UFC 86: Ben Saunders vs. Jared Rollins
The Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas will play host to UFC 86 where two of the most memorable fighters from “The Ultimate Fighter 6″ will meet head to head. Alongside the main event, light heavyweight championship bout between Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin, according to MMA Junkie, Jared “J-Roc†Rollins will face off with Ben “Berserk†Saunders in a possible do or die crunch match for Rollins.
Rollins, a brown belt in BJJ, was seen by many as one of the early favorites to win series 6 of The Ultimate Fighter. Despite the high level of BJJ skill and cardio, it all ended early and emotionally for the American from Long Beach, as he was eliminated in the opening round of the competition via KO courtesy of George Sotiropoulos. Rollins would return to face fellow TUF6 cast member and friend Jon “War Machine” Koppenhaver at the Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale, treating fans to an epic 3 round blood-soaked slug-fest, though Rollins ultimately lost the bout via third-round TKO.
Saunders’ is a Jeet Kune Do fighter who goes into this fight with an undefeated MMA record. In the Ultimate Fighter 6, Saunders displayed his skills to defeat Dan Barrera with unorthodox combinations of both kicks and punches, and also proved he has a good chin, taking a powerful punch from Barrera to the nose, which dropped him to the canvas, only for Saunders to recover instantly and laugh off the strike. Saunders went on to to lose to runner up Tommy Speer in the quarterfinals of the competition, and then returned to the finale defeating Barrera in a rematch.
After losing in the first round of TUF6 and then losing his UFC debut, Rollins earned himself a place back in the Octagon after his bout with Koppenhaver was selected as “Fight of the Night”. Rollins will be looking to prove himself, and desperately needs to earn a win in the UFC. He will almost certainly want to take this fight to the ground and utilize his BJJ. Saunders not only is a more skilled and experienced striker, he also poses a threat with his reach advantage. We have yet to see the ability of Saunders ground game and the outcome of this fight may rest on whether or not he can keep the fight standing.
not a bad fight, although i don’t know if i’d put this right before rampage and forrest. don’t really like ben saunders too much. j-roc is alright even though he kinda talks like mike tyson.
jarrod “carlton” rollins is a better nickname for him. i like saunders, the guys likes to put on a good fight. plus he’s skinny, so am i, so i feel like more of a badass when he wins, haha
I believe 86 is at Mandalay Bay
2 GOOFBALLS !!!
2 losers from the show gets somewhat of a headline…nice…i hear people bag on tommy speer for his last 2 fights…well ive seen j-rock fight twice and was defeated by a good george and a terrible jon…..ben looks like he could be a good fighter….like a kendall grove, but better…and with time could be better…. i hope this is what we dont have to look fwd to in the future….the main fights on the PPV just be reality star vs reality star….or these cards will start to suck…and these crappy brands will start to get better fighters and the UFC will go away!!
Right on steve o, just fixed it.
saunders in round one (strikes). rollins has no heart. if you suck bad enough to loss to koppenhaver you will absolutely be pwned by saunders timing and reach.