Tonight marks the final UFC event for 3 weeks, and it promises to be a doozy of a show. Robbie Lawler and Matt Brown will tangle in what should be a great main event, while a resurgent Anthony Johnson welcomes Antonio Rogerio Nogueira back after a 1+ year absence in the co-main.
But before we get to those big fights, the other half of the main card is just as enticing. Top 10 featherweight Clay Guida meets Dennis Bermudez, who is undefeated in his last 6, while Josh Thomson aims for a win after a controversial loss to Ben Henderson, as he faces Bobby Green.
UFC on Fox 12's main card begins live from San Jose, CA as 8 PM ET/5 PM PT, with four preliminary card match-ups airing on the same network at 6 PM ET/3 PM PT.
Clay Guida (31-14 MMA, 11-8 UFC) vs. Dennis Bermudez (13-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) - Featherweights
Guida drew plenty of criticism for his bizarre showing against Gray Maynard, and then the boos continued when he won a rather questionable decision win vs. Hatsu Hioki when he dropped to featherweight. His reputation of exciting fights dissipated along with his status as having one of the best chins in MMA. Chad Mendes knocked him out in the 3rd round, marking the first time that he'd been finished via strikes. Guida rebounded in April with a shock early knockdown of Tatsuya Kawajiri en route to an entertaining unanimous decision win. A longtime veteran of the sport, Guida's past losses have come primarily against eventual champions or former title challengers, so his fight with Bermudez is every bit a "gatekeeper" type role as his chances for a title shot are slim and none.
Bermudez engaged in a thriller against Diego Brandao in the TUF 14 Finale, but after nearly scoring the KO win he was submitted via armbar just before the end of the 1st round. As devastating as it was to finish runner-up in the season's featherweight tournament, Bermudez is a perfect 6-0 since then. The New York native is coming off a dominant 3rd round TKO over Jim Hettes. While his win streak is no doubt impressive, he's yet to face a fighter ranked in the top 10, and with Guida coming into this one at #7, Bermudez should be able to have a long-term stay in the top 10 if he can best Guida. The power advantage is clearly his and his takedown defense is phenomenal, but he is prone to submission defeats, so he should be wary of that if he ends up grappling with Guida.
Josh Thomson (20-6, 1 NC MMA, vs. Bobby Green (22-5 MMA, 3-0 UFC) - Lightweights
The last time Josh Thomson fought in San Jose, he shocked the MMA world by stopping Nate Diaz in the 2nd round with a beautiful head kick and multiple strikes on a turtled up Diaz before the referee stopped the fight. It cemented Thomson's place among the UFC's elite at lightweight and it gave him a title shot against Anthony Pettis, which unfortunately never came to fruition after Pettis injured his knee. Thomson took another fight in the meantime, a main event spot against Ben Henderson in Chicago, where he was unable to get the split decision to go his way. The official record on Thomson shows he's 2-3 in his last 5, but he could conceivable be 4-1 if an additional judge saw him winning both the Henderson fight and the Gilbert Melendez trilogy in Strikeforce.
Green is on a 7 fight winning streak, including a memorable comeback win over Jacob Volkmann and a short notice decision win over Pat Healy. He was scheduled to fight Jim Miller at UFC 172 before pulling out with an injury, and then he was plucked from his match-up with Abel Trujillo to replace Michael Johnson against Thomson. This is a huge opportunity for Green to stamp himself as one of the best LWs in the world, and it'll surely be an emotional affair as he enters the cage just a few weeks removed from the tragic loss of his brother. Green is the underdog for this one and understandably so, but that's been the case in all of his UFC fights, and it'd be silly to count him out of this one.