I'll begin by offering my apologies for the spotty coverage on UFC 109, as I was attending a wedding out of town all weekend.  I was able to catch the replay late yesterday and formulate a breakdown of how the fights unfolded and a summary of how each result may impact the future.

Ronys Torres x Melvin Guillard

In his first showing on the big stage, Torres looked poised, and his stand-up has become noticeably more technical.  He snares two quick takedowns and works to advance through Melvin's guard, but Melvin is too slippery and gets back to his feet to poke with his jab, switching stances.  Melvin finds range and lands a few shots that Torres seems to shake off, and the Brazilian throws a flying knee.  Melvin commits with a good combination that is returned by Torres, who is standing in the pocket and dueling hands with Guillard confidently.  Torres shoots, and Guillard plants a quick flying knee of his own at the perfect time, but Torres is unfazed and works briefly before finishing the takedown.  Guillard gets up again, but chews on a hard Torres hook for his efforts.  10-9 Torres.

Melvin comes out aggressively in the second, but it's matched by Torres who cannot answer punches but snags another takedown--but again Guillard sacrifices position but is able to get back on his feet.  Guillard is finding rhythm on the feet, and lands two strong knees just as Torres shoots, but Torres has a head of iron and refuses to relent with his forward movement, and from the feet, Melvin rolls to escape Torres' back body-lock, but ends up in side control.  Torres angles for a kimura, and although he seems to have a vice-like grip, Guillard powers out and stands above Torres, landing a windmill right hand through the grounded Brazilian's guard as the bell sounds.  10-9 Guillard.

I have waited for more than a decade to see Mark Coleman and Randy Couture fight.  This was supposed to have happened back in 97 when Coleman was champ and Couture was bursting onto the scene with an amazing TKO win over previously undefeated Vitor Belfort. Couture suffered a rib injury, however, so the bout was shelved.  Who could've guessed that it would be 13 years before it finally happened.

Now that it is finally upon us, long time UFC fans like me are thrilled.  It's very hard to pick a winner for this fight, and I think it's going to be a closely contested battle.  Coleman's wrestling, however, will be the difference.  I think Couture will win the stand up battle but on the ground Coleman will be stronger.  After three tough rounds, I'm going with Coleman by decision.

To provide a quick overview of the remaining bouts on tonight's card and machine-gun through a few evaluations:

Mike Swick x Paulo Thiago--although both fighters are beyond elementary in all aspects, the mechanics of this fight will unfold under the "striker vs. grappler" guidelines.  Swick's hands are truly lightning-fast, and he might be one of the most violent strikers at 170 when he's not hesitant and pulls the trigger freely and with confidence.  Thiago presents the perfect reason why Swick is not always relaxed and winging bombs recklessly, because Paulo is a machine on the ground.

Although not bearing an overabundance of big names, his resume is stocked with submission wins and only one flaw at the hands of Jon Fitch; although one could argue that the only relevant success of Thiago's was the stunning wallop that floored Josh Koscheck.  Just as Thiago will be slightly overmatched should Swick succeed in keeping the fight standing, the same situation applies in reverse if Thiago can ground Swick.

Based mostly on the favoritism shown by judges towards the striker and the inconsistency (or inadequacy) of properly scoring submission attempts, it's understandable that Swick is favored.  My guess:  Swick by decision

Demian Maia x Dan Miller--the outlook is bleak for talented middleweight Dan Miller, with his most appealing strategy possibly lying with a sprawl and brawl strategy to steer clear from the magnetic tangles of Maia's smooth and highly complex submission set-ups.  I've been critical of Maia, but in this case, the fight will hit the ground and the reason he's acclaimed as one of MMA's top grapplers will be on full display.  My guess:  Maia by submission

We now enter what I feel is the most compelling contest on the UFC 109 card, with a red carpet leading towards a title shot with Anderson Silva to be unrolled for the victor.

Nate "The Great" Marquardt is a seven-time King of Pancrase, and is now one of the most experienced and diverse middleweights in the world.  He, along with multi-weight class king Dan Henderson, has established himself as the standout competitor in the chase to challenge Silva; and with Hendo jumping the promotional fence to try his hand in Strikeforce, Marquardt stands in sheer isolation as the UFC's top middleweight contender.

Unless, that is, your name is Vitor Belfort, and you've beaten a measly three unranked middleweights elsewhere and one UFC icon in a bout outside the relevant weight class, and are handed a gift-wrapped title shot based on name value and excitement.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course; but Marquardt's earned his stripes by manhandling everyone in his path since joining the UFC besides middleweight monarch Silva and a shakey split-decision loss to Thales Leites that he should have won.

Under the wise and wary tutelage of the renowned Greg Jackson, Marquardt has further adapted the crafty ground assault he's been wielding successfully for over a decade, and seriously accelerated his striking game to slowly and steadily morph into a fighter with few weaknesses and weapons aplenty.

The "legends" match headlining UFC 109 features a pair of battle-hardened veterans whose inspirational performances have helped to shape MMA into what it is today, and they are also  amongst the finest wrestlers to ever grace the sport.

The abundant praise and expression of high emotion that riddled MMA messageboards after Randy Couture shocked the world by taking apart the then undefeated Vitor Belfort at UFC 15 was only the beginning, for Couture would continue to amaze fans and defy age by registering equally exemplary outings versus Pedro Rizzo, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Tim Sylvia, and Gabriel Gonzaga.

In the dark tale "The Smashing Machine" featuring Mark Kerr, the positivity and big-hearted charisma of Mark Coleman helped to balance the gloomy and depressing storyline, especially after it was capped off with Coleman's influential clinching of the Pride 2000 Gran Prix and his unforgettable, celebratory flail over the top ropes.

Much like his training partner, featherweight king Jose Aldo, Alves ends the fight with a quick and brutal KO by way of a perfectly timed knee just as Paulon shoots. 

After the jump, we dig a little deeper with back-to-back highlight films of Amilcar Alves by João Psicotico (check out João Psicotico's Dailymotion and Youtube pages).  Finally, Amilcar takes out the scrappy Gracie Fusion fighter Diego Braga and also Andre Tadeu in Rio de Janeiro's "The Glory" promotion.  

Stay tuned to The Garv for more info on Amilcar Alves' stateside debut in Shine Fights.

I love the sport of MMA with a true passion; much like I'm assuming anyone reading this article does.  One of the facets I enjoy most about this sport is witnessing the meteoric rise of fighters who seemingly materialize out of nowhere to isolate themselves as standout competitors with their dominant and exciting performances.

In that vein, I would like to introduce Amilcar Alves, an 11-1 fighter who has taken the Brazilian combat scene by storm by overwhelming his opponents with a ferociously immeasurable array of offensive weapons.  Training alongside elite-echelon fighters at the highly heralded Nova Uniao fight team like world champion Jose Aldo, top Sengoku featherweight Marlon Sandro, and upcoming UFC brawler Ronnys Torres, Alves is known for unleashing a hurricane of hostile Muay Thai on the feet, and he's also exceedingly proficient with aggressive submissions on the mat. 

He has an extensive 25 years years of experience with Judo, 10 years with Muay Thai, and now several years of intense Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under the tutelage of the legendary Andre Pederneiras.  Pederneiras has overseen such submission grappling greats as B.J. Penn, Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro, Marc Laimon, Marcus Aurelio, and Renato "Charuto" Verissimo.

After trouncing Fernando Paulon (video), the only fighter to ever best him