UFC 120: Bisping vs. Akiyama Preview

UFC 120 takes place this Saturday in London, England. The event will be televised at 8:00pm ET on Spike TV. The main card planned for the broadcast is:

Michael Bisping vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama

Dan Hardy vs. Carlos Condit

John Hathaway vs. Mike Pyle

Cheick Kongo vs. Travis Browne

James Wilks vs. Claude Patrick
Let’s take a quick trip through the card and highlight what to look for while you watch:

- Claude Patrick is a choke artist in the best possible way. Patrick made his UFC debut at UFC 115 with a guillotine choke against Ricardo Funch. It was Patrick’s third guillotine choke win in a row and sixth in twelve career wins. He also has a north-south choke win and a pair of rear naked choke victories. When Patrick wins, he usually does it by cutting off the bloodflow to your brain. He will be taking on the well-rounded former Ultimate Fighter winner James WIlks on the opening bout of the card. Wilks will have the crowd behind him and has solid submission skills and can strike a little. If the fight stays on the feet it’s probably a good thing for James but it all comes down to his ability to protect his neck.

- Cheick Kongo looks to make it two in a row when he takes on Travis Browne. Kongo is coming off a TKO win over Paul Buentello in his comeback fight after being quickly defeated by Frank Mir. Cheick’s striking has never been something people question and he developed some decent wrestling and striking from the top. In Travis Browne he faces a 10-0 fighter with 8 career KO/TKO wins. Browne likes to stand up and bang but with Kongo that is probably not the best idea. Kongo is far more technical and much more diverse in his striking. If the fight goes to the ground the advantage will be strongly tilted in favor of whoever is on top.

- Rising welterweight star John Hathaway will be taking on Mike Pyle in a featured bout on the card. Hathaway has improved in every outing and is 4-0 in his UFC career. The rare British fighter who has good wrestling, Hathaway has no problem working from the top position where he is relentless in his ground and pound. Against Diego Sanchez, Hathaway showed much improved striking which seemed to use his length better than we’d seen before. Pyle is a veteran who trains with Xtreme Couture and has fought 28 career fights. Pyle is a submission artist who does not let go if he is able to grab a limb. Hathaway is likely to look to stand and avoid the one area where Pyle has any real chance of pulling off the win.

- Dan Hardy has not been back in the UFC Octagon since his March loss attempting to take the title of Georges St. Pierre. At UFC 120 he steps in against former WEC welterweight champion Carlos Condit. Condit is a finisher, only winning one of his thirty career fights by decision. Hardy will look to keep the fight standing where he is most comfortable and throw bombs. Hardy showed that he has a decent guard against St. Pierre but does not want to be under the aggressive Condit. On the ground Condit is not afraid to open up with strikes for move constantly for submissions.

- In the main event Yoshihiro Akiyama will look to rebound from his dramatic loss to Chris Leben against Ultimate Fighter winner Michael Bisping. The only men Bisping has lost to in his career have spent time as champions on the biggest stage (Wanderlei Silva, Rashad Evans, Dan Henderson). He is desperately underappreciated in his technique and is a handful for anyone. Akiyama is a flawed fighter in that he puts himself in very bad positions attempting to “make things happen.” Bisping is very hard to hold down and a load when he is on top, he’s also technical and safe on the feet (other than when he circles the wrong direction against Henderson) it sound be his fight to lose.