'The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale' Preview

Kimbo Slice vs. Houston Alexander

The Breakdown: Let’s drop the pretense for this one: Slice and Alexander are going to try and take each other’s heads off, and sooner or later someone will do just that. Bank on sooner considering both men have a predilection for all-out offense and sport chins that provide about as much protection as their notoriously porous defenses.

The edge goes to Alexander, though, who has the more refined and versatile striking game. He’s also far more explosive than Slice, who mostly relies on landing single power punches and immediately going for sloppy blitzes. Without a solid jab to control distance, it’s likely a matter of time before Alexander collapses the pocket and works his synapse-scrambling clinch game -- something Slice will be lucky to remember, never mind survive.

The X-Factor: Whenever you have two unapologetic brawlers with chins more suited to professional golf, probability plays a bigger role than anyone would like to admit. The fact is that whoever gets rocked first is likely to get the face-plant special. Considering Slice is accustomed to fighting in backyards, it’s hard to count him out in a pure brawl.

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The Bottom Line: If nothing else, this fight is easy money for knockout of the night. Expect Slice to be on the wrong end of that award as Alexander puts down the bearded one with a hellacious clinch combo midway through the first round. Don’t discount the possibility of a double KO, though. It’s about time we see a UFC referee’s head explode as he tries to figure out what call to make.