The UFC’s return to Japan doubles as their best Fuel card to date. I was pretty critical of UFC 157’s main card, and while it turned out to be fairly entertaining, those were not the greatest or most interesting matchups on paper. Next week’s card is fantastic from top-to-bottom. I’d go as far to say that with the exception of Mizuto Hirota against Rani Yahya, all of the main card fights on Fuel would be a main card fight on a PPV.
Wanderlei Silva and Brian Stann headline this event in a five-rounder at light-heavyweight. It marks the return to 205 for both men, and a return to Japan for the PRIDE legend himself. The co-main event features surging heavyweight contender Stefan Struve against the man who Ronda Rousey goes to for her armbar training, Mark Hunt. Hell, we’re not done. Diego Sanchez is back at lightweight and faces another PRIDE legend in Takanori Gomi. What? Still not done? How about middleweight contender Yushin Okami against Hector Lombard. Still not satisfied? What about welterweights Dong Hyun Kim and Siyar Bahadurzada. I’m excited and you should be, too.
The prelims feature Takeya Mizugaki against Bryan Caraway, as well as middleweight prospect Brad Tavares versus Riki Fukuda.
UFC on Fuel 8 will air live in North America on March 2nd (3rd in Japan) at 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT, much like a PPV event. Hopefully Comcast customers will get Fuel TV this week, and boy does it deserve plenty of viewers. The six fight main card is preceded by the five preliminary card fights on the Facebook stream. Here’s a look at the full lineup:
Main card (Fuel TV):
Wanderlei Silva vs. Brian Stann
Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve
Hector Lombard vs. Yushin Okami
Takanori Gomi vs. Diego Sanchez
Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Mizuto Hirota vs. Rani Yahya
Preliminary Card (Facebook/Youtube):
Riki Fukuda vs. Brad Tavares
Bryan Caraway vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Cristiano Marcello vs. Kazuki Tokudome
Alex Caceres vs. Kyung Ho Kang
Marcelo Guimaraes vs. Hyun Gyu Lim