UFC 105 Preview: Matt Brown vs. James Wilks

Matt Brown (10-7, 3-1 UFC) vs. James Wilks (6-2, 1-0 UFC)

The Story So Far: A TUF champion versus a TUF alumni. You have to love the UFC's predictable matchmaking.

James Wilks won the welterweight tournament on the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter. That season was viewed by many as an attempt for the UFC to groom some new British talent. James Wilks was certainly the bright spot coming out of the finale, as he took down DeMarques Johnson in spectacular fashion.

Matt Brown got his big break on the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter. While Brown came up short in the semi-finals --he lost to eventual winner Amir Sadollah-- Matt has been able co-opt his appearance on the reality show into a successful run in the UFC. Brown defeated Matt Arroyo, Ryan Thomas and Pete Sell while dropping a decision to Dong Hyun Kim.

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Conventional Wisdom: The UFC usually protects their TUF winners but Matt Brown is a real threat to James Wilks. It appears that the UFC's need to make a meaningful U.K. fightcard resulted in Wilks not receiving a complete can as a previous U.K. TUF winner received.

WKR Analysis: Wilks looked fantastic in his TUF finale fight against DeMarques Johnson so much so that WKR was mildly shocked to discover that Matt Brown is favored in this fight. Brown has struggled with submission defense as five of his seven losses came via submission (Matt was submitted by Chris Lytle for crying out loud). Wilks has an underrated submission game as he is a brown belt in Jiu-Jitsu. While Brown is a blue belt under Jorge Gurgel, WKR wouldn't be shocked if Wilks wins via submission.

Fun Fact: James Wilks has lived and trained in the United States for the past nine years. Due to Wilks extended U.S. residence --one that takes him back before the Unified Rules were written-- WKR believes this makes James Wilks far from an accurate representation of the status of U.K. MMA.