It seems like forever since the last UFC or Elite XC show went off.

It’s actually been three weeks for the UFC and Elite XC hasn’t been a part of a major event since Frank Shamrock and Cung Le fought in March. The point is it’s been a while for some since they’ve been able to get their MMA fix. Not to worry though, tonight Cage Rage 26 will attempt to fill that void.

Cage Rage 26 will be streamed live on ProElite.com later on this evening, taking place at The NEC Areana in Birmingham, England.

The main event of the night is a heavy weight championship bout between champion Ian “The Machine” Freeman (18-7-1) vs. challenger Paul Cahoon (10-10).

Freeman has only lost twice in his past 11 fights. Those two losses were to Andre Arlovski at UFC 40 (TKO) and to Melvin Manhoef at Cage Rage 17 (KO). Notable wins for him during that span were a TKO win over Frank Mir at UFC 38 and most recently a decision win over Mark Epstein at Cage Rage 18.

Cahoon is riding a nice win streak himself, winning his last five contests and seven of his last eight overall. The lone loss was also a first round TKO to Manhoef.

I’d give Freeman the edge in experience, but say Cahoon is probably the more confident fighter right now. We know this fight is going to be fought on the feet for the most part and both men are comfortable there.

Freeman is the naturally bigger fighter, which I think might have an influence in the outcome. Add that up with the experience factor and I think Freeman has a good chance to hang on to his belt tonight.

Prediction: Ian Freeman 2nd round TKO

The co-main event is another title fight. Mark “The Beast” Epstein (14-10) vs. Matt “The Hardest” Ewin (19-9-1) for the Cage Rage middleweight title.

Both of these guys are popular British Cage Rage veterans. Epstein is more of a stand up knock out artist type fighter, while Ewin is more of a submissions specialist.

It’s a nice clash of styles, but that doesn’t mean both of these fighters aren’t capable of defending the others strengths. They both have enough experience to know whats going on inside the cage.

I look at the list of guys Epstein has fought and I see names like Michael Bisping (twice) Ian Freeman and Travis Lutter. Then I look at Ewin’s list and see names like Martin Kampmann (twice) Andrei Semenov and Travis Lutter.

Put simply, they’ve both fought some tough guys and at different weight classes.

I’m looking forward to this fight. It will probably come down to who is able to execute their gameplan more effectively. I think the longer the fight stays on the feet, the more it favors Epstein and the more it stays on the mat, the more it favors Ewin.

Prediction for the fight: Ewin 2nd round submission (rear naked choke)

Here’s what the rest of the card looks like:

Ch’e Mills vs. Marios Zaromskis at welterweight
Rodney Favorus vs. James Zikic at light heavyweight
Ross Mason vs. Ross Pointon at welterweight
Henrique Nogueira vs. Marc Goddard at light heavyweight
Paul Reed vs. Brad Pickett at featherweight
Kev Sims vs. Popek Rak at heavyweight
Roman Webber vs. Scott Fairclough at light heavyweight
Chris Rice vs. Edegelson Lue at middleweight
Havey Harra vs. Gary Kelly at lightweight

Don’t forget: The fights will be streamed LIVE for FREE on ProElite.com. Can’t beat that.

Enjoy.