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The much anticipated fight between Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves finally happens at UFC 117 on August 7th. The two fighter’s history will be talked about a lot as the fight approaches.

Having fought in the past these two fighters have been looking for a rematch for a very long time. In their first bout Thiago Alves fell to Jon Fitch and since then there have been 3 different fights scheduled in attempts to get these two fighters together again but none of them materialized. Assuming nothing goes wrong this time the two fighters will finally take part in their rematch on the 4th attempt.

Alves once climbed near the top of the sport and was a top contender in the welterweight class, looking forward to a shot at the belt. As of late he has been injury prone and even needed to correct some brain issues. Will his health issues become a problem as the two fighters square off in August?

Putting up long stretches without losing fights Jon Fitch has all of the tools necessary to fight with anyone out there and when he is at his best he is one of the top fighters in the sport. However, just like Fitch, Alves has strung together long stretches of awesome fights in his career.

It is difficult to tell what will happen in this rematch as these fighters have each grown and evolved a lot in their time since their last matchup 3 years ago.

Clay Guida will fight against Rafael Dos Anjos in a lightweight bout at UFC 117 on August 7th. These two fighters will square off after having good showings in their recent fights.

Clay Guida had recently had a small losing streak of 2 fights before snapping that little losing streak in his last fight. At his last fight he put away his opponent with an impressive submission move. The move was so impressive that it earned him a “Submission of the Night” award and bonus. This sort of momentum will be a key for him as he takes off against Dos Anjos.

Rafael Dos Anjos has been very hot as of late. He has managed to win his last 3 matches and has looked impressive in each of them. One of the fights was particularly noteworthy. Dos Anjos, like Guida, recently won a “Submission of the Night” award. Dos Santos lost his first two matches in the UFC, but he has been great since overcoming his slow start and looks like he is feeling comfortable in the UFC now.

These fighters have both shown that they can put their opponents away via submission so it will be a battle of positioning throughout this match as they resist the attempts of their opponent to bend them around in a favorable position.

The styles of these two fighters will be interesting as they square off. Look for a solid fight as these fighters both try to prove that they are on their way up in the UFC betting.

On August 7, 2010 Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen will fight at UFC 117. The current Heavyweight champion is Anderson Silva and puts his title on the line against Chael Sonnen. Naturally, as the champion, Anderson Silva is the favorite but that doesn’t stop Sonnen from approaching the bout with a high degree of confidence.

Winning his last three fights Chael Sonnen is fighting at the highest level of his career. Touting his abilities Sonnen insists that he will be more than a challenge for Silva and this is a big factor in getting him ready for this match. I think we all know how Silva will react to this trash talk in the cage.

His 26-4 career mixed martial arts record proves Anderson Silva is a great champion. Even though he has lost 4 fights over the course of his career, it has been around 4 years since Silva has lost a fight. For most of his matches Silva has proven himself to be one of those fighters that can find a way to win his fights one way or another.

The winner of this fight will be the new UFC Heavyweight champion and you know that this fight will be in all of the conversations surrounding UFC 117 and has the makings of being one that will be talked about long after wards.

This bout is slated as the main event in the heavyweight match between two very large fighters. Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin square off at UFC 116 on July 3rd 2010 and it is expected to be one very exciting fight.

With only fought 5 career mixed martial arts fights in his career to this point Lesnar has won 4 out of his 5 matches including a 3-1 record to date in the UFC. Known for his powerful attack Lesnar is the type of guy that will come hard and heavy at his opponent with huge swings looking for an early knockout. With such powerful fists his strikes are known for shattering his opponents.

Of the two Carwin is by far the more experienced fighter. He has fought 12 fights in his mixed martial arts career and he has not lost a single fight to this point, including his four victories in the UFC – amazing. In spite of his impressive experience, which should give him the advantage, he will be in for a tough match against Lesnar.

Nobody wants to underestimate the power of Lesnar but Carwin is probably the favourite. This fight is probably one for the ages as these two fighters will more than likely go toe to toe like only really big fighters can.

The key for victory for either fighter will be to stay upright. As can be expected whichever fighter gets knocked down will get trounced on with Thor like hammer blows as soon as he is down on the mat.

On July 3, 2010 Wanderlei Silva and Yoshihiro Akiyama will square off. This bout has been rumoured for ages, all the way back to 6 or 8 UFC. The much anticipated middleweight fight will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

These two fighters have an opportunity to show everyone what they are about and should display the different paths that brought them here. Silva is an extremely experienced mixed martial arts fighter and he has won 33 matches in his career while losing just 10. While these numbers are impressive it is important to note that he has only managed a record of 3-5 in his UFC career. While this success suggests that this level might be a bit overwhelming for him but to his credit, many of his losses have been to solid fighters. Still it is difficult to overlook a 3-5 record.

Akiyama has not lost a fight since March of 2005 and sports a 13-1 career record in mixed martial arts fights and has not fought in a year but will return to the sport well rested and healthy. His last fight earned him a “Fight of the Night” award and his return to the UFC has been much anticipated especially after his decision win over Avan Belcher last July.

It is difficult to gauge where Akiyama is at with just one fight in the UFC but he has an impressive career record. This fight should prove be a good measure of what we can expect from him in the future.