UFC 104 Preview: Kyle Kingsbury, Razaak Al-Hassan Battle for Livelihood

In light heavyweight action, The Ultimate Fighter Season 8 contestant Kyle Kingsbury (7-2, 1 NC) will take on Razaak Al-Hassan (7-1) in what will be their sophomore stints inside the Octagon. Kingsbury is coming off a decision loss to Tom Lawlor at The Ultimate Fighter Season 8 Finale while also losing to Ryan Bader during the show's preliminary round of fights and to Krzysztof Soszynski after Kingsbury was allowed into the house after two fighters were injured in the preliminary bouts. While those weren't professional bouts on his record, Kingsbury hasn't had any success in the cage in nearly two years.

Razaak Al-Hassan is coming off a loss to Steve Cantwell at UFC Fight for the Troops back in December after taking the bout on short notice. Hassan became the victim of a vicious armbar submission attempt that looked to have successfully snapped the limb. Later, it was revealed that the arm had somehow miraculously escaped breakage, but it didn't hide the fact that Hassan was completely outclassed by Cantwell in the match-up.

Both Hassan and Kingsbury will now have a chance to redeem themselves of those past losses at UFC 104, but they'll likely be under the knife as the loser will have a high probability of seeing his contract cut by the UFC. Kingsbury has been the more disappointing fighter if we look at his losses in the TUF house, but Hassan's strength of competition outside of the UFC wasn't exactly impressive either.

Stylistically, both men aren't true specialists in any area. Hassan tends to grapple more than strike, although he does possess a brown belt in Taekwondo. Kingsbury tends to try to sprawl, wrestle, and keep fights standing to land punches and big knees in the clinch. Neither man has an especially diverse tool kit of techniques, so this bout could go either way. Kingsbury did show weaknesses in his takedown defense against Lawlor, which could be a hint for Hassan to put Kingsbury to the ground early, and Hassan definitely showed weaknesses trying to stand with Cantwell -- something Kingsbury can take advantage of as well.

Kingsbury currently trains in San Jose with American Kickboxing Academy where Bob Cook, Javier Mendez, and Dave Camarillo have been working to improve his game, so he should have an edge in regards to his training partners and camp for this fight. I also believe his size and weight cut to 205 will allow him to come in stronger and bigger than Al-Hassan. Add in the fact that a lot of the recent video I've seen on Kingsbury shows some real improvements in his techniques and his attitude. I think we'll see an improved Kingsbury at UFC 104, and hopefully a win.