UFC 84
B.J. Penn, Tito Ortiz, and Wanderlei Silva Headline UFC Fight-Card
UFC 84 airs on ppv May 24th and features three main-event-caliber bouts
UFC 84 "ILL WILL" is potentially the best fightcard the Ultimate Fighting Championship has put together in their brief history. From the fight capital of the world, The MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, UFC 84 will feature three main-event-caliber bouts.
First, the most popular and controversial fighter in UFC History, "The Huntington Beach Bad-Boy" Tito Ortiz will battle undefeated prospect Lyoto Machida in a light-heavyweight contest. This is Tito's final fight on his UFC contract, and Ortiz has made it clear he wants to fight elsewhere. Like many other fighters recently, he believes the owners and promoters are getting rich, while the fighters are getting jipped. But a victory over the highly-touted Machida could put Ortiz right back in line for a title shot, which obviously means big money. The light-heavyweight division is wide-open right now, and features an unbelievable ensemble of great fighters. Machida is undefeated and surprisingly favored, despite being fairly unproven. The winner of this bout could fight for the championship later this year.
Next, in a very intriguing match-up, "The Axe-Murderer" Wanderlei Silva will slug with "The Dean of Mean" Keith Jardine. It is no secret both of these guys like to bang, which should make for a crowd-pleasing performance, regardless of the victor. Silva is certainly a hall-of-famer, and at one time, was the most feared man in the world, but Silva has lost his last three bouts, and desperately needs a victory to stay relevant in the stacked UFC 205lb. division. In his most recent bout, Silva showed tremendous courage, but also showed his age, and was throughly punished by Chuck Liddell. Jardine has recent impressive victories over Chuck Liddell and a brutal knockout of Forest Griffin, but had a mental collapse in-between those fights, getting knocked out by Houston Alexander, ruining his projected title shot. A victory for Jardine certainly puts him at the top of the food chain in the light-heavyweight division, while a win for Silva keeps him in the picture.
Finally, "The Prodigy" B.J. Penn, will tangle with "The Muscle Shark" Sean Sherk. These are quite-possibly the top two 155lb. fighters in the history of Mixed Martial Arts. Penn is the current champion after Sherk was stripped of his title last year, following testing positive for steriods. Both of these fighters are very capable and skilled, which should make this an old-fashioned chess-match. It will be interesting to see who can break whos will, and force his opponent to fight his fight.
