UFC 138: Leben vs. Munoz Preview & Predictions

History will be made on Saturday November 5th 2011, as the UFC will hold its last numbered event on Spike TV and will hold its first ever five round non-title main event for UFC 138: Leben vs. Munoz from Birmingham, England.

Up until now, only championships were competed in five round 25 minute fights and all other bouts were three round 15 minute contests. However, due to fan demand, the UFC has decided from this point forward all main events whether title bout or not will be five round 25 minute affairs.

This is an exciting time for fans as it gives every main event an extra boost and will help distinguish the fight from the undercard, as well as potentially add more finishes. There have been some great main events over the years, which deserved to go on longer but ended prematurely since a title was not involved. Fights such as Rampage vs. Rashad Evans, Junior Dos Santos vs. Shane Carwin and even last weeks Nick Diaz vs. BJ Penn fight were all big time non title fights and if they had the two extra rounds, would most likely have had a more climatic outcome.

Luckily, this is no longer the case as Chris Leben and Mark Munoz start a new era and for the first time ever a non title main event will see the championship rounds in this Middleweight contest.

One of the UFC's longest fighting employees, Chris Leben (22-7) enters the octagon Saturday night for the nineteenth time under the UFC umbrella. Owner of the most Middleweight fights in UFC history (18) and most knockouts as a Middleweight (7), Leben is looking for his second straight win after his 27 second knockout of Wanderlei Silva this July.

Mark Munoz (11-2) on the other hand is coming off three straight victories, earning a hard fought unanimous decision victory in his last fight over Demian Maia in June.

Stylistically, this matchup is striker vs. wrestler. Leben will undoubtably want to keep this fight on the feet and utilize his sprawl and brawl reverse wrestling to land one of his powerful overhand left. Munoz most likely wants little to do with Leben's striking and will look to take Leben down as quickly as possible and work his relentless ground and pound.

There is a reason Chris Leben has a plethora of fights and knockouts inside the UFC and that is because of how this man fights. Besides possessing some of the most powerful hands in all of MMA, Leben also has one of the best chins of all time. More then willing to take two strikes to land one, there have been many instances when Leben has looked rocked and nearly unconscious, before he went into full zombie mode, lowered his chin, swung wildly and knocked his opponent out cold.

In addition to his standup, Leben is also a solid wrestler and grappler with underrated jiu-jitsu. Submitting Yoshihiro Akiyama with a triangle choke off his back, Leben proved that he is ever evolving and more dangerous then ever since opponents can no longer take him down to avoid his striking.

For Mark Munoz, this Saturday night is arguably his toughest fight to date. A standout NCAA Division I wrestling champion and multiple time All American, Munoz wants to drag this fight to the ground as quickly as possible and work his ground and pound.

Getting the fight to the mat, should be fairly easy for Munoz since he is currently one of the best wrestlers in all of MMA. However, he needs to keep his hands up at all times and not get careless when shooting for a takedown as one clean shot from Leben is lights out.

While neither man have ever competed in a 25 minute fight, I expect Munoz to have a cardio advantage should the fight go into the later rounds. Munoz is going to want to slow this fight down as much as he possibly can to tire Leben out and make his punches come slower with less power, while making him more accessible for a takedown. Munoz is going to have to withstand the early onslaught from Leben and if he is able to do so, I see him doing enough to earn himself a decision victory.

If the fight ends early, it is most likely Leben will emerge with his hand raised. If he can avoid the takedowns, Leben is at a clear advantage since Munoz' standup at this stage of his career is no where close to Leben's level. If the fight stays standing, Leben is technically and powerfully superior and he will quickly dispose of Munoz.

Also on the card, one time Welterweight contender and Muai Thai wrecking machine Thiago Alves (18-8) returns to action. Alves at one time compiled a seven fight winning streak in the UFC before losing in his championship bout against Georges St. Pierre. Since that time, Alves is 1-2 and is coming off a disappointing losing performance against Rick Story at UFC 130. Looking to get back to his winning ways and redeem his spot in the upper echelon of the Welterweight division, Alves meets the undefeated debuting up and coming Judo black belt Papy Abedi (8-0) on the evenings main card.

Although UFC 138 is not the most appealing card to causal fans, the UFC is giving it away for free on Spike TV at 9:00 pm (EST). It is usually cards like this without the most luster that always provide the most entertaining fights, so if you are lonesome this Saturday night, watch UFC 138 for you have nothing to lose.

Predictions:
Mark Munoz defeats Chris Leben via Unanimous Decision
Brad Pickett defeats Renan Barao via Unanimous Decision
Thiago Alves defeats Papy Abedi via 1st round TKO
Terry Etim defeats Eddie Faaloloto via 2nd round Submission
Anthony Perosh defeats Cyrille Diabate via Unianimous Decision
Michihiro Omigawa defeats Jason Young via Unanimous Decision