We’ve reached the end of the year, much too quickly as always. There have been some great shows, and some shockers, and now we are left with two last big events to finish the year, plus one to kick the New Year off.

Strikeforce: Evolution will see Cung Le return to MMA to face Scott Smith. Le has been working on his acting career, and was forced to vacate his previous Strikeforce middleweight title, but he has returned to give fans yet another a fight worth watching. Scott Smith is best remembered for his awesome knockout of Pete Sell after having been folded over with a liver shot seconds before. If you haven’t seen it, then you mustn’t have an Internet connection.

Cung Le has a record of just 6-0 and yet has managed to build up an incredible reputation thanks to his exciting fighting style. His last fight against Frank Shamrock had people talking for a long time. Scott Smith has heart, but he has been overwhelmed by quality competition in the past. I think this one goes to Le, as Smith will probably try to brawl rather than take Le to the ground, which is where Smith should have the advantage.

Other Strikeforce: Evolution fights of note will include Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal vs. Mike Whitehead (hint: King Mo will win. Not even close.) and Ronaldo Souza vs. Matt Lindland. Sure, the Strikeforce lightweight championship will be unified as well, but who really cares about Strikeforce lightweights the week after BJ Penn brutalized Diego Sanchez?

Dynamite!! 2009 will feature both MMA bouts and K-1 bouts. It’s a Dream/Sengoku/K-1 cross-promotion that I don’t think really appeals to any one audience. The major MMA fight in this promotion will be the DREAM Super Hulk Grand Prix 2009 Final between Ikuhisa Minowa and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. This sees former star Sokoudjou trying to prove he has some relevance by taking down an MMA veteran with a record of 43-30-8 in Minowa.

Seriously, is this some kind of joke? Minowa got here by beating Bob Sapp and Hong Man Choi, both with submissions. Those fighters aren’t exactly known for being real championship prospects. This finals fight looks like it’ll be a one-sided destruction and I hope no one thinks Sokoudjou is on the way to a comeback after it, as I just cannot see how this presented him with a challenge. It’s a great example of why tournaments over multiple events are not that great an idea – if the wrong fighters win, you end up with a bad headline event for the final.

Last, and unfortunately least, we’ll look on poor old UFC 108. That card showed so much promise in its younger days, but it got in with a bad crowd, and now it’s lying in the gutter without a real marquee fight to carry it. Headlining the event is Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva which should be… interesting? I’m told it will be, and I guess it should be, as both fighters have only lost to Lyoto Machida. I’m more interested in a few of the other fights, like Junior dos Santos vs. Gilbert Yvel and Matyushenko vs. Cantwell. To be honest, if this were a Fight Night card, I’d be pretty excited.

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