UFC on Fuel TV 10 Preview

UFC on Fuel TV 10 is tomorrow (Saturday, June 8).  All the fights on the card should be entertaining bouts, however, the one fight everyone is talking about is the clash between the heavyweights.

The main event at UFC on Fuel TV 10 is between Fabricio Werdumand Minotauro Nogueira.  Both fighter will likely be entering this fight with huge chips on their shoulders.  They will also feel like they have something to prove to the entire world, esspecially those who set up the fights in the UFC.  You see, both Werdum and Nogueira are among the top 10 heavyweights in the UFC according to the UFC official rankings.  Nogueira is No. 8  while Werdum is No.3.  You would think that the winner of this fight would get a shot at champion Cain Velasquez, however there has been no mention of it.  Both fighters feel overlooked and are going to be looking to make a statement on Saturday night.

Werdum is close to a title shot, though.  If he can have a solid and, more importantly, winning outing against Minotauro then he will likely only be one more fight away from a Heavyweight title shot.

Nogueira is often billed as the aging vet who is on the cusps of retirement.  He showed us that he still has a lot of fight left in him despite the wear and tear of a long MMA career at UFC 153.  He stepped up on short notice to fight Daivd Herman and submitted him via armbar.

Both fighters are solid all around fighters.   Both can take the fight to the ground and both possess excellent submission skills once there.  However, Werdum has been working on his striking abilities and will likely want to continue testing them out after utilizing some devastating knees in his fight with Roy Nelson at UFC 143, expect him to continue to test his striking game.

Nogueira also has some great boxing ability and would not back down from a striking contest.   He will, though, be very cautious as he is not a power puncher and will not be looking to KO Werdum.  He will wear down Werdum with quick jabs while trying to keep his distance to avoid Werdum’s devastating power punches and knees.  Nogueira has also been known to simply take punishment from striker and wait for them to get careless and then slap on a submission.  However, Nogueira has been KO’ed in two of his last three losses and could very easily make a mistake himself and allow Werdum to land a big punch.

Werdum is the favorite to win this fight at all the sports books.  Bovada has his money line at -325 while Nogueira’s line is +250.  Happy betting!