UFC 138 (11/05): Leben vs. Munoz (from England, on SpikeTV)

[CPT]

Seeing as it's 6 days away, I figured it would be time to make a thread for this event. I honestly couldn't have told you a fight on this besides Leben/Munoz without looking at the card, but there's some good stuff on here.

From MMAJunkie:

Location: Birmingham, England
Venue: LG Arena at the National Exhibition Centre
Broadcast: Spike TV (same-day delay)

MAIN CARD (Spike TV)

Chris Leben vs. Mark Munoz
Renan Barao vs. Brad Pickett
Papy Abedi vs. Thiago Alves
Terry Etim vs. Edward Faaloloto
Anthony Njokuani vs. Paul Taylor

PRELIMINARY CARD

Cyrille Diabate vs. Anthony Perosh
Justin Edwards vs. John Maguire
Michihiro Omigawa vs. Jason Young
Rob Broughton vs. Philip De Fries
Chris Cope vs. Che Mills
Chris Cariaso vs. Vaughan Lee

Granted, it seems more like a Fight Night than a numbered UFC event (even by international event standards the name value is pretty poor), but if it were a Fight Night, it would be a really good card. Lots of strikers and well-rounded guys from the lower weight classes.

Leben vs. Munoz is the first non-title 5 round fight, but I'll be shocked if it gets past 3.

[Elden Payton]

Agreed that it's lacking in big names but the fights should be amazingly exciting.

Has anyone got an analysis on Papy Abedi?? I've heard a bit about him but never seen him fight, any chance he takes out Alves?? That's a big test first fight.

[SDM]

Jesus, this event sucks.

Something to look out for: Munoz has had two knocked out cold concussions in his life and has faced guys without much power since he was KO'd by Hammer. Leben's a good underdog play because absorbing shots from Dollaway/Aaron Simpson/Maia isn't the same as one of Leben's bricks. His chin hasn't been tested, but he's still improving. Close fight with some relevance for the division. A finish for either guy would be impressive.

[Nemesis21]

This is not a ppv, it is a Spike event.

[Elden Payton]

^^^^^^^^^^^

It's numbered so I believe it classifies as a PPV even if we're not paying.

[Posey H8er]

This is not a ppv, it is a Spike event.

it's not even worthy of being on spike. what a terrible card for the people of england and it's kind of an embarrassment as a numbered ufc card. having said that... it's free mma so i will be watching and enjoying.

[pduh01]

I'll definitely watch regardless the poor card!

[Nemesis21]

This is not a ppv, it is a Spike event.

it's not even worthy of being on spike. what a terrible card for the people of england and it's kind of an embarrassment as a numbered ufc card. having said that... it's free mma so i will be watching and enjoying.

Me too.

[Elden Payton]

Since this card has little to no name value it will probably be the most exciting card of the year.

[CPT]

Leben vs. Munoz should be pretty entertaining. Not really main event worthy, but since it's a free show you can't really expect big draws on there. The way I see it, you usually pay for a good main event, this one doesn't have one so it's free, but if you pretend it did, and move everything down one slot, it's not that bad.

Barao vs. Pickett should be a sick fight with BW Title picture implications. The winner of Bowles vs. Faber will likely get the next shot (though I kind of hope not), but the winner of this has a case. Especially if it is Barao. The guy will have won 27 straight at that point, with his one loss being a split decision in his first fight. Almost all against subpar competition in Brazil, but still, pretty crazy. Pickett has a recent loss to Jorgensen, which hurts him, but he also holds a win over Mighty Mouse, who just fought for the title.

Don't know much about Papy Abedi or Edward Faaloloto, but I'll watch Thiago Alves and Terry Etim fight.

Njokuani vs. Taylor should be a hell of a fight.

On the prelims, you have a lot of failed TUF competitors, some Brits, and other guys nobody has heard of, but I've been interested in Cyrille Diabate's fights lately, and Michihiro Omigawa is a top FW who got jobbed in his last fight (though to be fair, he's been the beneficiary of some highly questionable decisions in the past), and I'm interested in seeing if he can right the ship.

Having it be a numbered event as opposed to a Fight Night is probably just for marketing in the UK. It's free in North America, so the only people really getting screwed here are the British fans going to the event, but it's in friggin Birmingham, so I'd think they are pretty happy to get a UFC event period.

[Elden Payton]

Leben vs. Munoz should be pretty entertaining. Not really main event worthy, but since it's a free show you can't really expect big draws on there. The way I see it, you usually pay for a good main event, this one doesn't have one so it's free, but if you pretend it did, and move everything down one slot, it's not that bad.

Barao vs. Pickett should be a sick fight with BW Title picture implications. The winner of Bowles vs. Faber will likely get the next shot (though I kind of hope not), but the winner of this has a case. Especially if it is Barao. The guy will have won 27 straight at that point, with his one loss being a split decision in his first fight. Almost all against subpar competition in Brazil, but still, pretty crazy. Pickett has a recent loss to Jorgensen, which hurts him, but he also holds a win over Mighty Mouse, who just fought for the title.

Don't know much about Papy Abedi or Edward Faaloloto, but I'll watch Thiago Alves and Terry Etim fight.

Njokuani vs. Taylor should be a hell of a fight.

On the prelims, you have a lot of failed TUF competitors, some Brits, and other guys nobody has heard of, but I've been interested in Cyrille Diabate's fights lately, and Michihiro Omigawa is a top FW who got jobbed in his last fight (though to be fair, he's been the beneficiary of some highly questionable decisions in the past), and I'm interested in seeing if he can right the ship.

Having it be a numbered event as opposed to a Fight Night is probably just for marketing in the UK. It's free in North America, so the only people really getting screwed here are the British fans going to the event, but it's in friggin Birmingham, so I'd think they are pretty happy to get a UFC event period.

great analysis.

I concur sir.

[SDM]

I like Pickett over Barao and he's an underdog. He's fought better competition, should have a striking advantage, and his TDD is some of the best for a Brit fighter. He also has a very impressive record, as mentioned, against better competition. Jorgensen has been the consensus top five BW for a long time, so a loss against him isn't a big deal. Everyone's losing to him now.

I like Leben too and he's also a dog on the lines. He only gets in trouble against powerful, accurate strikers, Silva, Stann, and well, Bisping. Munoz is powerful, but not accurate. You have to pick Leben apart and Munoz's wild hooks will only engage Leben in a brawl, which turns Leben into Zombie Leben and makes him virtually indestructible. So many KO wins against wild punching guys. Munoz's wrestling for MMA is super overrated and he telegraphs his TD attempts, ducking his head often. It's not out of the question for Leben to pop him coming in and finishing the fight then (if it's not a one-hitter quitter). Leben's a bit of a springboard when he gets taken down anyway, plus he attacks off his back should Munoz manage to get on top.

Etim hasn't fought for nearly two years, but he's exciting as hell. His fight is a must watch. He was a top prospect around 2008-ish and hopefully he can pick up where he left off.

Njokuani/Taylor should be a fire fight. Very excited for that, could very well be the FOTY.

[REDDzone]

Bad card in terms of name value, potentially good card in terms of matchups.

Free card so I won't complain and will watch every second.

[Bernman]

Bad card in terms of name value, potentially good card in terms of matchups.

Free card so I won't complain and will watch every second.

Agreed.

And I think it's the lol at Faaloloto's name being on the main card that's souring a lot of people. If it was, say, Thiago Tavares instead, I think the reaction would be that there are good match-ups across the board.

I'm even looking forward to Diabate-Perosh and Young-Omigawa, who both got screwed by the xenophobic Dave Hagen in their previous matches (won't this time w/ the event being in England).

[Bernman]

I take back much of what I said. Njokuani-Taylor was just canceled. IMO that was the best fight scheduled for the event.

[Nemesis21]

I take back much of what I said. Njokuani-Taylor was just canceled. IMO that was the best fight scheduled for the event.

Yup, Taylor pulled out with an injury. Was really looking forward to that fight.

[SDM]

3PM on Sportsnet for the Canadian folk who don't want to stay up late. I hope I can find a stream at that time.

[singh_shady]

it's not even worthy of being on spike. what a terrible card for the people of england and it's kind of an embarrassment as a numbered ufc card. having said that... it's free mma so i will be watching and enjoying.

[Gold Chain]

I'll definitely watch regardless the poor card!

Yerp, always.

Really hoping Leben can string together some wins, but Munoz is no slouch.
Hoping for a Leben KO.

Other than that, Thiago Alves is fun to watch, but as I read somewhere from another poster on another board, "He is still running on fumes from a fire lit 4-5 years ago." I think that was dead on.
Dude, needs to win. I haven't seen very much of Papy, so I can't being to speculate on an outcome.

Could be worse.

[CPT]

Njokuani-Taylor being scrapped is a bummer. Was the best fight on the card.