Fightin' Words

By Joe Fernandez

So we're talking about a BJ Penn/Jens Pulver rematch -- enough said.

Then Manny Gamburyan vs. Nate Diaz for a UFC contract, which if it's anything close to a Forrest Griffin/Stephan Bonnar or Ed Herman/Kendall Grove finale, we're in for a great show. There's Roger Huerta, who had maybe the match of the year vs. Leonard Garcia at UFC 69; he's on the card, along with Garcia. Joe Lauzon, who already has a TKO win over Jens Pulver on his resume`, is fighting, and a Gray Maynard/Rob Emerson match, which has potential.

Not bad UFC and SpikeTV, not bad at all.

For my money, and we don't have to spend any of it because this card is free at 9 p.m. Saturday on SpikeTV, this one should've been the pay-per view and UFC 72 should've been free. Either way, this should be a great show.

Jens Pulver vs. BJ Penn

This 155-pound class is looking like the new welterweight class, loaded with exciting fighters and exciting fights.

January of 2002 was a long time ago. That's the last time these two fought in the Octagon. Pulver (21-6-1) earned the majority decision win that night and bragging rights till at least Saturday.

I think both fighters will spend most of the time on their feet during this one. Unless he has side control or mount, I don't think Pulver wants any part of the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt on the ground, and I think if Pulver's going to catch him it would be with his striking and then follow Penn (10-3-1) up with a ground and pound. Also, because Penn hasn't fought at 155 pounds in a while, will dropping the extra weight affect the former UFC welterweight champion?

But don't count out BJ Penn just yet. Equivalent to a big-game pitcher in baseball, Penn is a big-match fighter. No matter who he's fighting, he's seems to always be a second away from winning most of his fights, and as TUF 5 fighter Joe Lauzon said about his coach, Penn is dangerous anywhere.

"He's like that with everything," Lauzon told Newsday last week. "Stand-up, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, top, bottom, any position you can think of, it's like you don't know anything."

I don't think three rounds are enough for these guys. I see the fight going from good to great in Round 3 with one of the two earning the decision win.

Manny Gamburyan vs. Nate Diaz

One match for the six-figure contract.

There's no warm-up in the Gamburyan fights we've seen so far. There's no light exchange of jabs and time-burning clinches -- Gamburyan goes into the Octagon looking for and finding a fight.

Diaz (5-2) on the other hand seems to have tremendous poise. He doesn't rush into situations, he lets them unfold and counters brilliantly. It will be interesting to see if Diaz can weather the Gamburyan (5-2) storm. Even the back story is interesting with Gamburyan's cousin Karo Parisyan earning a split decision win against Diaz's brother, Nick, in 2004.

Roger Huerta vs. Doug Evans

It will be tough to duplicate the outstanding performance from UFC 69, where Huerta earned a unanimous decision victory against Leonard Garcia, but because Evans is making his UFC debut and probably wants to make a good impression, this could be another classic. According to UFC.com, Evans is a seven-time Alaska freestyle and Greco Roman wrestling state champion. The 26-year-old is 6-0 in his professional mixed martial arts career. Huerta is 19-1-1 and 3-0 in the UFC.

Floyd Sword vs. Thales Leites

Leites (10-1, 1-1 UFC) earned a unanimous decision victory against Pete Sell at UFC 69 in his last match. Sword (14-2) is making his UFC debut.

Brandon Melendez vs. Joe Lauzon

Lauzon (13-3) nearly caught Gamburyan with a rear naked choke in the TUF 5 semifinals, but was in bad positions for most of their fight and lost the unanimous decision. Melendez (11-5) lost in the TUF 5 quarterfinals to Gray Maynard after Maynard caught Melendez with a guillotine choke in the second round. Look for Melendez to keep the fight standing, while Lauzon will probably try to catch him in submissions on the ground.

Andy Wang vs. Cole Miller

Two more TUF 5 contestants face off in this match. Wang (8-6) lost a decision to Brandon Melendez in the first round of the competition, and Miller (11-2) lost in the quarterfinals via a referee stoppage in the second round to Joe Lauzon.

Rob Emerson vs. Gray Maynard

In the first round of TUF 5 competition, Emerson (8-6) was submitted in the second round by Nate Diaz. Because Gabe Ruediger was kicked off the show for failing to make weight, Emerson was brought back, but lost via decision to Corey Hill. After wins against Wayne Weems and Brandon Melendez, Maynard (3-0) looked like a strong contender to win the competition, but Maynard got caught by Nate Diaz in a guillotine choke in the semifinals.

Allen Berube vs. Leonard Garcia

On the first episode of TUF 5, Berube (2-1) was caught in a triangle choke and was submitted by Cole Miller in the first round. Garcia (13-2, 0-1 UFC) lost a unanimous decision to Huerta at UFC 69.

Brian Geraghty vs. Matt Wiman

In the first round of TUF 5 competition, Geraghty (24-9-2) lost via rear naked choke to Joe Lauzon in the first round. After earning a win via rear naked choke against Marlon Sims in the first round of the fight and the competition, Wiman (6-3, 0-1 UFC) lost by unanimous decision against Manny Gamburyan in the quarterfinals.

Fightin' Words readers, who's going to win these fights?