Staging their event the same night as the heavily advertised UFC 70 show in Manchester's M.E.N. arena, Cage Rage is reported not to have suffered any dip in ticket sales as they present their "Judgement Day" card in London.
Making his return to the Cage Rage promotion is troubled phenom, Vitor Belfort (Pictures), who returns following a harsh loss to Dan Henderson (Pictures) in October of last year that saw him subsequently get suspended after testing positive for steroids.
The Brazilian faces a fighter that he should really beat, the little-known Italian Ivan Serati -- a rough competitor who recently out-wrestled the 360-lb. Keith Dace (Pictures) en route to a stoppage win in just under a minute.
For all Serati's tenacity and aggression, there seems little chance that he will have the answer to Belfort's superior hands and may face some significant trouble closing the distance against the talented Brazilian. I predict Belfort will overwhelm Serati and knock him out midway through the second round.
Another returning Brazilian who has stunned the British audience in the past is Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, who returns after choking Yosuke Nishijima (Pictures) in PRIDE. He takes on London Shootfighter and UFC-veteran James Zikic (Pictures), who will attempt to shake off two-and-a-half years of ring-rust in a very demanding return fight. Although Zikic has some professional boxing experience, he could well face some problems on his feet against Cyborg's fast, aggressive straight punches.
In the past, Cyborg has made his final preparations at the London Shootfighters gym in West London before appearing in Cage Rage and there is every possibility that Zikic will come into the fight with a very well informed game plan.
However, following such a considerable layoff it seems likely that the wild brawler may be too much too soon for Zikic.
Ever-popular Japanese veteran Daijiro Matsui (Pictures) is back to take on a man used to fighting Japanese imports: former Cage Rage British middleweight champion Mark Weir (Pictures). The two fighters are coming off vastly contrasting results with Matsui scoring an emphatic armbar win over Tom Watson (Pictures) at Cage Rage 20 and Weir coming back from a terrible knockout at the hands of Zelg Galesic (Pictures) at the previous Cage Rage event.
Weir has shown twice before that he can deal with stocky international imports, disposing of Kyosuke Sasaki (Pictures) and Akira Shoji (Pictures) with brutal knockouts. Matsui, however, is a resilient and determined opponent that may prove to be in a different category to his fellow countrymen. All the same, Mark Weir (Pictures) will be on an absolute mission to redeem himself and I see him coming away with a decision victory.
Alex Reid (Pictures) is really in need of a win after four straight defeats; somewhat strangely, he has been given the opportunity to face the final Brazilian import of the night, Murilo "Ninja" Rua. Rua looked quite vulnerable at times when standing up in his recent battle with common former opponent Mark Weir (Pictures). If Alex can manage to keep the fight on the feet, the former kickboxer might well see some significant success. However, Reid will more than likely struggle going up against the Chute-boxer's slick ground game, with the Brazilian pulling out a submission victory.
The fight between Roman Webber and Mark Epstein (Pictures) may well look even as they square off; both men are chiseled, aggressive competitors, but when it comes to the fight, Webber will have a difficult evening.
With a record of 12-9, including six victories in Cage Rage, Epstein is by far the more experienced fighter compared to the 0-2 Webber. I imagine the physically gifted, but outmatched Webber will put up a determined fight, but ultimately fall victim to the heavy hands of the Woolwich brawler late in the first round.
UK MMA legend, Paul "Hands of Stone" Jenkins makes his way back to Cage Rage to fight for the welterweight belt that he never lost against EliteXC-bound Paul "Semtex" Daley. These two fighters are no strangers, having faced each other under MMA rules twice in the past, not to mention having met in a string of Thai boxing encounters.
Jenkins is taking the fight at short notice after the Wolflair's Paul Kelly was forced to withdraw due to injury; however, he is said to have been in training as a possible replacement. With three stoppage wins in his last four fights, he will certainly pose a few problems for the young Nottingham star. However, Daley has been on good form of late and with his eye on a blossoming future, you can be sure that he will be out for another win before making the trip to fight in the U.S.
England's TUF star, Ross Pointon makes his Cage Rage debut against Abdul Mohamed (Pictures), who comes back up to the welterweight division for this high-profile challenge.
Pointon is looking to rebuild his career after some heartbreaking losses in the UFC, but he has chosen a tough match-up in the shape of this Afghan fighter with a strong wrestling background.
Pointon will have to work hard to avoid being taken to the ground and face the ground-and pound assault that has led Abdul to victory against numerous top UK opponents. I think Abdul will prove too much for Ross in the clinch and steal the fight on the judges' cards.
In a light-heavyweight clash, French kickboxer, Cyrille Diabate (Pictures) takes on the former heavyweight jiu-jitsu fighter Ryan Robinson (Pictures). Diabate is the favorite in this fight due to his vicious striking, but Ryan has shown some tricky takedowns in previous fights.
If he can take the Frenchman down he has a decent enough chance. However, Cyrille is a nightmare match-up for Robinson and I expect to see him grind out a win within the distance.
A fascinating featherweight fight sees undefeated Bristol fighter Alex Owen take on local favorite Brad "One Punch" Pickett. With his slick jiu-jitsu and nifty leg-kicking game wholly designed to set up the takedown, Owen is a difficult match up for most featherweights.
Across the cage from him, however, is one of the best strikers on the lower weight divisions who has been honing his submission defense at the American Top Team training facility in Florida. I think the variety of sparring and competition will be the telling factor in this fight, with Pickett working Owen over on the floor for a close decision win.
Another Frenchman making an appearance on the card is the controversial Xavier Foupa Poukam, who unintentionally poked the eyes of Alex Reid (Pictures) in their fight back in December.
The eye-pokes did appear to be genuinely accidental, but when a fighter has three disqualification losses on his record, you can't help but wonder.
Poukam faces the enthusiastic former boxer Tom "Kong" Watson, who recently bounced back from his loss against Daijiro Matsui (Pictures) to score an impressive win on the Cage Rage Contenders 4 card. Aggressive beyond words, Watson will give "Professor X" a stern test, but I can't help but think that Poukam's fluent striking game will prevail as he dishes out some of his famous "punishment time" en route to victory.
In the first fight of the night, late replacement, Sunnat Ilyasov steps in to face 'Gentleman' James E Nicolle. The maybe-too-nice submission fighter, Nicolle, seems to have had some of the fight beaten out of him in recent months through his crushing defeats to Zelg Galesic (Pictures) and, in particular, Amar Suloev (Pictures). However, after preparing for weeks in advance of this contest, he should have an advantage over the relatively inexperienced Ilyasov.
In addition to the MMA fights on the card, the organisation presents a Cage Kickboxing match between Michael 'The Black Sniper' MacDonald and British fighter, James McSweeney. McSweeney is an experianced competitor and has trained extensively with some top Dutch fighters, including legendary trainer Lucien Carbin. However, McDonald's list of career opponents is more-or-less a who's who of the K-1 curcuit and he should present a tough challenge to the Britishman.
Adding a twist to the tale, the newly-signed American also holds a knock out victory over UFC 70 headliner, Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic and, as a result, his appearance on the card has been greated with great interest as the two promotions go head-to-head on 21 April.