UFC 85: Bedlam Gives Way to ... More Bedlam

Thales Leites (Pictures) vs. Nate Marquardt

Promoted to the main card after the UFC couldn't find an opponent for Rashad Evans (Pictures), middleweight contenders Thales Leites (Pictures) and Nate "The Great" Marquardt will match wits with an eye towards challenging Anderson Silva's uber-male status. Of course, Marquardt (26-7-2) is already more than familiar with Mr. Silva having been knocked out by "The Spider" in his middleweight title bid despite drawing up the sort of safety-first game plan that figured to give Silva trouble.

An impressive rebound win over Jeremy Horn (Pictures) has Marquardt back on the right track but fallen title challengers often have a rough road on their way to a second chance. Toppling one of the fighters that the UFC envisions challenging Silva however may be Marquardt's express pass.

Easier said than done considering Thales Leites (Pictures) (12-1) has gone from being just another well-hyped Brazilian prospect to a legitimate middleweight force with designs on reminding MMA fans the world over that Brazil's fighting heritage lies with oil-slick grapplers and not arachnid strikers.

Not the case initially as Leites stumbled out of the blocks in his UFC debut by dropping a spirited unanimous decision to the then unknown Martin Kampmann (Pictures). Luckily for Leites, his mistakes have proven more than correctable as he's shown an improved gas tank and stuck to his strong grappling roots in picking up a trio of dominant wins. Dominant as those wins were however, they came against some of the division's lesser lights and Marquardt represents Leites' first real step-up in competition since his Waterloo moment against Kampmann.

What's worse for Leites, he is accustomed to dwarfing his opponents and using that advantage to bull them down to the ground. No such advantage will exist against Marquardt, who is downright gigantor and an underrated wrestler to boot.

Marquardt will score the bulk of his points on the feet considering Leites' suspect defense while breaking even with the Brazilian on the ground. Neither man is likely to put themselves in a position to be exploited on the ground and with opportunities to score points increasingly scarce, Marquardt's work on the feet should net him a unanimous decision nod.

That or Leites comes out and lands a camel clutch while dressed up as The Iron Sheik. Really, if you're looking to expand your fistic horizons then vintage 80's era WWF is loaded with MMA practical submissions.

Fabricio Werdum (Pictures) vs. Brandon Vera (Pictures)

Somehow lost amidst the last-minute fight shuffling that has plagued this card is a bout between two legitimate top 10 heavyweights. Do not adjust your picture, this is actually happening and it could even turn out to be a solid scrap.

The two heavyweights in question are tarnished golden boy Brandon Vera (Pictures) (8-1) and Fabricio Werdum (Pictures) (10-3-1) who will be looking to treat "The Truth" the same way a White House press secretary would.

Not an unrealistic goal for "Vai Cavalo" considering he is coming off an impressive come-from-behind TKO of another ultra-hyped heavyweight, Gabriel Gonzaga (Pictures) -- a win that all but saved Werdum's MMA career after his insomnia-curing loss to Andrei Arlovski (Pictures).

While the UFC heavyweight title will be tied up for a bit thanks to the upcoming season of "The Ultimate Fighter," you'd have to think that the winner of this bout will have the most legitimate claim to a title shot once incumbent champion "Minotauro" and challenger Frank Mir (Pictures) complete their televised tango.

With that in mind, Vera realizes this is just the opportunity he needs to exorcise the specter of his blasé loss to Tim Sylvia (Pictures). A loss that came after Vera had already been proclaimed the division's future thanks to a string of highlight-reel worthy performances under the UFC banner.

But Vera struggled with Sylvia's bulk - not promising since Vera's one real weakness is his lack of size in a division littered with human beings who could pass for siege tanks. That is a concern that Vera will get to answer another day however as Werdum's size advantage is mitigated by his borderline impotent wrestling.

Going toe-to-toe with Vera is no way to earn a living and Werdum showed major holes in his striking defense against Gonzaga before the hairy Brazilian giant ran out of gas. Looking back on Werdum's career, his two most embarrassing performances came against strikers unwilling to follow him down to the ground. With a winning strategy already set, expect Vera to keep Werdum at bay with leg kicks and jabs early on before forcing Werdum to step forward in search of a takedown.

Blindly lunging forward against Vera often leads to a rude lesson in the "Science of Eight Limbs" and the syllabus for Werdum will be highlighted by a brief introduction to clinch knees. Werdum need not worry however, the final exam is brief and most people end up forgetting the material on their way to the hospital anyway.