The UFC is putting together an impromptu fight-night event on five weeks notice. The event which will be held in Vegas on July 19th will go head-to-head with the Affliction event in California. The debut Affliction event is on pay-per-view where the UFC will offer their event live on Spike TV.

The main event for this card is set to be the Light-Heavyweight debut of the Middleweight champion Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva. He will be taking on UFC veteran and heavy-hitter James Irvin

In theory the UFC and the majority of fans expect this to be a stand-up war with a knockout win for ‘The Spider’. In reality it could end up being a massive mistake by the UFC. James Irvin is coming off a knockout win over fellow heavy-hitter Houston ‘The Assassin’ Alexander at the last ‘Fight Night’ show.

No matter what happens in this fight, it looks like nothing will really be gained from it. If James Irvin somehow manages to beat ‘The Spider’ then Irvin will more than likely get beat in his next fight (Irvin is never going to be a contender in the UFC). If as expected Silva beats up Irvin, then it doesn’t matter because Irvin is fairly unknown to casual fans and the hardcore fan knows that Irvin is a second-rate fighter.

In Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva the UFC have an exciting marketable champion who has an aura of invincibility. If Silva somehow loses to Irvin then that aura of invincibility and marketability will quickly fade.

The other featured bouts on this card are Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera, who will move down from Heavyweight to take on former IFL Light-Heavyweight Reese Andy. Vera is coming of two losses at Heavyweight against Tim Sylvia and a controversial stoppage at the hands of Fabricio Werdum. Vera hopes that a move down to Light-heavyweight will change his recent slump and get him back to winning ways.

Rumour has it that the UFC originally offered Vera a fight with Machida, which Vera reportedly turned down. If that is true, then that is a very smart move on Vera’s part. I can’t think of a worse opponent for him to make his UFC 205 pound debut against. Vera needs to fight someone like Reese Andy at 205, so that he can see how his body reacts to the weight cut, before he takes on any of the division’s top contenders.

Reese Andy had a few fights in the ‘International Fight League’ over the last couple of years, but is unknown to mainstream fans and will be looking to impress in his UFC debut and will give Vera a good fight, but realistically Vera should take this one. I’d say Vera by TKO at the end of the first round.

The third rumoured match for this card is Frankie Edgar taking on Hermes Franca. Franca will be looking to make his return from a year long suspension after failing a post-fight drug test following his decision loss to Sean Sherk (who also failed the post-fight drug test) at UFC 73 last May. Franca will be looking to get a win under his belt and rise to the top of the lightweight tree and a potential title shot in the future. The lightweight division in the UFC has arguably the deepest pool of talent in the MMA world.

Frankie Edgar should provide a nice exciting comeback win for Franca. I’m not saying that Edgar is a can, but despite being and exciting fighter he is ‘middle of the pack’ and in my opinion should consider dropping to 145-pounds.

David Mackie
david.mackie@mmapreview.com