The UFC has saved one of their best fight cards for last, as they will close out 2007 with a bang at UFC 79. Matt Hughes, Georges St. Pierre, Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva, Lyoto Machida and Rameau Sokoudjou are all fighting on what should be a great way to cap off a great year of UFC events.

Matt Hughes vs Georges St Pierre – When current UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra had to pull out of his scheduled fight with Matt Hughes, Georges St. Pierre stepped up to the plate and how the two will meet in a rubber match for the interim welterweight title. Since losing the title to GSP at UFC 65, Hughes fought Chris Lytle to an uninspiring decision victory at UFC 68. Since losing to Serra at UFC 69, St. Pierre completely dominated Josh Koscheck at UFC 74.

Matt Hughes, by his own admittance is in the last days of his career and has relied on what has worked for him his whole career – his superior wrestling game. We all saw how GSP was able to handle Josh Koscheck and his “superior” wrestling game, and George’s should be able to do the same against Hughes. On the feet, the edge definitely belongs to St. Pierre, even though Hughes seems to be confident with his striking. I see GSP handling Hughes much like he did in their last meeting and winning without much of a problem. Winner: Georges St. Pierre

Wanderlei Silva vs Chuck Liddell – Finally, the fight we all wanted to see last year is now happening. While a Liddell vs Silva fight in Dec 2007 doesn’t hold quite the same luster it would have about 18 months ago, the fight is still highly anticipated by any long-time MMA fan. With both fighters coming off two straight losses, you might think each man needs the victory just as badly as the other. Personally, I think Liddell needs this win much more than Silva does. A loss would give Liddell three straight losses in the UFC and not much hope for the future other than retirement. A loss for Silva would be his first loss in the UFC in front of an American crowd, and would still leave room for him to bounce back in the eyes of the UFC fan base.

At the moment, I think Wanderlei holds the upper hand in this matchup. Wanderlei is more rested, having not fought since February and has had plenty of time to do nothing but train. Recently videos from Silva’s training camp show him to be in, what appears to be, the best shape of his career. Wanderlei’s wild, almost wreckless striking style matches up well to Liddell’s wild, looping striking style. While Chuck is great at avoiding takedowns, Silva won’t mind and will be happy to stand with Chuck in the clinch and land some knees.

Liddell has looked pretty sloppy in his last two fights, especially in his weak showing against Keith Jardine at UFC 76. Liddell had absolutely not defense against Jardine and I don’t him having a much different gameplan this time around. Chuck is, of course, still Chuck Liddell and you can’t count him out of any fight, but Chuck hasn’t shown much development in his game over the past 12 months and I don’t think the hunger and desire is there for him anymore. I expect a good fight between the two and only hope it can progress into the third round. Winner: Wanderlei Silva

Lyoto Machida vs Rameau Sokoudjou – The “African Assassin” makes his return to US soil after fighting in Pride 33 and 34 where he KO’d Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona both in the first round. Machida will provide another good test for Sokou and his experience and patient fighting style will really show us what kind of skills Sokou possesses.

While Machida is constantly viewed as a boring fighter, Sokou is one that loves to push the pace with his striking and judo background. I see this fight going the distance as Machida knows how to pick his shots and work the fight with his technical striking, but Sokou’s aggression should be enough for him to outpoint Lyoto. Winner: Rameau Sokoudjou

Rich Clementi vs Melvin Guillard – As much as the UFC loves to hype fighters with “bad blood,” the feud between Clementi and Guillard is the real deal. Earlier this year Guillard and Clementi began trash-talking each other via email and posts on The Underground Forum. The virtual feud let to a physical confrontation in February of this year when the two crossed paths after a local fight show where Guillard reportedly sucker-punched Clementi after a brief verbal exchange.

The two had to wait a while to face off in the octagon as Guillard was suspended 8 months by the NSAC for testing positive for cocaine metabolites after losing to Joe Stevenson at UFC Fight Night 9. With the suspension period over, Guillard and Clementi can finally settle their score and I expect some wild swinging from both guys. Winner: Melvin Guillard

Soa Palelei vs Eddie Sanchez – Eddie Sanchez, who is most known for being Mirko Filipovic’s first opponent in the UFC, is fighting for the first time since UFC 72 in June where he defeated Colin Robinson by TKO. Palelei last fought at Pride 28 way back in 2004 so it was a little curious when the UFC announced this fight against Sanchez. Palelei is a member of Team Quest in Temecula and has experience in Shooto as well. I really don’t think Sanchez has much to offer against most heavyweights and we really don’t know what kind of state Soa will show up in, so this one really is a toss up. Winner: Soa Palelei

Luis Cane vs James Irvin – Winner: James Irvin
Nate Mohr vs Manny Gamburyan – Winner: Nate Mohr
Jordan Radev vs Dean Lister – Winner: Dean Lister
Roan Carneiro vs Tony DeSouza – Winner: Roan Carneiro
Mark Bocek vs Doug Evans – Winner: Mark Bocek