UFC 94 Main Event:
Georges St. Pierre (170) vs. B.J. Penn (168)
This is a tough one to call, given that both these guys are freaks of nature in their own way. BJ Penn can twist himself into a pretzel, has uncanny take down defense, and has bricks in his hands…not to mention world class ju-jitsu. St. Pierre is just an all around monster. Striking, wrestling, submission, grappling, you name it. The difference maker here is the cardio. It’s a five round title fight and although Penn has greatly improved his cardio, St. Pierre’s has always been great. St. Pierre by unanimous decision.

Lyoto Machida (206) vs. Thiago Silva (206)
It’s a battle of the undefeated 13-0 fighters. Silva likes to charge ahead and brawl, while Machida likes to evade and counter strike. I tend to think Machida will take this via decision. He has experience versus better quality opponents (Tito Ortiz, BJ Penn, Rich Franklin) and unless Silva runs in and rocks him with a perfect punch, I don’t see Silva getting past Machida’s defenses.

Karo Parisyan (170) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (171)
Parisyan’s “comeback” fight. Parisyan has been out of action for quite some time due to injuries and panic attacks so this bout will tell how far he’s come. The Karo of old would have dispatched Kim with ease. I still think Karo takes this, by decision.

Nathan Diaz (156) vs. Clay Guida (156)
I think the Diaz train stops here. He will simply get overwhelmed by the whirling dirvish, Clay Guida. Guida by decision.

Stephan Bonnar (206) vs. Jon Jones (206)
I know squat about Jones. Bonnar by 1st round kimura.

UFC 94 Preliminary Card Bouts:
Jon Fitch (171) vs. Akihiro Gono (171)
Curious card placement of the most recent welter weight top contender for sure. Karo has never had a title shot at 170, yet is on the main card. Fitch by 2nd round TKO.

Manny Gamburyan (155) vs. Thiago Tavares (155)
I’m pulling for Tavares to put Manny out of the UFC here. Let’s go 1st round TKO for Tavares.

Chris Wilson (170) vs. John Howard (171)
The deceptively tough Wilson by 1st round submission.

Jake O’Brien (205) vs. Christian Wellisch (206)
O’Brien by a three round smother attack.

Matt Arroyo (171) vs. Dan Cramer (171)
Arroyo takes this, 1st round sub.

Georges St. Pierre has been on an incredible tear since his shocking loss to Matt Serra. He has mowed down Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes, Matt Serra and Jon Fitch in impressive fashion. His head appears screwed on right, and he’s eager to show his UFC 58 split-decision win over Penn was justified.

BJ Penn woke up on his 28th birthday and realized he was pissing his talents away by coasting by on his natural talent. He too has dedicated himself to maximizing his potential and has looked great in taking out Jens Pulver, Joe Stevenson and Sean Sherk.

This will be a close fight, but I have a feeling St. Pierre will take this one again, but this time leave no doubt.

Here’s the rest of the card. I wonder if it’s a coincidence that Jon Fitch, the guy who Main-Evented UFC 87, is on the under card, after the whole, “refusing to sign over video game rights to the UFC” fiasco? He’s a top fighter with an 8-1 record in the promotion, and Gono always puts on a show. As well, we’ll see if the raw aggression of Thiago Silva can catch the cerebral approach of Lyoto Machida. Methinks Silva has a long, long night ahead of him.

Georges St. Pierre vs. B.J. Penn
Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva
Stephan Bonnar vs. Jon Jones
Karo Parisyan vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Nathan Diaz vs. Clay Guida

Prelims:

Jon Fitch vs. Akihiro Gono
Manny Gamburyan vs. Thiago Tavares
John Howard vs. Chris Wilson
Jake O’Brien vs. Christian Wellisch
Matt Arroyo vs. Dan Cramer

These two were supposed to fight on December 13, during the Ultimate Fighter finale, but Guida sustained a foot injury; no doubt while running his usual 845 miles per day. Seriously, the guy seems ADHD, he can never sit still, which is a very good habit inside the cage. Surprisingly, Guida has a mediocre record in the UFC, with a 3-3 record. However, he’s known for putting on exciting, exciting fights and always gives it his all, and is a huge favorite with the crowd. So despite the rather pedestrian record, Guida isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Diaz on the other hand, is undefeated in the UFC. He’s won 4 of his last 5 all by submission. He even tapped out the always durable Kurt Pellegrino. He should have his hands full with Guida though, as Diaz has had trouble with short, stocky wrestlers before, like Manny  Gamburyan. Gamburyan was actually winning their fight before dislocating his shoulder. This bout just adds to the already ultra-anticipated UFC 94 card.

Check out the snazzy new poster for the January 31, 2009 fight on Super Bowl weekend. The card will take place in the same venue as this weekend’s UFC 91 card, Couture vs Lesnar. The main event is a super fight pitting 170lb Champion Georges St. Pierre vs 155lb Champion BJ Penn in a rematch from their UFC 58 fight.

In their first encounter, Penn dominated St. Pierre in the first round, but St. Pierre stormed back to take rounds two and three when it appeared Penn tired a little bit. Penn has been lobbying for a rematch ever since.

Here’s the lineup as it stands today, subject to change of course:

Date: Saturday, January 31, 2008, at 10 p.m. ET on pay-per-view (PPV)
Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada

Main event:
UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre vs. UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn in a Welterweight title bout

Main card (Televised):
205 lbs.: Lyoto Machida (13-0) vs. Thiago Silva (13-0)*
205 lbs.: Stephan Bonnar (11-4) vs. Jon Jones (6-0)*
170 lbs.: Jon Fitch (17-3) vs. TBA*
170 lbs.: Karo Parisyan (18-5) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (11-0-1)*
155 lbs.: Nate Diaz (10-2) vs. TBA*

Under card (May not be broadcast):
155 lbs.: Manny Gamburyan vs. Thiago Tavares*
170 lbs.: Matt Arroyo (3-2) vs. Daniel Cramer (0-0)*

Bouts marked with a * are rumored but not confirmed by the UFC.

Parysian had just signed an 8-fight extension with the UFC and was actually set to fight Yoshiyuko Yoshida at UFC 88 on a “comeback” fight of sorts, after being KO’d by Thiago Alves at Ultimate Fight Night 13. Parysian suddenly, and unexpectedly, pulled out of the fight at the eleventh hour due to an injury. Some people have gone so far as to claim Parysian got wigged out (he recently made public his problems with panic attacks) and backed out of the fight.

Kim actually was benefited from Parysian’s withdrawl from the card, as his fight with Matt Brown was bumped up to the televised portion of the pay per view. Kim gutted out a three round decision over the Jeremy May hatin’ Matt Brown.

UFC 94 of course will feature the mega fight of welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre taking on lightweight champion BJ Penn, and top 205lb contenders Thiago Silva vs Lyoto Machida.