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This Saturday, February 7th, the UFC makes its first trip to Tampa, Florida for UFC Fight Night 17.

The fight card has been changed countless times, but thanks to fighters stepping up on short notice the UFC has managed to put together what seems on paper to be one of the better Fight Nights of recent times. The fight card continues the UFC’s tradition of using its Fight Nights to showcase its up-and-coming fighters.

Joe Lauzon vs. Jeremy Stephens

Competing in the main event are arguably the two best 155lb fighters in the UFC under 25, Joe Lauzon vs. Jeremy Stephens.

The last time we saw Lauzon, he was pounding out Kyle Bradley at UFC Fight Night 15. Lauzon is 4-1 in the UFC, with a notable victory over former champ Jens Pulver. Lauzon competed for Team Penn on TUF 5, having a successful run on the show until he was beaten by finalist Manny Gamburyan in the semi’s. He’s a well rounded fighter who can finish a fight from any position, evidenced by his three TKO’s and two submission wins in the UFC.

Jeremy Stephens is one of the top young-guns in the UFC. He is a very seasoned fighter for being only 22, having already competed five times in the UFC. He will be sporting a 3-2 UFC record into the octagon. His two losses came to veterans like Din Thomas and Spencer Fisher, but each time out he seems to improve upon his skills. We last saw him at UFC 91 viciously knocking out Rafael Dos Anjos with an uppercut that still has Dos Anjos head ringing.

Originally, the main event was supposed to take place with Hermes Franca in Stephens’ place. Stephens showed courage stepping up late to battle a warrior like Lauzon. Considering this is Stephens’ first main event I expect fireworks. Neither one of these kids likes to lose and it should be a great fight. I’m picking Lauzon by Unanimous Decision.

Mac Danzig vs. Josh Neer

The co-main event is another lightweight battle between former TUF 6 winner Mac Danzig and seven fight UFC veteran Josh Neer. Both fighters will be looking to be at their best since they’re both are coming off losses, to Clay Guida and Nate Diaz, respectively. In today’s UFC, two losses in a row could mean the highway so look for a very technical fast-paced fight.

Danzig trains at Xtreme Couture which almost always implies he will be coming in great shape and ready to fight.

As for Neer, it will be interesting to see where his head is at considering his New Year’s day arrest for drunk driving, hit-and-run and evading the police. Sounds to me like the man should have a lot on his mind, and one can only question how good of a training camp he had.

Danzig will look to push the pace and really bring the fight to Neer, as Neer’s a fighter who’s notorious for starting slow. If you can keep him from finding his timing on the feet and don’t let him take you down, Danzig should win this fight by stoppage in the second round.

Main Card

Rounding out the main card is heavyweight Cain Velasquez, an all-american wrestler from Arizona State who has a good amount of hype surrounding his potential in the heavyweight division. He impressed his first fight out with a victory, and will look to recreate that success on Saturday night against heavyweight Denis ‘The Menace’ Stojnic.

Stojnic is a little known fighter out of Bosnia who is training with the Golden Glory gym with fighters like Semmy Schilt, Oleg Taktarov and Alistair Overreem. With those training partners and a few impressive clips on YouTube, I expect this fight to be competitive. According to UFC.com he is 12-1, with all of his fights taking place in Europe.

Recently promoted to the telecast is a potential “Fight of the Night” between welterweights Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson and Luigi Fioravanti.

Johnson has insane knockout power in his punches, knees and kicks. His head kick KO of Kevin Burns at TUF 8 finale was brilliant. Not including the eye poke, Johnson is 3-1 in the UFC with all 3 wins coming by way of KO. His lone loss was to Rich Clementi back at UFC 76.

Fioravanti is an American Top Team trained fighter who is 4-4 in the UFC. He has an exciting style that usually leads to a good fights. Standing at 5′ 8″ he will have a significant disadvantage fighting the 6′ 3″ Johnson.

Look for Fioravanti to shoot for the takedown, and look to control the fight on the ground and test the unknown jiu-jitsu game of Anthony Johnson. I predict Johnson will knock Luigi’s block off in the second round after a very exciting first frame.

The Undercard

The undercard is full of telecast worthy fights, but due to time constraints, we’ll most likely miss them.

A fight that seems destined for fireworks is the middleweight match-up between Dan Miler vs. Jake Rosholt. Both fighters are wrestlers, but not the boring kind.

Miller fights at an amazing pace for a middleweight, and I’m anxious to see what the NCAA D1 wrestling champ has for him. Rosholt, a member of Team Takedown who trains at Cobra Kai and Xtreme Couture, is surrounded by fighters who can mirror Miller’s style which should adequately prepare him for the fight. Rosholt has shown solid ground-and-pound, but being in Dan’s guard is not a safe place, as Miller is a very accomplished BJJ player. Rosholt will be making his UFC debut, but he has previously fought for Zuffa in the WEC. He won by TKO against Nissen Osterneck in a back and forth battle that showed some holes in Rosholt’s stand up.

I expect Miller to catch Rosholt in a submission before the fight ends.

In a lightweight scrap, Kurt Pellegrino takes on Rob Emerson, who is coming off two straight UFC wins. I expect Emerson to win by TKO.

In a welterweight bout, TUF 7 veteran Matt Riddle takes on Steve Bruno in his second pro fight. Bruno is 1-1 in the UFC and sports a 12-4 overall record.

Rich Clementi will meet Gleison Tibau in a lightweight bout. Tibau desperately needs a win after 2 straight losses, since three in a row might just mean a ticket back to the regional shows. I expect Clementi sink in a choke in the first round to send Tibau packin’.

UFC newcomers Nick Catone and Derek Downey will meet in a middlweight match-up.

And rounding out the card will be the HIT Squad’s Matt Veach taking on 9-1 Matt Grice.