Written by Scott Swerbinsky

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UFC  130 takes place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas this evening. Tonight was supposed to be the night Gray Maynard got another shot at the lightweight title against champion Frankie Edgar. Unfortunately, both fighters have been injured and the title fight was scrapped. That matchup will still happen, we just don’t know when yet.

 

What was the co-main event is now the main event, in what I feel isn’t a true main event fight.  The fight card is still pretty solid from top to bottom and will produce some great mixed martial arts action. The best part of the evening is the fact that all fights can be seen again with Facebook, SpikeTV, and then the Pay Per View all having fights. You can’t beat that.

 

The main event is now former light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson taking on Mark Hamill. Both fighters are very entertaining and have crowd pleasing styles and should provide a highly entertaining matchup. Rampage is still considered a title contender while Hamill is a few notches below that.

Matt Hamill can shoot up the rankings with a victory but I just don’t see that happening. Jackson is too powerful and much more experienced to let this fight get away from him. The only way Rampage might lose this fight is if he takes Hamill lightly and isn’t focused.

Both guys are very good wrestlers and aren’t known for their submission skills. I expect a standup battle and if that’s the case, that is a huge edge for Rampage. Look for a knockout or TKO finish for the former champion.

Two heavyweight contenders, Frank Mir and Roy “Big Country” Nelson will go toe to toe in what should be another action packed fight. Mir is looking to get another shot at the title and Nelson is looking to be next in line for that belt that Mir used to have.

Nelson is a guy, because of his physique,  that doesn’t get as much credit as he deserves. The guy has a nice round belly and doesn’t have the typical appearance of an elite athlete, yet he wins and wins a lot. Nelson is a very likeable guy and is good for the sport. His skill set is top notch also which makes him even more fun to watch.

I’m a Frank Mir fan. I see this as his last real shot to stay in the title picture. I expect him to come fully prepared and leave it all in the octagon. I do however, think Roy Nelson will win tonight and be pretty close to getting a title shot.

My pick for fight of the night is the little guys, the former WEC fighters. Miguel Torres and Demtrious Johnson will be featured on the SpikeTV portion of the card. You don’t want to miss this one.

This will be a fast paced, non-stop action fight between two awesome 135 pound mixed martial artists. I know there are still a lot of fans that aren’t up to speed on the fighters who were under the WEC banner. That should change as the lighter fighters are the best to watch. Skill, speed, technique, and never ending gas tanks leads to great television and exciting action. That’s what you will see in the Torres versus Johnson bout.

Miguel Torres is a former champion. Johnson is a fighter who is waiting for the UFC to create a 125 pound division so he can move down in weight and dominate there. I like both guys a lot and can’t wait for this one.

Full fight card:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)

Matt Hamill vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson

Travis Browne vs. Stefan Struve

Jorge Santiago vs. Brian Stann

Thiago Alves vs. Rick Story

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV)

Demetrious Johnson vs. Miguel Torres

Tim Boetsch vs. Kendall Grove

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)

Rafaello Oliveira vs. Gleison Tibau

Chris Cariaso vs. Michael McDonald

Renan Barao vs. Cole Escovedo

That is a lot of very good fights. While I am disappointed that the Maynard vs Edgar title fight isn’t going down, I am still pretty pumped for this card. It might lack true star power but that normally leads to an incredible night of mma. Tune in, I don’t think you’ll be let down.