.

Diabate stands a lanky 6'6" and uses his length very well with his Jon Jonesesque 81.5-inch reach.

Perosh is no joke, either, when it comes to size, the 6'3" Australian has fought the likes of Christian Wellisch, Jeff Monson and Mirko Cro Cop at heavyweight.

In terms of actual physical size, this will be the biggest fight of the night.

Stand-Up

Simply put, these two love to slug it out.

Diabate is one of the foremost striking coaches in MMA and is well versed in both Muay Thai and kickboxing. Diabate has proven do be a dynamic striker, even in his kickboxing career, boasting a 32-8 record.

Perosh may not have the stand-up credentials of Diabate, but he is a capable slugger in his own right. While his strength is obviously his grappling, Perosh is the type that will swing for the fences against just about anyone.

Whether through heavy kickboxing exchanges or through the Muay Thai clinch, these two figure to be headhunting throughout the bout, and that is always good for the fans. Plus, there will be a nice bonus paycheck from Mr. White at the end of the night.

Submissions

Should this fight hit the mat, "lay 'n pray" will be the last thing on either of these guys' minds. Both are well-versed in submissions and fully capable of ending the fight at anytime on the ground.

Nothing beats a fight with action everywhere. When Perosh and Diabate square off, there will be action galore.

Perosh is a submission wizard; eight of his 11 wins have come via submission. He loves the rear-naked choke and will look to take Diabete's back if given the slightest opportunity to do so.

Diabate, on the other hand, isn't too bad with submissions himself; he has multiple submission victories by way of rear-naked choke, arm triangle choke and armbar. Diabate could make a huge statement about his jiu-jitsu with a submission victory at UFC 138—Perosh has never been submitted.

Experience

These two have been around the UFC long enough that they know how to keep their jobs: Put on exciting fights.

Perosh is just 1-3 in his four UFC contests but has held onto his job because of his ability to put on entertaining fights. A loss here would put his job in jeopardy, especially if he is dominated by Diabate. A man fighting for his job is always an intriguing storyline that gets the action going.

Diabate is a journeyman who has only lost twice since 2006. The most recent was a loss to up-and-comer Alexander Gustafsson, who appears to have a very bright future—the other came to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

With Perosh perhaps fighting off a pink slip and Diabate trying to find a more permanent home in the UFC, expect these two to take advantage of being on the Spike TV card by putting on a show.

Exciting Finish

If the fight fails to get Fight of the Night honors, it's easy to envision a Knockout or Submission of the Night. Neither of these guys likes to go the distance and it shows in their records.

Perosh has only gone to decision twice in his career, losing both. Think he likes going to decision?

Diabate has gone to decision seven times in his career, but it wasn't for a lack of trying to finish the fight. His style is intense and he is set on trying to knock his opponents senseless with his kickboxing.

Either way, these two are evenly-matched fighters with similar frames who both need wins to solidify their statuses with the organization.

It's going to be one of the highlights of the night.