[Vaughany]

Just announced, UFC 138 will be headlined by Leben vs Munoz. Taking place in Birmingham, England. Will be going to that one!

[sirchadwick1]

Slugfest!? Or will Munoz be able to get Leben down and decision him? I like Leben's chances here actually.

[Vaughany]

Munoz will be smart and use his wrestling, but value will probably be in Leben, Munoz bound to be -200 favourite at least

[omalley21]

Tough one to bet. Any Leben fight is really. He should lose on paper, but he's always dangerous.

[sirchadwick1]

Leben always carries value when he comes in healthy as an underdog against mid-tier fighters.

[Vaughany]

Yeah Leben is tough to gauge, will go and get choked out by a raw Rosholt, then go and TKO a better version of Rosholt in A-Train!

[scofflaw]

Well, I guess that's an interesting fight. Though with the hype that's building around 136 and 137, 138's headliner makes me think this card is a big step down.

[Vaughany]

Will be first 5 round non title headliner fight. Not sure Leben has the cardio to go 5 rounds.

[sirchadwick1]

Will be first 5 round non title headliner fight. Not sure Leben has the cardio to go 5 rounds.

Oh yeah... that certainly changes things.

[Vaughany]

Munoz hedged with Leben by TKO/KO or Leben KO of the Night could be one of best hedges of the year IMO.

[sirchadwick1]

Munoz hedged with Leben by TKO/KO or Leben KO of the Night could be one of best hedges of the year IMO.

Good call there V. I don't see any other way Leben wins this.

[THE_LOCKSMITH]

Wow this is the headliner, this will be free. No way they can sell this as a PPV

[Vaughany]

Picket will be on the card as well, hopefully against Torres or Barao

[Vaughany]

Picket will be on the card as well, hopefully against Torres or Barao

ha As I predicted, just announced that Pickett will be fighting Renan Barao at 138.

[danso]

I agree that this headliner is definitely a step down from the buildup for 136, 137, and 139.. but it is definitely a good business decision for the UFC because it comes just a week after 137 and a few weeks before 139.. So it's a good opportunity to generate revenue in an international setting

[MMAbetMASTA]

Tough one to bet. Any Leben fight is really. He should lose on paper, but he's always dangerous.

Agree, and I bet munoz huge his last two fights. Not gonna bet this one no matter what the line is... but in the end I think munoz still takes it and I'll be rooting for him!!

[snake11eyes]

Wow this is the headliner, this will be free. No way they can sell this as a PPV

My thoughts exactly when I read this. Don't get me wrong I like the fight, just don't think its main event quality.

[hels]

My thoughts exactly when I read this. Don't get me wrong I like the fight, just don't think its main event quality.

It is free on Spike in North America.

[GunShard]

I expect a good fist fight.

[Jordan23]

I like the match up actually. Winner of this fight will probably get the winner of Chael/Stann?
To go on a little rant though... I really wish that they would give free paperviews actual paperview worthy main events and not the co-main event to the co-main event..... lol

[raiders32]

I like Munoz to beat Leben. Should be a good fight.

[Vaughany]

Thiago Alves vs Papy Abedi added

[Mr.Kitty]

Looks like newly signed Swede Papy "Makambo" Abedi (8-0) will face Thiago Alves (23-7) on UFC 138.

This is Papy



On the european scene, Papy is considered to be a prospect. He likes to stand, and according to himself, it has become so because he have not felt its been neccessary to take it to the ground. With his judo background (black belt, swedish champion), he has good balance and the ability to throw and take down his opponent (he mostly uses slams). Papy is quite powerful with big muscles, he has never been past the second round and his cardio is suspect. In the past he has been quite wild, throwing lots of looping punches. Against Nathan Schouteren he he hit more precise punches and looked more composed and calm which is good progression. Still, he can leave himself wide open to counters at times. From what ive seen he can be sloppy from top position, but he has powerful GnP if he can make some space to sit or stand up and throw down. His strenght helps him a lot, as he can power himself out of submission attempts aswell as it makes it hard for his opponents to escape his offensive submission attempts.

Middleweight has been his weight class until now when he makes his welterweight debut in the UFC. "Making 170 is no problem for me", he said. He is taller and it will be interesting to see how he compare to Alves in size. Its a tough first match, and a big step up in competition. I think he needs to fight a bit like Story to win here, try and make Alves back away, work the clinch and and take him down if he can. I doubt he can pull it off tho, he will probably get tired and fade away in the second and third round. Alves will outstrike him on the feet and could possibly get a (T)KO on a counter punch. Papys chin has never really been tested so its unknown how he react on taking a big punch. Should be an interesting fight.

[Ladle]

Favour Leben. Munoz's chin is poor and he's got a nasty tendency of blocking strikes with his face. Leben might be a bit of a flake, but getting him at anything better than even money here is a bit of a steal in my opinion.

[kmdubya]

I think Munoz is smart enough to not try and trade with Leben. I would guess Munoz comes in closer to -150 to -175 with Leben around +125. Leben for sure has a punchers chance, but for a 5 round fight, Leben will gas after a bit of lay 'n pray from Munoz.

[Ladle]

I think Munoz is smart enough to not try and trade with Leben. I would guess Munoz comes in closer to -150 to -175 with Leben around +125. Leben for sure has a punchers chance, but for a 5 round fight, Leben will gas after a bit of lay 'n pray from Munoz.

Assuming Munoz can take Leben down with any regularity (something which Aaron Simpson couldn't do).

[jin2daj]

Yeah Leben is tough to gauge, will go and get choked out by a raw Rosholt, then go and TKO a better version of Rosholt in A-Train!

this is so true. I've never put that 2 and 2 connection together.

[kmdubya]

Assuming Munoz can take Leben down with any regularity (something which Aaron Simpson couldn't do).

Agreed. However Simpson gassed pretty quick in the 1st RD and had nothing left in the 2nd. I'm sure Leben will have exactly the same gameplan for this fight (fend off the takedowns then go for the kill in the 2nd). But Munoz's cardio is light years ahead of Simpson and between Simpson and Munoz , I'd say his striking (and striking defence) is better as well.

I just see way too many ways Munoz wins this fight, and only one way (with a diminishing return as rounds go on) for Leben to win.

[Fiasco01]

Interesting fight for Alves...as far as Munoz goes, he can't possibly want to stand with Leben...he almost got in trouble standing with Maia so his camp will surely advise him to take Leben down.

[Vaughany]

Interesting fight for Alves...as far as Munoz goes, he can't possibly want to stand with Leben...he almost got in trouble standing with Maia so his camp will surely advise him to take Leben down.

MUnoz is a smart dude and obviously his base is wrestling so he will know that his best option is to use that base. 6 of his 8 opponents so far in UFC - Simpson, Hamill, Catone, Okami, Dolloway and Maia - all are wrestlers and/or their biggest threat is in grappling rather than striking realm. So it's not surprising that Munoz stood and traded with these fighters for majority of fights - he either had to because they cancelled out his wrestling and/or because Munoz thought his best route to winning in these fights was standing and striking, regardless of whether he could take them down or not. Could even argue that he wanted to keep the Grove fight standing because Grove's reasonably aggressive guard. So Leben will be the first opponent other than Jensen and Grove where he doesn't have to worry about his opponent's grappling ability, and can therefore exploit this with his own wrestling and improving submissions.

[Ladle]

Agreed. However Simpson gassed pretty quick in the 1st RD and had nothing left in the 2nd. I'm sure Leben will have exactly the same gameplan for this fight (fend off the takedowns then go for the kill in the 2nd). But Munoz's cardio is light years ahead of Simpson and between Simpson and Munoz , I'd say his striking (and striking defence) is better as well.

Munoz probably has the worst striking defense of any high caliber fighter I've ever seen. Simpson tends to get tagged in his fights, but his face isn't strike-magnetic like Munoz's. He has a much better chin than Munoz as well.

That said, I certainly agree that Munoz has better cardio than Simpson did when he fought Leben.

I just see way too many ways Munoz wins this fight, and only one way (with a diminishing return as rounds go on) for Leben to win.

The other way to look at it is that Leben has 25 minutes to land one good punch through Munoz's God awful defense and put him to sleep. It's for that reason alone that I think Leben deserves to be favoured.

6 of his 8 opponents so far in UFC - Simpson, Hamill, Catone, Okami, Dolloway and Maia - all are wrestlers and/or their biggest threat is in grappling rather than striking realm. So it's not surprising that Munoz stood and traded with these fighters for majority of fights - he either had to because they cancelled out his wrestling and/or because Munoz thought his best route to winning in these fights was standing and striking, regardless of whether he could take them down or not.

Just a minor thing, but I seem to recall Munoz constantly backing up and shooting on Okami unsuccessfully. He dropped Okami at one point, but he predominantly tried to wrestle with him.

This is all making me sound like a Mark Munoz hater. I actually think he's a great guy; he just never really impressed too much me in the cage.

[Wrecked]

Looks like newly signed Swede Papy "Makambo" Abedi (8-0) will face Thiago Alves (23-7) on UFC 138.

This is Papy



On the european scene, Papy is considered to be a prospect. He likes to stand, and according to himself, it has become so because he have not felt its been neccessary to take it to the ground. With his judo background (black belt, swedish champion), he has good balance and the ability to throw and take down his opponent (he mostly uses slams). Papy is quite powerful with big muscles, he has never been past the second round and his cardio is suspect. In the past he has been quite wild, throwing lots of looping punches. Against Nathan Schouteren he he hit more precise punches and looked more composed and calm which is good progression. Still, he can leave himself wide open to counters at times. From what ive seen he can be sloppy from top position, but he has powerful GnP if he can make some space to sit or stand up and throw down. His strenght helps him a lot, as he can power himself out of submission attempts aswell as it makes it hard for his opponents to escape his offensive submission attempts.

Middleweight has been his weight class until now when he makes his welterweight debut in the UFC. "Making 170 is no problem for me", he said. He is taller and it will be interesting to see how he compare to Alves in size. Its a tough first match, and a big step up in competition. I think he needs to fight a bit like Story to win here, try and make Alves back away, work the clinch and and take him down if he can. I doubt he can pull it off tho, he will probably get tired and fade away in the second and third round. Alves will outstrike him on the feet and could possibly get a (T)KO on a counter punch. Papys chin has never really been tested so its unknown how he react on taking a big punch. Should be an interesting fight.

Looks like Mr. Alves is going to get fukking wrecked.

[GoldRush7]

Leben is going to get the KO in this one

[Varker]

i think it's munoz decision or leben ko.

[Vaughany]

Paul Taylor vs Njokuani added.