WVR Delivers Monsters, Snowmen and Assassins

Oddly enough, the evening's undercard actually features some prominent up and comers despite the fact that this card's upper portion is loaded with names sure to bring out the nostalgic side of the old-school MMA fan.

Perhaps the most intriguing potential usurper on the card is ATT product Jorge Santiago (Pictures) (16-7), who finds himself in the midst of a hot streak that has him on everyone's middleweight radar. Not the same for Yuki Sasaki (Pictures) (21-13-1), who has spent virtually all of his MMA service time as a reliable gatekeeper in the Japanese middleweight scene -- a role Sasaki will get to play against Santiago.

Santiago simply has too much aggression for the methodical Sasaki to handle. An opening-bell blitzkrieg will be all it takes for Santiago to send Sasaki packing, as he continues his run toward the top 10 of the division.

One of the more evenly matched bouts on the undercard will take place when Midwest phenom Dan Hornbuckle (Pictures) (15-1) puts his impressive mark on the line against the far more tested Mike "Quicksand" Pyle (15-5-1).

Impressive as Hornbuckle has been, he has also been thriving thanks in large part to mediocre competition that he outgrew some time ago. Pyle, who hails from the current MMA gym du jour, Xtreme Couture, is built to send Hornbuckle crashing back down to earth. He is every bit as capable on the ground as Hornbuckle and a bit savvier with his strikes.

It should be a solid scrap, but Pyle takes home a unanimous decision while Hornbuckle presumably goes back to beating the Courtney Ray (Pictures)s of the world.

Because the MMA world is a better place with him, the infamous Yoshihiro "Kiss" Nakao (6-1, 2 NC) returns to action against New Zealand's latest heavyweight, Jim "Big" York (9-1).

Best remembered for his ill-fated smooch session with Heath Herring (Pictures), Nakao is a solid competitor in a division starved for talent. York is more of a local product taking his first real step up in competition.

That first step will be an unsteady one as Nakao keeps York on his back and grinds out an uneventful division. That's assuming Nakao doesn't feel frisky and ends up laid out before the opening bell again.

On the opposite end of the weight division spectrum is the clash between Australia's Ian Schaffa (7-4-1) and local Pancraseism product Satoru Kitaoka (Pictures) (19-8-9), who is coming off a momentum-stopping loss against Katsuya Inoue (Pictures).

Rough loss in tow, Mitsuoka now faces an equally rugged follow-up against the talented, albeit raw Schaffa, who has shown an affinity for the sport but remains constricted by his lack of technical acumen.

That will be Schaffa's death knell against Kitaoka. The Japanese fighter will befuddle the Australian on the ground en route to snatching an armbar win in the second round. For those of you wondering, Kitaoka is not a body double for Joe Stevenson.

Closing out the prognostication platter is the high-profile WVR debut of Korean super-prospect "Crazy" Kwang Hee Lee (Pictures) (5-0) against veteran journeyman Eiji Mitsuoka (Pictures) (12-5-2), who happens to be coming off a potentially career-making win over Joachim Hansen (Pictures).

While I'll be the first to buy into Lee's upside, he is a very small lightweight who hasn't been facing the best the world has to offer in the bubble that is the Korean MMA scene.

Mitsuoka is too experienced and savvy for Lee, who will come to realize his meteoric talent won't do him much good in a division full of physically superior competitors. The bell of the final round will mark Lee's first loss as he drops a unanimous decision.