My outlook: The atmosphere is going to be great in Japan, especially with the influx of Japanese fighters on the card. MMA was probably the single most popular sport in Japan during Pride's heyday. The Main Card features a handful of intriguing fights. The lightweight title fight promises to be entertaining, but I sadly can't see Hendo getting the job done, but I'll be rooting for him.
Rampage Jackson, who was my favorite fighter when I first started getting into MMA, is probably the most popular fighter in Japan. He unsuccessfully challenged UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones in his last fight in September 2011. There have been rumors that this may be his last fight, but I hope it will not be. He is on record as saying he is indifferent when it comes to winning the fight (yea right) and he just wants to put on a show for the Japanese fans. His opponent Ryan Bader was undefeated in MMA before suffering back to back losses to Jon Jones and Tito Ortiz. He bounced back with a knockout win against Jason Britz in his last fight. Both men are good wrestlers, both are very big for the LHW division, and both contain knockout power in their hands. I expect the wrestling ability to offset and this one will be decided on the feet, where hopefully my man Rampage can score a knockout victory, but Bader does have a good chin, having never been knocked out.
Mark Hunt against Cheick Kongo is another fight that I don't think will see much time on the mat. Kongo is currently the 10th ranked HW fighter in the world, and has a background in kick boxing. He is a training partner of Rampage, and hasn't been defeated since 2009 when he was choked out by Frank Mir. Kongo's weakness has always been on the ground, but don't look for that to factor in as he takes on world class kickboxer Mark Hunt, another extremely popular fighter in Japan from his time spent with Pride Fighting Championship as well as K-1. His 7-7 MMA record is quite pedestrian at face value, but his level of competition has been elite, and the vast majority of his losses are via submission, which shouldn't come into play against Kongo as I fully expect this to be a glorified kick boxing match seeing as both men have impressive professional kickboxing records. I think this will be a 3 round slug fest that will be decided on the scorecards, with Kongo probably getting the victory.
The last fight I'm really looking forward to features Yoshihiro 'Sexyama' against former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields. Sexyama is coming off of 3 straight defeats, but the last two were against world class fighters Vitor Belfort and Michael Bisbing. Shields is on a 2 fight skid of his own, also against world class fighters in Jake Ellengberger and some dude named Georges St. Pierre. Sexyama is moving to welterweight after fighting most of his career at 185. If he loses this fight, there is a very realistic chance he could be cut by the UFC, while a victory could put him in line for a chance to move up the Welterweight Ladder. Shields had fought his way to the top of the ladder through his impressive stint in Strikeforce followed by his impressive debut victory in the UFC against Martin 'Hitman' Kampman. Both men are excellent grapplers, and I expect there to be a certain desperation factor due to the recent losing streaks that should breed an excellent fight. 3 of Akiyama's last 4 fights have been named the Fight of the Night, and this one has the chance to make it 4 out of 5.
. Be sure to post spoilers and stuff so I can read afterwards 