UFC 141 Preview

If things were normal right now, I'd either be in Las Vegas covering UFC 141 in person, or back in Canada monitoring the daily happenings during fight week.

Instead I'm on "vacation," visiting family in Italy, and unable to get the MMA virus out of my system. While they all rest, I'm trying my best to catch up on all that is happening with Friday night's event.

To wit -- I'm glad I'm here, but a piece of me wishes I could watch some of these fights go down in person.

The battle of the beasts

Much is being made about the main event between former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and his opponent, Alistair Overeem, a title holder with Strikeforce, Dream and K-1. Fans and pundits seem to be divided on who will emerge victorious.

"The Demolition Man" brings with him an abundance if experience to his octagon debut, while Lesnar -- the UFC veteran -- pales in comparison. But hang on.

Since making his organizational debut in 2008, Brock has gone 4-2, defeating the likes of Frank Mir, Shane Carwin and Randy Couture. During that same timeframe, Alistair has gone 9-0-1, with victories over Fabricio Werdum, Mark Hunt and Brett Rogers. Read between the lines here.

Overeem is a favourite in Vegas, but something is telling me he shouldn't be. He's a monster, no ifs, ands or buts, but I am wondering out loud if it's Lesnar who should be the favourite despite what the bookies are saying.

Watch two live UFC 141 preliminary fights Friday at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT on all Sportsnet Ontario, Pacific and ONE.

This fight is tantalizing for so many reasons, but one in particular. It's your prototypical style vs. style matchup. The wrestler vs the striker.

Can Brock secure the takedown? Or will he eat a viscous knee that will end his night the moment he launches into a double leg attempt?

If Alistair does end up on his back, will he be able to withstand Lesnar's ground and pound? Or will Overeem get back up and lock in one of his famous guillotines?

If Lesnar's takedown attempts are thwarted, can Overeem land the lucky bomb that most believe he will require to solidify the old ‘puncher's chance’ adage?

Buckle your seat belts folks - this one is going to be a fantastic bout to watch. Then again, your seat belts will already be on because of the co-main event …

Clash of the lightweight titans

When the UFC first announced the Donald Cerrone and Nate Diaz bout, I was with my UFC Central producer Jacob Clark. The look on his face mirrored that of the thousands of fans who took to Twitter, Facebook and the MMA message boards to voice their near unanimous approval.

Ladies and Gentlemen - this is a fight for the ages.

Diaz is a man of few words and many actions, and is as real as they get. Long lost is the shadow and burden he once wore as the younger brother of Nick.

The Stockton, Calif., native does his talking inside the cage, but it does not take much provoking to get him fired up. Believe me when I say I've seen him go from the gentlest of souls, to street soldier in the blink of an eye. He's always reppin' and ready to throwdown, and this time, he may have met his match.

Cowboy Cerrone walks to the beat of his own drum. I've seen it in Vegas, Houston, Los Angeles and many other cities. This guy will first serve justice before taking any names. He is neither the bully, nor the one who should and would be bullied.

His demeanour when Diaz punked him at the pre-fight press conference told me a few things, namely, he was not going to disrespect his employers. I may have thought they were going to rumble right there on the stage, but thankfully, Dana White squashed that spark instantly; it could have been a forest fire if he did not.

Anyone else out there believe leg kicks will be the course du jour when Cerrone and Diaz meet on Friday night? Or do you believe Nate will out strike Donald? How about the ground game? Does "Cowboy" check his ego at the cage entrance, or does he decide to match grappling wits with the Gracie brown belt?

I'm getting an eerie feeling about this tilt. Let's just say that there will be extra security on hand to make sure things do not escalate into an all out brawl.

Welterweight storylines

Jon Fitch, the best welterweight in the world other than Georges St-Pierre, will make his long awaited return to the octagon at UFC 141.

Do not bother trying to tell me his style is boring; it's not. Go to wrestling class or go through the history of MMA evolution to understand why his style works, and why he's only lost one fight out of fifteen in the UFC.

If you can't appreciate ground and pound, positional dominance, and an outright blue collar grinding blue collar work ethic, then let's just agree to disagree.

Fitch will be taking on Johny Hendricks, a fighter who definitely has all the tools to defeat the #2 welterweight in the world.

But to do so, he will have to put Jon on his back. Not usually an easy task, but the element of surprise is strong in wrestlers.

Set-ups and switches pay dividends, but above all, Hendricks will want to see if his striking speed and explosiveness can get the better of Fitch. If he does get the takedown he will aim to secure back control while raining down some ground and pound. That's how BJ Penn was able to stun Fitch, and on the surface, that may be how Hendricks can do the same.

But if he cannot, look for Fitch to do what he does best; pound away until sunrise. Fitch is riding the same ‘have to finish’ train that GSP seems to have been forced on. Mark my words, he will try; but if he cannot, the haters will hate until the fingers can no longer type on their keyboards.

The other bout featuring 170 pounders I will be paying close attention to is Toronto's Sean Pierson taking on Dong Hyun Kim. Both fighters are coming off disappointing knockout losses and will be looking to showcase that those bouts were anomalies.

Pierson is the better wrestler and striker in this fight. Kim boasts the better judo, and if he gets top control on Pierson, it could get ugly for the Canadian.

Then again, trying to hold Sean down has often proved to be very difficult for many of the sports best. Just head on over to the TriStar gym in Montreal, to see what I mean. He has a pesky style, with freakish strength, not just in his grappling, but in his left hand.

Providing he doesn't start off slow, don't be surprised if the three to one underdog pulls off the upset.

Final thoughts and predictions

Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem: I'll go with the underdog, Lesnar via TKO.

Donald Cerrone vs. Nate Diaz: Cerrone by leg kicks en route to unanimous decision.

Jon Fitch vs. Johny Hendricks: Fitch wins two rounds-to-one.

Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Alexander Gustafsson: going with the youngster Gustafsson via decision, but it would not surprise me if the veteran "The Mauler" gives a mauling.

Nam Phan vs. Jim Hettes: Hettes should consider 135 lbs., but if he gets Phan to the ground, he will continue to fight at 145 lbs.

Sportsnet Prelims (starting at 9pm EST/6pm PST)

Anthony Njokuani vs. Danny Castillo: reach has me thinking Njokuani, but Castillo's savvy is very underrated. I'll go with Danny Ross.

Ross Pearson vs. Junior Assuncao: Providing Pearson’s cardio is not affected by the new weight class, he should pitch a three round shutout.

Facebook Fights

Sean Pierson vs. Dong Hyun Kim: Pierson pulls off the upset via TKO.

Efrain Escudero vs. Jacob Volkmann: Volkmann ruins Escudero's UFC comeback.

Matt Riddle vs. Luis Ramos: Ramos via decision - what happened in his UFC debut should not affect him.

Manvel Gamburyan vs. Diego Nunes: Nunes by decision in what could be a fight of the night candidate.