The “UFC Prelims” series will return to Spike TV on March 31 with live preliminary card bouts from UFC 111 in Newark, New Jersey, Spike announced on Monday, and, as expected, Matt Brown vs. Ricardo Almeida and Nate Diaz vs. Rory Markham will be featured on the one-hour, limited commercial broadcast:
The first bout scheduled to air on Spike TV is a welterweight contest between Matt “The Immortal” Brown (13-7) and Ricardo Almeida (11-3). Brown has become a fan favorite since his stint on Season 7 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” as his relentless style and devastating striking ability has garnered him a 4-1 record in the UFC, with all wins coming via TKO or submission. He is currently riding a string of three straight dominant performances against Ryan Thomas at UFC 91, Pete Sell at UFC 96 and, most recently, James Wilks at UFC 105. The Cincinnati based fighter will now look to put himself in the title picture with a fourth consecutive victory. Standing in his way will be a man fighting in his own backyard, Hamilton, NJ’s Ricardo “Big Dog” Almeida. The winner of two straight bouts coming into his matchup with Brown, most recently against Kendall Grove at UFC 101 this past August, this Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt will look to use his strong ground game to make a successful debut in the UFC’s welterweight division after years of fighting at middleweight.
The evening’s second televised bout is also in the welterweight division, and pits Rory Markham (16-5) against Nate Diaz (11-5). Markham, one of the game’s premier knockout artists, will look to use his immense punching power to stop his opponent, Diaz on March 27th. The winner of “The Ultimate Fighter 5,” Stockton, CA based Diaz has amassed a 6-3 record in the UFC in less than three years, and his fight with Markham will see him transition from lightweight to welterweight, where he hopes his added power will augment his effective Cesar Gracie taught Jiu-Jitsu skills in stopping Markham and setting him on his way to welterweight gold.
Other bouts on the card might air on Spike TV, to be determined by the length of the fights.
“UFC Prelims” debuted in September for UFC 103 and the most-recent installment for UFC 109 earlier this month drew a record 1.7 million viewers.
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Pictured: Matt Brown
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These are some good prelim fights, if Diaz beats Markham I suspect Markham is done in the UFC… Brown v Almedia should be a nice battle!
Glad we get to see these fights. Brown v. Almeida will be interesting for sure, no idea who to pick for a winner, but it is a good test for both men. Diaz v. Markham will be nice, too. It will be interesting to see if Diaz looks to stand with Markham or take the fight down. If it stays standing, I think Markham could come away with a KO victory, that’s what I’d like to see anyways.
Lucky for you you don’t need to pick a winner, as bsbiz will pick “Brown by murder” for us all…
;)
im pretty excited for all the undercard fights. almost every fight has someone im a fan of riddle, pelligrino, matt brown, and pahlares. and hopfully markham can do wat whitemare could not which is knock that lisp outta diaz. should b a great night and its only a month away i cant wait!!
Even though this IS a different Diaz. ;)
i kno but i think i dislike nate more. eva since he was gonna fight someone in the house on TUF and the 1st thing he does is take his shirt off and puff his chest ive not been a fan. thats typical bar dwellin tight affliction wearin a$$hat behavior. and who knos justin mayb well get lucky and nick will jump in the cage and markham will lay him out too. a man can dream cant he…
Yeah, a man can dream, and I don’t blame you for having that desire.
For me this is a good news, bad news sort of deal.
The good news, is that the prelim show returns with 111, and that guys like Brown, Alemida, and Markham get some airtime.
Brown-Almeida in particular should be good stuff.
The bad news however comes in the form of America’s least wanted, the wannabe gangsta known as lithping 209, appearing again on my flatscreen…