Written by Scott Swerbinsky

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The UFC and their newfound popularity go international today, as they take their show across the pond to Ireland for UFC 72.  The main event features two of the world's top middleweights, as Rich "Ace" Franklin goes toe to toe with Yushin Okami in the octagon.   The Spoon Man previews the event for us, which has a 3 PM start due to the fact it's in Ireland. To say that mixed martial arts and the Ultimate Fighting Championship is taking over the world of sports just might not be an understatement anymore.

For the last fews years, Las Vegas has been the main venue for the UFC shows. Japan was home to Pride Fighting. The sport is now taking their shows to other countries.

UFC 70 was held in England in April. UFC 75 is slated to be in London. This Saturday's event is going to be live from Northern Ireland.

The Odyssey Arena will be the host of UFC 72 and the Irish fans are going to be in for a treat.

The main event features two of the toughest Middleweights in the world today. Rich "Ace" Franklin is looking to get a rematch with current champion Anderson Silva with a win. Standing in his way is Yushin Okami.

Franklin is coming off a victory at UFC 68 where he destroyed Jason MacDonald. Prior to getting his hand raised in that match, Franklin was on the other side of a brutal beating. He was embarrassed by Silva at UFC 64 in what was one of the most dominating performances in UFC history.

Rich Franklin is one of the sport's most popular fighters and rightfully so. His all around game is top notch. He trains like nobody else in the business. He has one bad night and that might linger on until he can win a few fights in a row. I think he will get on a roll and get another shot at Silva but it isn't going to be easy.

Yushin Okami is one of the hottest fighters going right now. He has rattled off six straight wins, four of those coming in the UFC. His level of competition is the only questionable aspect of the winning streak. Most of those wins were against inexperienced guys who might have gotten too much credit.

I expect this fight to be a possible fight of the year canidate. Franklin loves to stand and bang and isn't as sound on the ground as Okami. If the fighters stay on their feet, I see Franklin getting the win by knockout. If Okami is able to get the fight to the ground and work his vicious ground and pound, Rich might not be getting another title shot anytime soon.

The undercard has a few matches that I am looking forward to also.

Forrest Griffin is a fan favorite as every single one of his fights are entertaining. He will step in with Hector Ramirez. Griffin is coming off of a loss at UFC 66 but I look for him to regain his winning ways by KO.

Ed Herman taking on Scott Smith is another fight I can't wait to see. These two guys give everything they have and love to go toe to toe. Somebody is going to get knocked silly and the crowd is going to enjoy this one.

Full fight card:

Rich Franklin vs. Yushin Okami
Forrest Griffin vs. Hector Ramirez
Jason MacDonald vs. Rory Singer
Tyson Griffin vs. Clay Guida
Marcus Davis vs. Jason Tan
Eddie Sanchez vs. Colin Robinson
Ed Herman vs. Scott Smith
Dustin Hazelett vs. Stevie Lynch

The UFC hasn't let us fans down with their fight cards in a long time. I don't expect anything different this time around either. From top to bottom, I look to see a bunch of hard hitting action as well as great groundwork.

As always, I'm looking forward to be entertained by some of the greatest athletes in the world. I wouldn't think of missing it.