With Mauricio "Shogun" Rua's knee injury and more recently Chuck Liddell's torn hamstring, the UFC has decided to shake up its lineup for UFC 85 in London.
Looking at the reality of having a Rashad Evans vs. James Irvin main event, the UFC has announced that former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes will fight Thiago Alves in the final matchup of the O2 Arena card.
According to the UFC, the event can be seen live at 3 p.m. on June 7 in the U.S on pay-per view. With already a couple of changes to the main event, no titles on the line and rising UFC PPV prices, the UFC should consider giving this fight away for free on SpikeTV to the loyal fans that spend nearly $500 a year on their pay-per view shows.
By the way, this is not a good fight for Hughes, who is coming off a devastating loss to UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. Alves is hungry and confident after knocking out perpetual welterweight contender Karo Parisyan. I see Alves winning by KO/TKO.
Even though he had a great showing in his middleweight debut at UFC 83 against Charles McCarthy, England's Michael Bisping has a quick turnaround when he fights iron-chinned Chris Leben less than two months after his last fight. Look for Leben, who has two consecutive knock outs, to KO the crowd favorite in the second round.
Fightin' Words readers: Do you think that this card should be seen for free on SpikeTV, or do you feel it deserves to be on pay-per view?
Comments (3)
Of course out of self-interest it should be on Spike.
Definitely Spike, the card is entertaining but light for PPV. Must win for Hughes, otherwise he and Serra can split a payday with the loser hanging it up for good.
Why isn't Hughes fighting Serra in UFC 85?