UFC Fight Night 25: Battle on the Bayou Preview

On Saturday September 17th, the UFC will have it's first MMA event in New Orleans since the Lakefront Arena hosted UFC 27: Ultimate Bad Boyz on September 22, 2000. The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center will host UFC Fight Night 25: Battle on the Bayou more than a decade later, but better late than never for the rabid MMA fanbase in the crescent city and around the gulf coast. The main event will be aired live on Spike TV at 8 p.m. and all of the prelims will be streamed live on the UFC's Facebook page.

Shields vs Ellenberger
Jake Shields vs Jake Ellenberger is the main event of the evening. This is a battle between two grapplers, but each with a different skill set. Shields is an elite grappler. He is a wrestler and a BJJ blackbelt under Ceasar Gracie. Ellenberger is also a wrestler. He doesn't have the submission skills of Shields, but he does have good defensive wrestling and posses explosive power in his hands.

Whoever is able to dictate where the fight takes place will likely be victorious. If Shields can get the fight to the mat, it will be hard for Ellenberger to defend the submissions from Shields. If Ellenberger can keep the fight standing he will have the opportunity to turn off Shields' lights with a crushing overhand right.

McGee vs Yang
Court McGee was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season 11. He is primarily a wrestler who likes to pressure and outwork his opponents. Dongi Yang has an attacking striking style but he isn't afraid to go to the ground either.

This is a closely matched bout as both men are well rounded fighters who have big hearts. McGee will be looking to grind on Yang for the finish on the canvas, and Yang will be looking to finish the fight with strikes.

Brookins vs Koch
Jonathan Brookings lived through a fight with featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo and used that experience to win season 12 of The Ultimate Fighter. He prefers to draw his opponents into a grappling match while his opponent Erik Koch is more of a striker, coming in on a three fight winning streak.

Look for Koch to keep the fight standing and delivering punishment as Brookings tries to drag him into a grappling match.

Belcher vs MacDonald
While both men are well rounded, this is another grappler vs striker match. Jason MacDonald will try to employ his dangerous BJJ skills to take out Muay Thai fighter Alan Belcher. MacDonald is coming off a win against Ryan Jensen at UFC 129, and Belcher was working his way up the contender ladder and on a two fight win streak before a detached retina put him out of action since May 2010.

This in another very closely matched bout, and one has to wonder if ring rust will be a factor for Belcher.

Prelims on Facebook:

McKenzie vs Rocha
Dunham vs Bailey
Riddle vs Benoist
Stone vs Walker
Roberts vs Waldburger
Edwards vs Lopez

Zuffa Keeps Louisiana Fighters Busy in June

Louisiana native MMA fighters highlighted every televised event in the month of June. The month started off with three lafayette natives fighting consecutively. Dustin "The Diamond" Poirier's hard fought victory over british kickbocker Jason Young on his way to a unanimous decision at UFC 131 got the month off to a strong start. The following week, Poirier's mentor "Crazy" Tim Credeur wasn't so fortunate against Ed "Short Fuse" Herman losing by TKO at The Ultimate Fighter Season 13 Finale. The UFC took the third weekend of June off and Strikeforce took center stage with the second round of their heavyweight grand prix. Daniel Cormier obliterated Jeff "The Snowman" Monson's mug on his way to a dominant unanimous decision. June was wrapped up with two new orleanians with Pat Barry's shocking loss to Cheick Kongo at UFC Live on Versus 4; and as a little langniappe, Melvin "The Young Assassin" Guillard played a jazz solo on Shane Roller's face on July 2 at UFC 132 winning by KO.

There will be victories and defeats in MMA but strong character always shines through; and these swamp people showed class in defeat and in victory.

UFC 132 Guillard vs Roller on SpikeTV Saturday night

Image courtesy of: cagedinsider.com

Melvin "The Young Assassin" Guillard is on an impressive four-fight winning streak since joining forces with the famed Greg Jackson Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He has dispatched Ronnys Torres, Waylon Lowe, Jeremy Stephens, and Evan Dunham, and he will be facing a formidable challenge in three-time all american wrestler Shane Roller this Saturday night on SpikeTV at UFC 132.

Guillard will be looking to use his own defensive wrestling skills to fend off Roller's takedowns and unleash a torrent of crisp, powerful punches.

Daniel Cormier facing Jeff Monson at Strikeforce this Saturday on Showtime

                       Image courtesy of: Showtime Sports

Former two-time Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier (7-0) will go to battle with former UFC heavyweight title contender and Abu Dhabi submission wrestling champion Jeff "Snowman" Monson (42-11). This will be the toughest opponent yet for the Lafayette native in his skyrocketing MMA career. The fight is part of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix card this Saturday night on Showtime, and if Cormier is victorious he will continue get big named opponents and quickly gain contender status.

Dustin Poirier UFC 131 Exclusive Interview

Dustin spent a few minutes visiting with bloodycajunmma.com. He gave us his thoughts on UFC 129, the documentary "Fightville", his opponent Jason Young, and he gives us his pick for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix.