UFC 97 Preview Pt. 2: The Main Card

The UFC 97 card, like many of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s offerings, is pretty solid from top to bottom.  That includes the first three main card bouts, which I’ll break down now.  Still to come, we’ll also discuss the two main event bouts, but for now, let’s focus on Stann-Soszynski, Cantwell-Cane, and Kongo-Hardonk!

Brian Stann vs. Krzysztof Soszynski

 Soszynski spent much of the last season of The Ultimate Fighter being seen as the favorite to win the whole show.  Even with 8 losses in his (at the time) 24 career fights, Soszynski had experience against big names such as Ben Rothwell, Mike Whitehead and Mike Kyle.  He had also fought in the IFL and Strikeforce, so he had big show experience.  However, he wasn’t able to fulfill his promise, and now is seen by many as a middle-of-the-pack fighter in a light heavyweight division packed with big names.

 Meanwhile, Brian Stann was on a roll as the WEC Light Heavyweight Champion, with a 6-0 record before losing to Steve Cantwell (who also appears on the main card) in his final WEC appearance.  Stann has shown that he is a capable brawler, but what else does he bring to the table, and is it enough to deal with the all-around skills of Soszynski?

 Soszynski may not be a world beater, but he should be able to control Stann and do very well if the fight hits the ground.  The one issue here is that Soszynski leaves opportunities to his opponents in the standup game by doing silly things such as experimenting with a style where he purposefully leaves his hands down and apart from one another when striking.  These kinds of gambles can cost him big against a slugger like Stann.  However, I do think Soszynski will eventually show that his jiu-jitsu is superior and submit Stann.

 Side note that has no bearing on the fight: It’s interesting that Word underlines “Soszynski” as an unknown word/spelling error, but not the vowel-impaired first name, “Krzysztof”.)

 Luis Cane vs. Steve Cantwell

 Speaking of Cantwell, he figures to have his hands full with the explosive and aggressive Luis Cane.  There is a steady buzz building around Cane, who may as well be undefeated, as his only career loss came when he was disqualified for an illegal knee to James Irvin’s dome at UFC 79.  However, Cantwell will fare surprisingly well in the standup, at least for awhile.

 Cantwell may not be as aggressive as Cane, but he has shown that he can fare well against a variety of different types of strikers.  He is a game opponent for any fighter, and that along with Cane’s aggressiveness make this a sleeper for fight of the night honors.

 Still, Cane is a complete animal who has finished every one of his fights in brutal fashion, including against solid fighters like Jason Lambert and the cardio-impaired Rameau Theirry Sokoudjou.  I think that Cane will be able to surpress Cantwell’s offense with his aggressive style, and eventually overpower and overwhelm the former WEC standout to a TKO victory.

 Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk

 This fight was possibly the matchup that excited me the most when I heard about it.  This showdown will pit the two best remaining kickboxers in the UFC’s heavyweight division against one another, and the result could be an explosive matchup.  Hardonk has finished his last three fights by way of his powerful fists.  Meanwhile, Kongo comes off a couple of wins, and his only two losses in his last ten fights have come by split decisions, usually when he is unable to avoid being taken down.

 Kongo won’t have to worry about takedowns too much against Hardonk, as even Kongo’s limited (but steadily improving) ground skills and wrestling will be far better than Hardonk’s.  Whether Kongo will choose to use those advantages is anyone’s guess.  Indeed, Kongo may just decide to stand and slug it out with Hardonk, and if he does do so it will be solely by that…his own decision.  Hardonk, meanwhile, will likely look to work Kongo’s legs and stay away from any powerful punches in the meanwhile.  If he can land enough good leg kicks before Kongo decides to take the fight to the ground, it could be a tough night for Kongo.  Still, the standup portion of this fight is a pick-em, and I’m going to go with a decision win for Kongo, based on the fact that I expect him to steal a round or two with a takedown and some ground and pound.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kongo pound out a victory on the ground, either.

 Be sure to check back a little later as we head into UFC 97 with analysis of the two main event bouts!

 by Jon Hartley for Fightmania.com

Tags: Strikeforce, UFC, WEC