There are a lot of people grumbling about the upcoming UFC pay-per-view event, UFC 72 Victory: Rich Franklin vs. Yushin Okami. Some could be upset because at one point this event was said to be free even though there was no official release stating that it would be free. Despite the validity of these claims rumors burn through the internet and eventually become a fact people base things on. So people shouldn’t get upset that this event isn’t free for two reasons. The first reason being that it was never officially intended to be free, and two, this is going to be a really good UFC you just have to know why these fights are going to be good.
The most obvious reason to watch UFC 72 is the main event Rich Frank vs. Yushin Okami. This was initially supposed to be a fight between Rich Franklin and Martin Kampmann, but Kampmann was injured in training. Okami cannot be considered a mere replacement for Kampmann because Okami actually has a longer win streak going and has just recently beaten the rising Mike Swick who had defeated the former number one contender David Loiseau before losing to Okami. Swick could have arguably been the next in line to fight Franklin for the title until Anderson Silva came in and mixed everything up.
Okami is on a huge winning streak and Franklin is returning to his old self as seen in his impressively dominating victory over a talented Jason McDonald. There are many questions still circling around Franklin ever since the beat down he received from Silva, and he needs this fight not only to become the number one contender again, but to prove to everyone and himself that he still has the champion inside of him. Okami needs this win just as badly to give his name some weight in the UFC community and get his title shot that he has been fighting for. There is a lot on the line for these two fighters, which always brings out the best and most exciting fights.
Forrest Griffin vs. Hector Ramirez is an interesting fight. This fight is definitely a follow up fight for Forrest Griffin to his disappointing loss to Keith Jardin to test him. He is an extremely popular fighter and has talent to back it up. I am equating this fight to the Keith Jardin/Houston Alexander fight. The match makers at the UFC wanted to see if Jardin was really as high of a caliber fighter as his win over Griffin said he was, or was it him just getting the better end of the “puncher’s chance”. We all saw what happened with Jardin, but will it be the same with Griffin? I don’t think so and I wouldn’t count Ramirez out either. He is said to have heavy hands and almost submitted James Irvin in his last fight. It is definitely a test for Griffin to see if he has the mental fortitude to return to the top contender status. I think he will and is going to put on a show to prove it, which is why this fight is going to be awesome.
There are also two fights that we are guaranteed to see. Jason McDonald vs. Rory Singer and Clay Guida vs. Tyson Griffin. Jason McDonald vs. Rory Singer is interesting for two reasons. The first reason is that Jason McDonald is known as the “TUF killer”. He ruined Ed Herman’s entry into the UFC as a contract holder and stomped out Chris Leben’s flame that he was trying to reignite. Rory Singer of course is also an Ultimate Fighter alum. So there is pressure to live up to McDonald’s nickname and pressure for Rory to break the streak. Secondly, both of these fighters’ last fights were losses to the main event fighters. This fight means a lot to these two fighters because it is going to be a ranking proving grounds.
The other fight that I mentioned, Clay Guida vs. Tyson Griffin, is going to be awesome based on the fact that they are two extremely explosive 155 pounders. This is easily the most exciting weight class. Clay Guida had an awesome debut at UFC 64: Unstoppable and Tyson Griffin has also had spectacular fights and is responsible for the WEC feather weight champion’s, Urijah Faber, only loss in 20 fights.
So that is why UFC 72 is worth the cash, if this hasn’t convinced you to watch, then tell me why.
