In the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s recent attempts to make their product worldly renown they have decided to take their popular product to the tough city of Belfast, in Northern Ireland.  After a successful show in England earlier this year, the UFC is more than happy to head to Ireland, and via PPV for the rest of the world, On June 16^th.  The main event of the historic event will feature one fighter on a quest to regain his old championship and another fighter who is a feared fighter in the world of Mixed Martial Arts, but still a relative new comer to the world of the UFC.

Rich “Ace” Franklin (21-2-1 1 No Contest) is the former 185 pound UFC champion.  In November of 06’ lost hit championship after being TKO’ed by Anderson Silva.  This is Franklin’s only loss in nine UFC fights.   Prior to that loss Franklin had not lost a MMA match since December of 03’.  Franklin got back on the winning track this past March when he defeated Jason MacDonald at UFC 68-Uprising.  It had been MacDonald’s first loss in eight outings.  The fight ended when MacDonald’s corner had seen enough of their man getting pounded by the relentless strikes from Franklin.  In his illustrious career the 32 year old has beaten top fighters like Ken Shamrock and Evan Tanner.  But, his next opponent might be his toughest challenge yet.

The 26 year old Yushin Okami has been a force to be reckoned with since he first came on the MMA scene a little over four years ago.  Early in his career he suffered two out of his 3 losses, but it is clear that the experience he acquired in those early fights allowed him to be the top fighter he is today.  The only other loss of his career came last April in a questionable decision against Jake Shields at “Rumble at the Rock 9,” which is a different fighting organization then the UFC.  Okami made his UFC debut in August of 2006 and has amassed a record of 4 and 0 with two knockout victories.  In his last outing he defeated Mike “Quick” Swick by unanimous decision in relatively easy fashion.  Okami entered the fight with Swick as an underdog, but emerged as one of the top 185-pounders in the world. 

What many opponents of Okami have commented on is his almost inhumane like strength.  On top of his above average speed and striking abilities, it’s his ground strength that has left many opponents feeling weak and helpless. In fact, minutes after losing to Okami, Swick contemplated heading to a lower division because of how powerful Okami was and he didn’t know if he could handle that at the 185 pound division.  When you add up all these things, and the fact that he is only 26 years old it’s easy to see why Okami is one of the rising stars in the sport.  In fact, he still may not have reached his prime.

In the main support bout of the evening Forrest Griffin makes his first appearance since his defeat at UFC 66 to Keith Jardine.  Before the loss Griffin was climbing up the ranks in the 205 pound division.  He will take on tough guy Hector Ramirez. 

In another interesting undercard bout, Rory Singer will take on the previously mentioned Jason MacDonald.  The winner of this bout will once again be a step closer to perhaps another elusive title shot.

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