A week later is UFC 107, headlined by BJ Penn against Diego Sanchez, and on paper the card is stronger than last month's twin offerings. The main event is obviously intriguing, with two very talented and somewhat mental lightweights going at it. Penn should take it, but if Sanchez can stay on his feet he can definitely give the Prodigy a run. On the undercard, Kenny Florian against Clay Guida should be an good shootout given Florian's talent and Guida's proclivity for 15 minutes of action. Frank Mir will look to rebound from his Lesnar whumping against Cheick Kongo and give a little clarity to the heavyweight division, and Jon Fitch and Mike Pierce give the wrestling fans something to watch.
Strikeforce: Strikeforce looks to build momentum for their first card since Fedor-Rogers on the 19th with Strikeforce: Evolution on Showtime. The main event is a possible middleweight eliminator as Cung Le tries to take a step back towards the championship he recently forfeited. He'll go against Scott Smith. "Jacare" Souza will go against Matt Lindland at 185 in the Strikeforce debuts for both men (coming from DREAM and Affliction respectively). I'm most looking forward to Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal's Strikeforce debut against Mike Whitehead. Lawal has tough opposition at either 205 or 245, wherever he lands, but here against Whitehead he should be able to show off not only his talent but also his Japan-acquired taste for hilariously over-the-top ring entrances.
WEC: WEC counters against Strikeforce by airing Donald Cerrone vs. Ed Ratcliff on Versus on the 19th. I like this card from WEC; it has the feel of a tournament atmosphere with four top lightweights and four solid bantamweights on the televised card. Of the main event and the top undercard (Anthony Njokuani against Chris Horodecki), I'd expect the winners to go against each other at a later date for a shot at the winner of January's title unification match between Jamie Varner and Ben Henderson. Meanwhile, Joe Benavidez and Takeya Mizugaki each have matches near the top of the bantamweight division, Benavidez against submission specialist Rani Yahya. 135 is a tremendously crowded field in WEC right now: champion Brian Bowles likely has a match against Dominick Cruz and a rematch against Miguel Angel Torres in line, but WEC 45 should help to shake out the queue.
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