Upcoming UFC Cards Loaded With Talent

Following the UFC 71 card, which features a main event good enough for the rest of the card to suck, and UFC 72, which is an embarrassment for a fight card (which is why it's on Spike), the UFC has started to put together some of the best cards since UFC 52 (Couture/Liddell II, Hughes/Trigg II). If the fights stay as they are, the UFC is lining itself up for two blockbuster events (73, 74) with the potential for two more (75, 76).

Calling the 73rd installment of Ultimate Fighting "UFC: Stacked" is a vast understatement. The card features two title bouts, one for the Middleweight belt and another for the Lightweight. The Middleweight fight probably won't be great, thanks to Anderson Silva's sleepy Muay Thai technique and the challenger's lack of experience and talent. But with the recent rash of upsets and title changes, it'll be worth checking out. The better title fight is the Lightweight match up which pits Champ Sean Sherk (who has been out of action due to injury) against the very talented Hermes Franca. This one could really go either way. More action on this same card includes Ortiz in his first fight since getting fucked up by Liddell against Rashad Evans, an undefeated striker who is most well-known for his devastating high kick to Sean Salmon at UFC Fight Night 8. Also on the card is Minotauro's debut in the UFC. He'll be killing Heath Herring for everyone's enjoyment...although I said the the same thing about Cro Cop's last fight against Gonzaga. I'm tired of typing, and that's just one card. Let's move on...

UFC 74 is currently un-named, but it's being held in Vegas, so you know it's going to be big. On this card is Couture's first title defense against Gabriel Gonzaga (who knocked out Cro Cop). This should be a good match of young versus old, and I know I'm going to enjoy it simply because Sylvia (a giant douche) didn't get his rematch. 10-1 odds that they show angry backstage footage of the Maine-iac throughout the night. Fantastic. Also on the card is Georges St. Pierre (in his first fight since the Serra debacle) against Josh Koscheck (who beat previously undefeated Diego Sanchez). Koscheck and St. Pierre are ranked as the fourth and second Welterweights in the world, respectively. Finally, we come to my favorite fight out of all the cards I've mentioned: Tim Sylvia vs. Frank Mir. Mir beat Sylvia (a 6'10" uncoordinated oaf) with a beautiful submission which fractured Sylvia's arm and forced Referee Herb Dean to stop the fight even though Sylvia did not submit. Sylvia was too stupid to realize that his arm was broken and demanded that the fight be restarted, but to no avail. Mir went on to barely survive a horrific motorcycle accident, was forced to drop the belt, and has been trying to get back to the top ever since. This fight features two guys with completely different styles that do not match well at all -- thankfully, they want to kill one another.

Of course, UFC 75 will feature the Hughes-Serra bout and UFC 76 will most likely host the Franklin-Anderson rematch. These cards will be filled in as we go along, having the potential to rival UFC 73 and 74. By the time 75 and 76 roll around, Liddell, Cro Cop, Rampage, BJ Penn, and Andrei Arlovski will all be fresh enough to fight again. With UFC 76 taking us into October, it looks to be a very entertaining and profitable year for the UFC.