UFC 129

Toronto will be the place to be this Saturday night as UFC 129 invades Canada. The card should be a good one. A mix of past champions, current champions, and great youth fill the card.

The highlight for the Canadian fans will no doubt be Georges St-Pierre. His MMA record is 21-2-0, 14-2 in his last 16, and 8-0 in his last 8. He will put his Welterweight Title on the line once again as he faces off against Jake shields (26-4-1). Shields is one of, if not the best, at controlling the action from the top position once on the ground. The problem is getting GSP to the ground, and putting him on his back. If Shields can accomplish that, he should be able to control GSP for the duration of the fight. If he can't, look for GSP to do what he always does....use his amazing ability to strike, take you down, and control.

In a fight of "big names," Lyoto "the Dragon" Machida (16-2-0) meets up with  "the Natural" Randy Couture (19-10-0). After his dismantling of Rashad Evens, many people thought Machida was untouchable. Then he met Rua. In their first fight, Machida won a very controversial unanimous decision. Rua took matters in to his own hands in the rematch knocking out Machida in the first. Machida again looked human against Rampage as he lost a split decision. His opponent will be 48 years old in June. Couture just never seems to get old, although he said he will retire after this fight. His last couple of fight were not against "top" competition (an old Coleman, & boxer turned MMA James Toney), but he dominated both fight and won easily. If Couture can get to Machida, he should be able to use his strength to overpower him. If not, Machida will keep Couture at range and pepper him with his Karate.

The fight I am personally most excited for is the UFC debut of the UFC featherweight champion (he inherited the belt when the WEC & UFC merged in December) Jose Aldo (18-1-0). He will square off against Mark Hominick (20-8-0). Mark is riding a 5 fight win streak. Hominick, like St-Pierre, is a Canadian & will no doubt have 55,000 strong behind him. Hominick is a lightning fast striker and has great speed moving around the cage. He will no doubt want to keep this fight on its feet. Aldo is the real deal. Brazilian born, his ground game is at the top of any list. He dealt with a vertebrae injury that sapped his strength and kept him out of his last fight. Aldo says he is at full strength for this fight. This fight expects to be fought at a very high pace, and should be action packed!