You'd never know there was a UFC show this weekend if you didn't actively look information up about it. Spike TV relegated the countdown show to Thursday at 11pm, and the UFC is holding press conferences in Germany when their show this weekend is in columbus. There are no titles on the line, and much like UFC 93, it looks like the UFC will forego hyping this show in order to focus on the next two following it.
Despite the lack of hype, I am still interested in the top two fights. The main event should be competitive, and has a lot of stylistic intrigue. Jardine probably can't finish Jackson, but at his best he can effectively grind his way to decisions over seemingly superior fighters. Jackson has to be the favorite given his ability to finish and Jardine's chin, but it is an interesting fight between two excellent light heavyweights. The title ramifications are huge too, as it is essentially a number one contender's bout between Lyoto Machida and Rampage Jackson even though Machida isn't involved.
The co-main event is probably more interesting. Ever since his debut, we've been told endlessly how good Shane Carwin is, and for the most part he hasn't disappointed. However, his opponents have all been tomato cans, and it's not as if he's simply jumping a small level up in competition. Gabriel Gonzaga is not the natural progression after a fight with Neil Wain, it is a gigantic jump in quality of competition and a real trial by fire for Carwin.
Outside of the two main fights and Miller/Maynard, the card has little appeal to me. In tough economic times, skipping one like this makes a lot of sense, but I can also see why the UFC does well even given the economic collapse we're all enduring. It becomes one of the few things to look forward to every month, and as long as they're churning out a few interesting fights, most people will still be willing to split the costs of a PPV show with friends.
For those of you who buy virtually every UFC show, are you skipping 96?