UFC 116 Preview: The Prelims

Jon Madsen vs. Karlos Vemola

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The prerequisite undercard battle of extremely large men pits a pair of undefeated heavyweights against each other in “TUF” alumnus Madsen and Czech super-slugger Vemola. To be clear, no one is going to confuse either man with a future heavyweight champion, but the fight itself is still an interesting scrap.

Interesting because these two are polar opposites in the cage. Whereas Madsen relies on ground-and-pound, Vemola is all headfirst power punching. That berserker mentality has won Vemola plenty of fans, but he has yet to face anyone who could even remotely challenge him. Running headlong into a solid wrestler is a good way to end up on your back, and Madsen isn’t the type to engage in wild brawls to begin with.

More than happy to stay on the outside and flick the occasional 1-2 while waiting on takedown opportunities, Madsen is built to give one-dimensional sluggers serious problems -- especially ones who don’t have a particularly technical style, which would be an understatement when discussing Vemola. Undoubtedly blessed with dynamite in his fists, Vemola hasn’t added much in the way of technique to augment that gift and the result is a sloppy slugger who wins by landing first.

Odds are Vemola won’t land first or land at all against Madsen. Barring a Darwin moment of epic proportions, Madsen will stay away from Vemola’s power and sniff out takedown opportunities. From there it’s just a matter of time before he takes an uneventful decision win.