James Wilks Faces Matt Brown At UFC 105

Sports News - November 13th, 2009 - Written by Scott

In welterweight action at UFC 105, two former competitors in The Ultimate Fighter series will face each other on Saturday. England's James Wilks was the welterweight winner in Season 9 and Matt Brown was a contestant in Season 7 and now the two will face each other in Manchester, England. Wilks brings in a career record of 6-2 and a UFC record of 1-0. Brown has a career record of 10-7 and is 3-1 in his UFC fights.

Brown comes into the bout as the more experienced fighter, especially in terms of the quality of his opponents. He has greatly improved on his striking and will have the advantage in this area over Wilks. His only loss in his UFC bouts was a split decision, which some feel he should have won the fight against Dong Hyun Kim. How well he can punish Wilks with his strikes could prove to be the difference in this fight. He should do everything to keep this fight upright as Wilks probably have the edge if it goes to the ground. However, Brown has shown a great ability in his defensive moves while on the mat to ward of his opponents' ground techniques.

Wilks should not pose too much of a threat if he is forced to stand up and fight Brown. He has been striking fairly well as of late, but his strengths are shown when the fight is on the ground. He has great submission ability and will need to avoid a stand up fight with Brown to utilize this strength. One of the downfalls for Wilks is his lack of experience with higher quality opponents. This might not come into play on Saturday, but he will need to stick with his game plan and not try to fight with the same style as Brown. Wilks must find a way to put Brown on his back and pull off a submission if he is to win the fight. Not that he can not stand up and trade strikes, but how long he will be able to withstand the punishment from Brown's powerful strikes remains to be seen if the fight goes this way.

For those of you who are doing some UFC betting, Brown comes into the fight as the favorite according to BetUS sportsbook with his line set at -155. Wilks has his line set at +125.

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