This was originally scheduled as a slugfest between “Cyborg” and Michael Bisping (Pictures), but circumstances have led to Bisping being unable to compete. This gave Darren Little the chance to step up against the monstrous Brazilian for what will surely be a memorable debut.
Santos has been in the cage with guys like Mauricio Rua (Pictures), Yuki Kondo (Pictures), Jose Landi-Jons, Gabriel Santos (Pictures) and Silvio de Souza (Pictures). The Chute Boxe brawler is coming off a two fight win streak, having followed up his battering of Mark Epstein (Pictures) at CR 11 with a knockout over the skilled Kassim Annan at MECA 12.
Darren Little is a three-time champion in judo in the UK, as well as a BJJ practitioner. He possesses a history of bare-knuckle boxing and, according to Cage Rage promoter Dave O’Donnell, his first words on accepting this fight were “I’m gonna rip that geezer’s head off.” I can’t comment on Little’s skills, but he has a history of violence and he looks a bit like Cyborg so good on him.
I can’t really pick someone who I’ve never seen fighting, so I’ll have to take Cyborg here, even though I’ve got a suspicion that this is going to be an upset.