The main event of the evening sees Brazilian maestro Anderson Silva (Pictures) (13-3) attempt to defend his Cage Rage world middleweight title for the second time. Although the Brazilian’s performances are widely considered to be unreliable, Silva has been nothing short of phenomenal in his two appearances in the UK.
In a five-year career, Silva has taken on many of the top names in his weight class. He’s beaten names such as Hayato Sakurai (Pictures), Alex Stiebling (Pictures), Carlos Newton (Pictures) and Jeremy Horn (Pictures). The strange defeat against Daiju Takase (Pictures) aside, his losses have come against similarly high-class opposition (Ryo Chonan (Pictures) and Luiz Azeredo (Pictures) in Silva’s first professional bout).
Standing in Silva’s way is 32-year-old Curtis Stout (Pictures) (10-6-1), formerly known, rather puzzlingly, as “Red Nose” and now known as “Bang ‘em Out.” I’m not 100 percent sure what the former refers to, but the latter appellation is certainly fitting.
Like Silva, Stout has been absolutely superb since coming to the UK, taking out all three of his opponents by disgustingly brutal finishes. The American picked up a hat trick of consecutive Cage Rage appearances between February and July this year, knocking out Sol Gilbert (Pictures) at Cage Rage 10, finishing Mark Weir (Pictures) at Cage Rage 11, and then almost driving Nilson de Castro (Pictures)’s head through the canvas at Cage Rage 12.
It’s fair to note that of these two, Stout is clearly the underdog. Prior to his redemption in the UK, Stout was a second-level fighter, doing well against B-level competition but losing whenever he faced a top name. His appearances in the UFC (against Phil Baroni (Pictures) and Trevor Prangley (Pictures)) resulted in defeats, and he has also picked up a loss against Russian hard man Andrei Semenov (Pictures).
This fight has all the makings of a classic but, realistically, only a fool would bet on Stout here. The American has looked amazing of late, and he certainly has the potential to surprise, but if the Brazilian shows the same form and poise that he demonstrated against Rivera then the immensely popular Stout might just experience his first loss on British soil. I say Silva takes this one by TKO in the second.
In the co-main event of the night, 28-year-old Brazilian “phenom” Vitor Belfort (Pictures) (12-6) comes to town, hoping to find redemption in a fight against French tough man Antony Rea (Pictures) (9-4).
Belfort needs little introduction. It’s been just over nine years since the youthful Belfort bounced John Hess’ head off the canvas at the second SuperBrawl show, and just over eight years since the first loss to Randy Couture (Pictures) marked the Brazilian’s shift from massively aggressive, lightning-handed phenomenon, to the puzzlingly weird enigma that he presents today.
The latest version of Belfort is coming off a three-fight losing streak that started when Randy Couture (Pictures) pummeled the former phenom into a bloody mess at UFC 49. This loss was followed by a split decision defeat against Tito Ortiz (Pictures) and a somewhat surprising loss by submission against Alistair Overeem (Pictures) in the first round of PRIDE’s middleweight GP earlier this year.
Twenty-nine-year-old French fighter Antony Rea (Pictures) will not be the pushover that most fans seem to be expecting. Rea is a genuinely tough guy, who brings some good all-round skills into the cage.
One intangible in this fight is the fact that the Frenchman has already faced quite a few top names in his weight class, so he’s unlikely to be overawed here. Rea’s professional debut was against the experienced Daisuke Watanabe (Pictures), and in only his third fight he faced a then-undefeated Rich Franklin (Pictures). Matches against the likes of Matt Horwich (Pictures), “Cyborg” Santos and Marvin Eastman (Pictures) have followed.
So, what’s going to happen on Saturday? Well, I’ve seen Rea fight a number of times, and he’s actually a pretty good match for Belfort. The Frenchman’s style is best described as that of a calm, technically sound brawler. He doesn’t have the physical gifts that the Brazilian does, but he covers up well; he can take some punishment; he’s comfortable on the ground; physically strong; and he can dish out some heavy shots. That said Rea will not have anywhere near the wrestling skills that Belfort has been exposed to in his career.
Realistically speaking, this match will be fought wherever the Brazilian wants it to be fought. Rea will be perfectly happy to stand and throw, but I think it would take a brave man to bet on the underdog here. If Belfort takes this fight seriously enough then he shouldn’t have any trouble finishing this late in the first, but I think it’ll be by submission.