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UFC 88 ‘Breakthrough’ will take place on September 6, 2008 at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Ga. Weigh-ins are on Friday.

Main Card
Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans wins by KO in RD2!
Dan Henderson vs. Rousimar Palhares wins by decision!
Martin Kampmann vs. Nate Marquardt wins by TKO in RD1!
Rich Franklin vs. Matt Hamill wins by liver kick in RD3!
Karo Parisyan vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida (Fight was canceled due to injury)

Preliminary Bouts
Thiago Tavares vs. Kurt Pellegrino wins by decision!
Jason Lambert vs. Jason MacDonald wins by RNC in RD2!
Mike Patt vs. Tim Boetsch wins by TKO in RD1!
Roan Carneiro and Ryo Chonan wins by split decision!
Matt Brown vs. Dong Hyun Kim wins by split decision!

The Lowdown: Main Card
Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans will be a fight to determine whether Chuck’s training and fights have finally caught up with him. Is this the case of out with the old and in with the new? Chuck is starting to sound like Thomas Hearns and I can’t discern whether it’s because of NyQuil or years of physical abuse. My initial reaction to his fight is that Evans will finally get KOed, but his wrestling prowess and defense may help him make it all the way to losing a decision. I simply can’t imagine it in my little brain that Evans will KO or submit Chuck (LOL….kind of funny), so that leaves him with winning a decision. The only way to beat Chuck by decision is to outstrike him. That’s another funny.

However, there is the possibility that Evans ends up John Ruizing Chuck. Remote but a possibility.

Dan Henderson vs. Rousimar Palhares is a fight that kind of has me stumped. On the one hand you have a submission machine in Palhares, but his biggest win is against Ivan Salaverry. Now, on paper when you compare resumes it just looks awful. Like a complete mismatch and you say WTF are these two doing fighting one another? However, I am seeing a trend with NEW fighters with shallow records beating guys that have been in the sport for a long time. IMO that has to do with making their training resemble one style: MMA instead of a hodge podge of training…but that’s another article.

So while I am cringing and thinking that this X-factor is going to rear it’s ugly head in this fight, I think the safe bet is that Henderson has just way too much experience and is just too much of an animal. Dan’s conditioning, aggression, powerful right hand should lead him to a win.

Martin Kampmann vs. Nate Marquardt is a fight that I am pretty damn excited about and IMO has the makings to be fight of the night. I am keen on both fighters and there is something about Kampmann that I really like. He isn’t afraid to stand in the pocket and bang away and has heavy hands and lately demonstrated his submission game. Could this be upset of the night? Can Kampmann make a statement and explode on the scene by beating Nate? I think so. Nate is a tough dude and had some moments in the Silva fight. He is certainly capable of annihilating Kampmann and odds are on his side. Either way I think this fight should be a VERY technical one and don’t be surprised if this fight wins one or more of the bonuses.

Rich Franklin vs. Matt Hamill makes me feel blarg. Another fight where I like both fighters. Can’t Joe Silva make fights where I hate at least one of the fighters? I think this fight has a lot of similarities to the Evans/Liddell fight. Franklin will most likely work to keep this standing, and Hamill will probably mix some striking with takedowns. However, Franklin is VERY dangerous standing and has the ability to finish it on the ground. Hamill’s way to win this fight is to smother Franklin in the clinch or take him down repeatedly and G&P him, though being in Franklin’s guard may prove to be dangerous.

Karo Parisyan vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida is a fight that most people will give to Karo by popularity default as to the mainstream fan, little is known about Yoshida. So let me be the one to tell you, in case you aren’t aware: this fight is not a “gimme” fro Karo. ESPECIALLY considering his recent performances. Yoshida is a TOUGH fighter that can strike and grapple. Stylistically this should make for a good fight as both guys have similar styles. I don’t see this fight lasting long. I think Yoshida may pull out the “upset”.

The Lowdown: Preliminary Bouts
Thiago Tavares vs. Kurt Pellegrino is a case of 2 fighters who have the “big fight” curse fighting one another to see who’s curse will lose out. Do two negatives make a positive? Tavares will have a difficult time on the ground with Kurt and Kurt is dangerous pretty much everywhere. I figure Kurt’s moment is now and his aggression will be a big factor in this fight.

Jason Lambert vs. Jason MacDonald is the 2nd fight on this card that may not only make FOTN, but may vene manage FOTY and win some of those bonuses BLAF has. As I mentioned in a previous article, these 2 are incapable of being in a boring fight even in losing. Once again, yet ANOTHER fight where I like both guys. If Lambert wasn’t coming down a weight class, I would say this fight is too close to call, but Lambert is a monster of a guy and has ridiculous strenf and power. Lambert will try to bully MacDonald around and it MAY backfire, but is the way to go to win this fight.

Mike Patt vs. Tim Boetsch is a fight that I simply don’t know much about. I’m going to go with the guy with two first names.

Roan Carneiro vs. Ryo Chonan…um, Ryo by flying heelhook? Please?!

Matt Brown vs. Dong Hyun Kim I LOVE Kim Chee, so I’m picking Dong in the hopes that he will send me a case.

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Tags: Breakthrough, Chuck Liddell, Dan Henderson, Dong Hyun Kim, Jason Lambert, Jason MacDonald, Karo Parisyan, Kurt Pellegrino, Martin Kampmann, Matt Brown, Matt Hamill, Mike Patt, Nate Marquardt, Rashad Evans, Rich Franklin, Roan Carneiro, Rousimar Palhares, Ryo Chonan, Thiago Tavares, Tim Boetsch, UFC 88, UFC 88 results, UFC results, Yoshiyuki Yoshida

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 4th, 2008 at UTC3509UTC p20082930UTC04: and is filed under Current News and Results!, The UFC!!!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.