UFC Steps Up with Champs, Haters and Enigmas

Evan Tanner (Pictures) vs. Yushin Okami (Pictures)

In a sport known for highlighting masked luchadores, sumo wrestlers and chemically enhanced football players, perhaps no figure is as intriguing as MMA's resident semi-alcoholic blogger Evan Tanner (Pictures).

An enigma wrapped in a Grizzly Adams beard, Tanner will finally make his return to the UFC against the decidedly vanilla Yushin Okami (Pictures).

You certainly won't ever read about Okami (20-4) going on a summer-long bender and dumping his entire life savings into a communal MMA camp. But what he lacks in flair, he makes up for in Spartan efficiency.

With wins over Alan Belcher (Pictures), Kalib Starnes (Pictures) and Mike Swick (Pictures) to his credit, Okami's seemingly endless cardio and penchant for paralyzing top control have made him into one of the division's premier contenders. His sole UFC loss came about because he acted as though he had just raided Tanner's medicine cabinet. Sleepwalking his way through the first two rounds of his bout with Rich Franklin (Pictures), a late rally swayed no one and Okami blew his shot at challenging for the UFC middleweight title.

Spoiling the return of a former UFC middleweight champion may be just what Okami needs to get himself back in the picture, though.

This is normally the part where I discuss Tanner (32-6) a bit but really, what can I possibly say? I'm convinced you'd need to take a few hits of LSD just to comprehend what he has done in the nearly two years since we last saw him in the Octagon.

Unless you're willing to pull an Aldous Huxley in the name of understanding Tanner's journey, let's just say that most of his last two years consisted of a less than championship-caliber training regimen. Seemingly rejuvenated and ready to rejoin the fray, no one seems particularly certain if Tanner will ever be the same fighter who turned David Terrell (Pictures) into our generation's Fred Ettish (Pictures).

Call me a pessimist, but I can't imagine Tanner's personal booze-a-thon has done much for his MMA game, and Okami is about as focused a competitor as you'll find. I'd love to see Tanner pull a Rocky here, but even if he does enter this bout ready to get his Balboa on, Okami is still a horrid style matchup for him.

Okami will inspire plenty of "USA! USA! USA!" chants as he methodically works his way to a top-control decision win.

Chris Wilson vs. Jon Fitch (Pictures)

The injury monster once again rears its ugly head on a UFC card, denying us the greatness of Akihiro Gono (Pictures)'s flamboyance, thanks to an ill-timed hand injury.

Fear not, loyal fight fans. Team Quest product Chris Wilson has been brought in to face the UFC's current welterweight bulldozer, Jon Fitch (Pictures).

While no one is expecting Wilson to come out rocking the zebra print shorts and penguin entourage, you can expect the 30-year-old Oregonian to come out looking to keep his current run of success going. Having spent his entire MMA career toiling for local productions, Wilson has molded himself into the well-rounded archetype that Team Quest has been producing for years.

His opponent may be just as well rounded. Make no mistake, however, Fitch isn't looking to impress anyone with his cache of skills. The former Purdue University wrestling captain never strays far from his base, and the results can hardly be argued with. Not a bad turn of events for a fighter who was once known more for the timeout "strategery" he used against Canadian Jeff "Peanut Brittle" Joslin.

With that bit of infamy firmly in his rearview mirror, Fitch (15-2, 1 NC) is now knocking at the door of the UFC welterweight title thanks to wins over a rogues' gallery of opponents, including Zen master Diego Sanchez (Pictures) and leg kick machine Thiago Alves (Pictures).

In sporting parlance, this is your classic "trap" scenario, where the contender is being handed a showcase match rife with upset potential. For as dominant as Fitch has been, his run of success hasn't been without the occasional speed bump. Especially in his last two bouts, in which he came awfully close to submission losses against Roan Carneiro (Pictures) and Sanchez. With questions about Fitch's submission defense still lingering, Wilson may already have the opening he needs to exploit.

However, Fitch's wrestler's work ethic is what keeps many from counting him out, and it'll be exactly what leads him to another "W" inside the Octagon. Simply put, Wilson is overmatched. Fitch has shown a knack for sucking the will out of opponents with constant takedowns and the sort of grind ‘em down approach that works so well in the cage.

Unlike most of Team Quest, Wilson isn't the kind of wrestler who can keep Fitch from imposing that game plan. And when Fitch controls the tempo of his bouts, victory is all but guaranteed.

All Fitch needs to do now is throw in some post-fight break dancing to win the fans over and maybe throw in a temper tantrum or two.