10 reasons to watch to UFC Fight Night 30

U.K. fans again got some bad news when hometown favorite Michael Bisping was injured and forced to withdraw from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 30 event. But in his place, ex-champ Lyoto Machida is looking to reinvent himself, and there are plenty of entertaining matchups to tag along.

After spending the bulk of his career at light heavyweight, Machida makes his promotional debut as a 185-pound middleweight, where contenders are queuing up after the dethroning of Anderson Silva by new champ Chris Weidman. “The Dragon” meets standout Mark Munoz, who recently got back in the win column and now looks to get back into the title picture when they meet at Phones 4u Arena in Manchester, England.

It’s been eight months since the UFC’s most recent offering in the U.K., but British fans soon will have a lot more within reach. Next year, the promotion holds a European tour with six planned events.

Bisping expects to return when the tour kicks off March in London, so fans of “The Count” hopefully won’t be too disappointed. Whether he meets Munoz, Machida or another middleweight high in the rankings is the unanswered question.

It’s one of 10 reasons to watch UFC Fight Night 30:

1. Chasing “The Dragon.” Things probably won’t go too well for Munoz (13-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) if he can’t close the distance and engage with Machida (19-4 MMA, 11-4 UFC), who replaced an injured Bisping in the event’s FOX Sports 2-televised headliner. Machida’s counter-striking game isn’t nearly the enigma it was four years ago. But if Munoz can’t get close, he won’t be able to use his best weapon: ground and pound. Thus far, even bigger foes haven’t been able to force Machida to the mat, so it could be quite the test for “The Filipino Wrecking Machine.”

2. Machida at middleweight. We should presumably see a faster, more explosive version of Machida now that he’s fighting in his natural weight division. There are plenty of fighters, however, who switched things up and needed a fight or two before they found their full potential. Even if Machida isn’t his best at 185 pounds, he still could skate to victory by picking shots on his feet. If Munoz can turn the fight into a grinder against the cage and on the mat, that’s where things get interesting.

3. Who’s dropping whom? Never shy about declaring his own prowess, Melvin Guillard (31-12-2 MMA, 12-8 UFC) says he drops everyone via the misfortune of eating his fists. For the most part, he’s right. If not required to tussle against a strong jiu-jitsu guy, he’s a terror. The question is whether “The Ultimate Fighter 9? winner Ross Pearson (15-6 MMA, 7-3 UFC) can get out of the way. The organization claims he is No. 2 in the UFC for defensive striking and will be able to counter his way to victory. Maybe that’s a head-fake for executing the game plan that’s historically been Guillard’s kryptonite, but we’ll see.

4. Robot or stanky-leg. We’ll see one of them, hopefully, when Canadian light heavyweight Ryan Jimmo (18-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and Brit Jimmy Manuwa (13-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) meet in the center of the cage. Manuwa is such a terror on his feet that it almost guarantees the kind of cage-leaning clinch fest we’ve come to expect from two guys concerned about each other’s power. But hey, maybe Jimmo finds his inner-robot and gets business done – or Manuwa adds another victim to his list.

5. Take two. Lightweights Norman Parke (18-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) and Jon Tuck (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) were scheduled to fight at UFC on FOX 7 before Tuck was forced to withdraw due to injury. Six months later, he returns to put his undefeated record on the line against Parke, who’s coming along nicely after his win of “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Australia vs. Team U.K.”

6. Last chance for Sakara? At times, it’s seemed like middleweight Alessio Sakara (15-10 MMA, 6-7 UFC) has gotten more second chances than the average UFC fighter, especially during a 2-4 streak between 2006 and 2008. Having lost his past three, it’s hard to imagine he’ll get another chance if he loses to newcomer Nicholas Musoke (10-2-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC).

7. Redemption, or a boot to bantamweight? Before John Lineker (22-6 MMA, 3-1 UFC) missed weight for the third time in five fights, his bout with Phil Harris (22-10 MMA, 1-1 UFC) looked like the kind of opportunity that could put him in line for a title shot. But Lineker just can’t seem to shed the necessary pounds to make the flyweight cutoff. He was two pounds heavier than required at today’s weigh-ins, coming in at 128 pounds. It’s hard to imagine the UFC feeling comfortable enough to give him a crack at champ Demetrious Johnson, so at the very least, he needs a top-notch performance against Harris. Even then, he might get a firm suggestion to move up to 135 pounds and the bantamweight class.

8. Middleweight scrap. The stock of Andrew Craig (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) might not have skyrocketed following his recent decision win over Chris Leben at UFC 162, but he’s shown promise at 185 pounds, stopping Rafael Natal with a wild head-kick KO and outpointing the tough Kyle Noke. His opponent, Luke Barnatt (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), showed a flair for striking on “The Ultimate Fighter 17,” but also supplemented his standup with additional work with Chael Sonnen following the show. He gets a tough challenge in his first post-”TUF” test, but this should be a fun fight.

9. Miller gets paid. American Top Team fighter Cole Miller (19-8 MMA, 8-6 UFC) went out on a limb to say the sponsor market is in the pits these days in the UFC, and with his appeal of a decision loss to Manny Gamburyan apparently on the road to Nowheresville, he needs a good showing against featherweight Andy Ogle (9-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC), a vet of “The Ultimate Fighter 15.”

10. Hettes’ tough road to U.K. After a seriously impressive debut, featherweight Jimy Hettes (10-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) stumbled in a unanimous decision loss to Marcus Brimage in his most recent showing, at UFC 152. We’ll see whether he’s able to put his impressive grappling chops on display against newcomer Robert Whiteford (10-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who steps in for an injured Mike Wilkinson.

The full UFC Fight Night 30 card includes:

MAIN CARD (FOX Sports 2, 3 p.m. ET)

• Lyoto Machida vs. Mark Munoz
• Melvin Guillard vs. Ross Pearson
• Ryan Jimmo vs. Jimi Manuwa
• Norman Parke vs. Jon Tuck
• Nicholas Musoke vs. Alessio Sakara
• Phil Harris vs. John Lineker

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMAjunkie.com, 12:15 p.m. ET)

• Piotr Hallmann vs. Al Iaquinta
• Luke Barnatt vs. Andrew Craig
• Jessica Andrade vs. Rosi Sexton
• Cole Miller vs. Andy Ogle
• Jimy Hettes vs. Robert Whiteford
• Michael Kuiper vs. Brad Scott

For more on UFC Fight Night 30, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.