UFC Live 5 Preview
UFC will go to Milwaukee for UFC Live 5 on Sunday August 14th for the end of their Sunday night events, at least while the NFL is back. The live events may not have the biggest names or any title fights in them, aside from UFC Live 6, but these events do have some of the more intriguing fights in the UFC. Many of the UFC Live Events are proving grounds for newer fighters to prove they belong in the UFC. It’s also an avenue for some veteran fighters to make their way up the ladder and possibly become the #1 contender in their division. UFC Live 5 will have a bunch of these stories attached to it and it all comes down to the main event between Dan Hardy and Chris Lytle. Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy was one of the top welterweight fighters in the UFC and for this he received a title shot against Georges St. Pierre. Hardy was dominated by the champion but did gain a lot of respect for the performance he put on. St. Pierre received a bit of a bad reputation for not finishing fights after the Hardy fight but it was because of Hardy that it did not finish. With Hardy almost being forced to tapout with his arm twisted in many different ways he refused to tap. Hardy did not tap and built on his reputation of a tough finish. Although he lost Hardy still remained at the top of the division but that didn’t last long as he was KO’ed by Carlos Condit and then lost by decision to Anthony Johnson. Hardy now could be fighting for his life in the UFC as if he loses his fight against Lytle he may be cut or at least on notice by Dana White. Lytle on the other hand has a little bit more leeway as he has only lost one fight out of his last five. Lytle will be looking to get back on track as the welterweight division continues to look for someone that can beat GSP. Lytle is also looking to stay out of the conversation of cuts as he may not be there yet but could be soon if he gets into a slump. Both fighters love to stand up and bang but Lytle has the added advantage of a great wrestling game that has earned him 5 submission victories. As many have seen multiple times it won’t be easy to make Hardy quit through submission. I would expect this fight to stay standing but only for as long as Lytle believes he can win going toe-to-toe with Hardy. If Lytle feels like he is beginning to get tagged too much he will attempt the takedown and punish Hardy in the grappling game. It is a close fight and I suggest you watch close as both men will be fighting hard and looking to finish the fight. I think the set of skills that Lytle posses, makes him more likely to pull out the win. If he takes Hardy down he will have the chance to finish the fight but I have a feeling that the fight will go to the ground but not finish there as Lytle will earn the KO in Round 3.
In the rest of the card two lightweight contenders will fight for the right to compete against the winner of Maynard vs. Edgar. Jim Miller has been awaiting his opportunity to fight for the lightweight title but as Frankie Edgar and Grey Maynard continue to have their fight delayed the logjam has begun. Miller has won his last 7 fights and if he wins his 8th he will be given his shot at the lightweight title. Ben Henderson has not had the same road as Miller after he lost his WEC belt he became just another lightweight. That was until he started in UFC impressing at UFC 129 in Toronto beating Mark Bocek. If Miller wins he will likely get into another jam at the very top with WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis. Miller will either have to wait for a fight between Pettis and the winner of the Maynard vs. Edgar fight or Miller will be set up for a #1 contender bout against Pettis. Either way Henderson could end this speculation if he wins forcing himself into the conversation for the # 1 contender. One other fight to look out for will be Charles Oliveira’s return to the octagon after a controversial finish to his last fight against Nik Lentz. The young up and comer will take on Donald Cerrone in a very big test of just how good Oliveira is.
Fight Card
Main Event:
Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy vs. Chris “Lights Out” Lytle
Main Card:
Jim Miller vs. Ben “Smooth” Henderson
Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira vs. Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone
Amir Sadollah vs. Duane “Bang” Ludwig
CB “The Doberman” Dollaway vs. Jared “The Messenger” Hamman
Undercard:
Joseph Benavidez vs. Eddie Wineland
Ed “Short Fuse” Herman vs. Kyle Noke
Karlos Vemola vs. Ronny Markes
Alex “Bruce Leroy” Caceres vs. Jimy “The Kid” Hettes
Cole “Magrinho” Miller vs. TJ “The Spider” O’Brien
Jacob “Christmas” Volkmann vs. Danny “Last Call” Castillo
Edwin “El Feroz” Figueroa vs. Jason Reinhardt
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