UFC 46: Supernatural Preview

Middleweight Bout: Lee "Lightning" Murray vs. Jorge "El Conquistador" Rivera

LEE MURRAY: British striker, trains boxing with Terry Coulter and fighters James Zikic, Kamal Locke, John Thorpe, Rob Sulski and Ian Freeman as well as with Mark Epstein, Gerald Lecruman of Team Mean Intentions and instructors Alexis Demetriades and Paul Ivens of London Shoot Fighters, has trained with Remco Pardoel and Pardoel Sports Team as well as Heath Herring, Valentijn Overeem, Stefan Leko and Hans Nyman in Holland, the Miletich Fighting Systems team in Iowa and Eltham Warriors Thai Boxing Club, with an 8-1-1 record in MMA making his 1st appearance in the UFC

Abbreviated Fight History: British brawler Lee Murray has been known as a street-tough bloke but the KO win over Jose "Pele" Landi-jons solidified Murray as a legitimate threat to the middleweight crown. Lee trains in all facets of combat and he is not opposed to traveling the globe in search of solid training. He's trained with the boys from the Golden Glory Team in Holland and with Miletich Fighting Systems here in the U.S. Below are some of Murray's more significant contests:

Murray/Mike Tomlinson: Murray stuns Tomlinson with a strike early in the bout but Mike recovers and shoots in. Lee avoids the takedown and they clinch, exchanging minor strikes. Tomlinson continues to try for the takedown but a clinch ensues and Mike pulls Lee into guard. Murray is able free himself and obtain mount and throw strikes. Tomlinson's attempt to bridge him off is foiled and Murray eventually takes his back to apply a rear choke. Mike fights off the choke and puts Lee in half guard. They battle from there with Murray eventually rolling Tomlinson into his own guard and applying a Kimura armlock for the win.

Murray/Danny Rushton: Rushton scores an early takedown, eventually obtaining mount and goes right to work on a keylock. Murray is able to escape but is again taken down, mounted and struck. Rushton attempts a side choke but can't sink it and resorts to striking down at Murray. Lee resorts to kicking up at Danny. They exchange heel hook attempts and Rushton works for a kneebar but Murray is out and on his feet. Rushton stays grounded with Murray striking down at him until they are stood up. After the restart, Rushton shows his ground superiority by getting another takedown and going from side control to mount. Danny begins striking until he sees the opportunity to apply an armbar. The submission is sunk and Murray resorts to kicking Rushton in the head. This is an illegal move and the referee breaks the fighters to assess the damage to Rushton. Danny is messed up and the match is stopped with a ruling of No Contest.

Murray/Chris Bacon: In the opening round, the fighters exchange strikes and Bacon scores a takedown. Chris mounts Lee and lands a succession of strikes to Murray's head. Eventually Lee was able to maneuver and secure a leg for an ankle lock but he couldn't tap Chris. Bacon used superior wrestling skills to keep Murray grounded and stifle his striking game. They stayed grounded for most of the three-round bout as there was no stand-up rule in effect and it was ruled a draw.

Murray/Kama Boumna: Not much of a bout here. From the opening clinch, Murray jumped to armbar and submitted Boumna in just 20 seconds without throwing a serious strike.

Murray/Amir Rahnavardi: This bout was even shorter. Amir struck first and landed a right to Lee's nose. Murray countered with a one-two that missed and then landed a left hook to the jaw that knocked Rahnavardi out cold. It was a 4 second bout.

Murray/Jose "Pele" Landi-Jons: Murray and Landi-jons felt each other out from the bell. "Pele" scored a takedown but the two were stood up for lack of action. Once on the feet, Landi-jons was the aggressor and landed knees from the clinch but Murray broke away and delivered knees of his own. "Pele" was able to time a takedown and land in sidemount. Murray ate some elbows but moved to half guard and eventually obtained full guard before "Pele" stood up. Lee stayed grounded as "Pele" tried to get past the guard and threw strikes down at Murray's face. Prior to the first round bell, Murray landed with a kick from the floor. In the second round, Landi-jons pounds Murray with a hard leg kick and they exchange fists. Murray clinches and lands two short right hands that staggered "Pele" before he eventually hit the floor from Lee's follow-up barrage.

Murray/Tito Ortiz: Although not a sanctioned bout, this little scuffle got so much press I had to mention it.

Also worthy of note: Murray has battled Joe Doerksen (loss/submission)

Strengths And Weaknesses: Murray is a serious striker. His right hand seems to carry the knockout drops. He can drop people with one solid punch, maybe two. Lee has also shown the ability to work submissions on the mat. He seems comfortable applying them and somewhat efficient at executing them. One weakness appears to be his takedown defense. He has been taken down by multiple opponents virtually at will. Another questionable area appears to be his stamina. Murray and his trainers say it's a load of bollocks but what would they say right?

How He Can Beat Rivera: On the mat. Lee is a big puncher but that would play right into Rivera's game and it is anyone's fight at that point. If he brings Rivera down and keeps him there, an opportunity for submission may present itself.

JORGE RIVERA: American fighter of Puerto Rican decent, USMMA Light Heavyweight Champion, HOOK'n'SHOOT Light Heavyweight Champion, trains with muay Thai trainer Mark Delegrada of Sit Yod Tong, Doug Caleda, Pat Barbeiri, Nuri Shakir, Matt Lee, Jim DeSousa, Big Sash, Keith Rockel and members of Team Elite at the Massachusetts Submission Academy, with a 12-1 record in MMA, making his 2nd appearance in the UFC (1-0)

Abbreviated Fight History: Rivera is the textbook MMA fighter story. He loved to watch the sport on video tapes and says he is just elated to be a part of the event. Jorge began fighting in 2001 and captured two titles in a four-month span in 2002. He loves to train and teach. Below are some of Rivera's more significant contests:

Rivera/Brandon Lee Hinkle: Rivera fell to the Ground'n'Pound strikes from the Hammer House wrestler after 6 minutes of action.

Rivera/Joe Nye: Quick fight. Rivera didn't react like he liked Nye's strikes in the beginning and clinched for the takedown. Rivera caught him with an overhand right and finished with some good old fashioned G'n'P until the ref broke the contest. Rivera wins the title amid boos from an inexplicably angry crowd.

Rivera/Travis Lutter: Rivera was able to impose his will on the fight and keep much of the bout with defending champion Lutter standing. They went nearly 14 minutes before Rivera could land a punch sending Lutter to the mat. Again, Rivera would go to work on a fallen opponent and pull out the win via referee stoppage.

Rivera/Loiseau: Rivera pursues Loiseau and they exchange punches and knees from the clinch. After a few minutes locked up, Loiseau adopts a muay Thai clinch and delivers knees and elbows that provoke a heated exchange. A display of "dirty boxing" ensues and the two fighters disengage and reengage trading strikes all the while. A momentary stoppage to assess the damage of Rivera's head leads a good display of striking by both fighters with the edge to Loiseau. David's uppercuts and elbows in the clinch score repeatedly. Rivera fights back but he's not as busy or accurate in the clinch. Round two opens with some solid leg kicks by Rivera and a pretty overhand right from Loiseau. Once again in the clinch, Loiseau's elbows prove deadly accurate but Rivera is able to maneuver and counter with uppercuts and hooks inside. They continue to circle and trade knees and elbows. Though Rivera can't stop Loiseau's elbows, he rushes his opponent forces him to defend his midsection. The pace slows but Rivera remains the aggressor and stays busier. The second round is pretty much even. Rivera comes out aggressive to the body to start round three and Loiseau shows signs of fatigue early. Midway through the round Rivera really heats up and it looks like he's going to finish but the crafty Loiseau breaks the clinch and buys himself some time. With about a minute left, they clinch and begin to release their final explosions. Loiseau puts together some solid punches but an uppercut in the final seconds puts him to the mat and Rivera is standing over him striking as the horn sounds. Rivera wins the unanimous decision.

Also worthy of note: Rivera has battled Tim Sylvia (win/decision)

Strengths And Weaknesses: Striking is his thing. He can wrestle but he'd rather stand and bang to settle it on the feet. He has the reputation of a powerful striker and has 2 KO and 2 TKO wins to his credit. Another huge strength is his heart. He's a man of God so that is an inexhaustible reservoir of motivation. His weakness is likely the ground but it's difficult to really explore this theory as he doesn't spend much time there and he sports just one win by submission. Jorge seems well balanced but he hasn't faced a lot of competition at this level. His ground skills will likely be tested in this bout.

How He Can Beat Murray: Rivera will do what comes natural; swing to kill. He will want to stand and bang with Murray but he may have better luck taking the Brit down as Lee seems susceptible to the takedown (ala Semmy Schilt). However Murray has numerous submission wins on his record and it might backfire if Rivera isn't sharp. To my knowledge, Murray hasn't been KO'd but there's always a first time. Jorge should stay with his strength and try to set something up in the clinch to stop "Lightening" in his tracks.

MY PICK: I'm going with Murray. I like Rivera, he seems like a genuine guy and I hate to do it because I picked against him last time…and he won. Both guys are sluggers but I've seen different speculations on Murray's height. He's listed at anywhere from 6'1 to 6'3. Judging from photos, I'd lean toward 6'3 (either that or everyone Lee trains with is 5'10 or shorter). The height will factor into the reach and if he's 2-3 inches taller, it may pose a problem when slugging it out. But just to screw everything up, I'm going to say Murray will win by submission. He favors his hands but seems competent on the mat as well. I feel it will be Murray by submission (likely an armlock) in the 2nd Rd.

DOWN THE ROAD:
Rivera/Ricardo Almeida: Almeida has been tearing up the Pancrase circuit (5-0 since the UFC 35 loss) and deserves another shot in the octagon…if he wants it.

Rivera/Niko Vitale: The Hawaiian grappler took out divisional contender Matt Lindland before most fans ever really got a look at him. A rematch with Lindland is in the works but this segment is called "Down the Road" for a reason.

Murray/ Phillip Miller: He's still 16-0 with only 1 fight in'03. Has the internet rants and contract issues with Zuffa blacklisted this fighter from all organizations?

Murray/Dustin Denes: Denes may be the next big thing out of ATT. He's 8-1-2 with his only loss is to Akira shoji by decision.