Well lets see how I can do this time. UFC 110 is upon us, and there are some big fights with potential title implications. With no further ado, here we go.
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs "Big" Ben Rothwell
heavyweight (205-265)
Cro Cop has been a shell of himself since his knockout loss to Gabriel Gonzaga, despite his semi strong showing against Mostapha Al-Turk several months back. Rothwell was dispatched in brutal fashion by Cain Velasquez, when he made his UFC debut back in October, and is looking to prove he belongs in the UFCs heavyweight division. It could be Cro Cops last UFC fight if he doesn't have a strong showing, so the hard hitting Croatian needs to step up against the nasty ground and pound of Rothwell.
Cro Cop is at his best when people push the pace, and he can counter punch, or land his butally efficient left high kick. The downside to that is those aspects of his once terrifying stand up, have withered significantly. Rothwell has above average stand up, decent ground skills, and a havy top game if and when he can get the fight to the ground. With Filipovic posessing better than average takedown defense, and Rothwells substandard takedown ability, this fight should stay standing for most part, which should favor Cro Cop.
Rothwell needs to get this fight to the ground, asap, but will have a hard time getting it there. Cro Cop will dictate the pace for most of the fight, before getting the ref calls for a stop.
Cro Cop via TKO, Rd. 3
"The Dean of Mean" Keith Jardine vs. Ryan "Darth" Bader
light heavyweight (205)
Jardine is coming off two straight losses, and Bader is on a roll. With his heavyhanded, but less then refined striking, and superb wrestling, Bader will look to get the fight to the ground if necessary, and exert some heavy ground and pound. Jardine has decent takedown defense, underrated grappling skills, and practically defines unorthodox striker.
This should be an interesting fight, which will depend heavily on the gameplans of each fighter, and how well they follow them. Jardine is definitely going to stay on the outside, work leg kicks, and the occasional jab, and try to get Bader to over commit. He may shy away from the leg kicks if he thinks it'll get him taken down, unless he wants to try and out grapple the former ASU standout. Bader, on the other hand, will look to get in close and take this fight down to the ground, unless he thinks his striking is good enough to test the suspect chin of Jardine. If he tries to go toe to toe with the "Dean of Mean", chances are he'll be on the wrong end of nasty leg kicks, and on the road that leads to a rib cage that looks like hamburger.
Jardine will more than likely approach this fight cautiously, and gain confidence as the fight wears on. Bader will most likely get frustrated with standing up against Jardine, and take the fight down, where he will be at a disadvantage. Bader will do his best to grind out a win, but his stand up and ground skills just aren't strong enough. All three judges will decide in favor of Jardine at the end of this fight, and Bader will limp home with his first loss as a professional.
Jardine, via Unanimous Decision.
Joe "Daddy" Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
lightweight (155)
Stevenson has been rejuvenated since joining up with Greg Jackson, and sitkc with what works for him, heavy top control, and slick jiu jitsu. Sotiropoulos has been slowly, but steadily working his way up the lightweight ladder since a pedestrian showing on season six of The Ultimate Fighter. "Daddy" has good boxing, but standing up against someone with a significant reach advantage and solid boxing skills themself, is usually a bad idea. Both fighters also posess black belts in bjj, so this fight will be a very interesting chess match between two veteran fighters.
Sotiropoulos will avoid the vise like chokes of Stevenson, and try to out point the shorter statured fighter on the feet, until he makes a mistake. Stevenson has a stronger wrestling base, so he should be able to dictate how and when this fight goes to the ground. Diego Sanchez showed a good blueprint for beating Stevenson on his feet, but Sotiropoulos doesn't have the striking, or the gas tank Sanchez does. All that withstanding, this fight will be very moderately paced, until someone makes a mistake. The mistake will come too late for someone to capitalize on it for the finish, but it may well swing the decisions of the judges to cast Stevenson as the winner in a razor close split decision.
Stevenson, via Split Decision
Wanderlei " The Axe Murderer" Silva vs. Michael "The Count" Bisping
middleweight (185)
Wanderlei will finally have his first fight at 185, and is looking to establish himself as one of the next to fight for the title. Bisping has been on a roll since dropping down to middleweight. With the exception of his KO loss to the departed Dan Henderson, he has been terrific. A win against Silva could mean he is one fight away from getting to challenge for the strap, but Silva is far from washed up. His catchweight bout against Rich Franklin was a hotly contested bout, and Bisping has shown that he is susceptible to the type of violence that Silva relishes in.
"The Count" will work the outside, and try to pepper Silva with jabs, and maybe even take the fight to the ground if things don't go his way. Silva, on the other hand, will wade through everything Bisping throws at him, to try and remove his head from his neck. Bisping doesn't have the knockout power of a Rampage, and Wanderlei doesn't hit quite as hard as Henderson, but that being said, I don't like Bispings odds. Wanderlei is hungry, and very healthy for the first time in a long time. Bisping is coming off a dominant win over Denis Kang, and looking at a title shot by years end. Silva is quicker, has better striking, and a borderline psychotic demeanor once he steps into a fight. Expect the ref to step in and pull the beserker raging brazilian off Bisping in the second.
Silva, via TKO Rd. 2
Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira vs Cain Velasquez
heavyweight (205-265)
If the winner of Frank Mir-Shane Carwin is unable to face Brock Lesnar this summer, the winner of this bout will find themself in line for that title shot. As important as that may be, this also is an interesting matchup for Velasquez. It will be his first chance to show he is title worthy against a former champion.
Nogueira is coming off a dominating win over Randy Couture, and is hungry for another title shot. Velasquez has run roughshod over everyone the UFC has put in front of him, which includes Ben Rothwell, and Cheick Kongo. I have no idea exactly what gameplan Velasquez is going to follow to win, but I have a sneaking suspiscion that he will try to out strike him, try wear him out, and eventually try to get him to the ground for a TKO finish. The fact that it is a three round fight favors him more than Nogueira, but I don't think it'll mean that much in the long run.
Big Nog will be better than Velasquez on the feet, and much better on the ground. This will be a onesided decision win for the much vaunted brazilian, who will find himself right in line for a shot at the champ later on this year, whoever it will be.
Nogueira, via Unanimous Decision
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
UFC 109 Previews and Predictions
It's late in the week, and I've had very little time to read up on the main card for this weekends UFC. That being said, I'm pretty sure I can't do as poorly as I have the last couple of events. Anyways, enough with the excuses, the previews wont be as long, but hopefully more accurate? We'll see.
Matt "The Terror" Serra vs. Frank "Twinkletoes" Trigg
Welterweight (170)
Two guys with a ton of experience, skill, and trash talking capabilities, step into the octagon, potentially fighting for their UFC jobs. Trigg last fought in September when Josh Koscheck separated him from his senses, and Serra has been inactive since May when he lost a very close decision to Matt Hughes. Both fighters are in the waning years of their respective careers, but have more than a little left in the tank.
Trigg is making his second fight at 170 pounds after a number of scraps at 185. He is a very strong wrestler, with solid striking, but less than stellar submission defense. Serra is a slightly undersized welterweight, with an excellent ground game, and very heavy, if not precision stand up skills.
This comes down to who can implement their gameplan with more authority. Trigg is the bigger, stronger fighter, and will look totake Serra down for some good old ground and pound. Serra, on the other hand, will either try to drop fist down Knockouttrigg Alley, or let Frank take him down, and go to work with his superior jiu jitsu game. I believe it will come down to a closely fought match, with Trigg getting the judges nod.
Trigg, via unanimous decision
Demian Maia vs. Dan Miller
Middleweight (185)
Short and sweet. Miller is at his best when he can utilize his wrestling and jiu jitsu. Maia is so much better than him with the submission game, and has twisted better wrestlers into unrecognizeable knots. Maia is also looking to prove that his brutal KO loss to Nate Marquardt was not indictitive of his abilities, and try to bounce back by making Miller do a little tap, tap, tap. This fight ends with Miller succumbing to the constrictive twistabilities of Maia in the second round.
Maia, via submission (triangle choke) Rd. 2
Paulo Thiago vs. Mike "Quick" Swick
Welterweight (170)
This was supposed to be Thiago fighting the man he knocked out a year ago in Josh Koscheck. When a knee injury sidelining "Kos" his teammate Swick stepped up to try and work his way back up the welterweight ladder. After a surprising, but possibly self enlightening loss to Dan Hardy, Swick needs this win. "Quick" takes this fight on short notice, which is bad news for any fight, but especially against Thiago. After disposing of Koscheck, he lost a close decision to former contender (and teammate to Swick and Koscheck) Jon Fitch, he came back strong with a strong showing with a win over Jacob Volkmann.
Thiago has strong, if unorthodox strikes, and a superb grappling/submission game. He will most likely look to get this fight to the ground, and avoid the reach, and vastly superior striking of Swick. If he can't, it's going to be a long night for the Brazilian. I can't imagine a scenario where Swick gets in close enough to get taken down, or let Thiago land the type of punch that floored Koscheck. It ends in round one, with the referee pulling Swick off after a trademark flurry from "Quick".
Swick, via TKO. Rd.2
Nate "The Great' Marquardt vs. Chael Sonnen
Middleweight (185)
This fight has officially been tabbed to name he next challenger for the midlleweight belt. Marquardt is fresh off his brutal, and very surprising 22 second destruction of Demian Maia, while Sonnen has put together an impressive string of victories, including a thorough dismantling of Yushin Okami, once thought to be the fighter to unseat Anderson Silva.
Both fightes have strong wrestling, but that's where their skill sets diverge in very different directions. Sonnen is a decorated amateur wrestler, who uses that experience to grind his opponents out, and drag fights into the later rounds where his heavy top game, superb conditioning, and underrated stand up, can win dominating, if not spectacular fights.
Marquardt has solid wrestling, a bjj blackbelt, and precise, heavy striking. Overall, his abilities are much more well rounded than Sonnen, and he is going to need to focus on the areas where Sonnen is weakest, to take the W home. More exactly, he will want to work his striking, and try to avoid getting taken down and try to get Sonnen down himself, so he can either snag a submission, or pound out a TKO win.
This is a very intriguing fight, with a lot riding on it. Marquardt can earn another shot at the middle weight championship, or Sonnen can finally prove that he belongs in the upper echelon of 185 pounders. This will be very competetive fight, but ultimately, Marquardts superior striking, and his ability to dictate the pace on the feet will win out. Marquardt will not be able to catch Sonnn lie he did Maia, but he will outpoint the Oregonian in every aspect of the fight enroute to a unanimous decision.
Marquardt, via Unanimous Decision.
Randy "The Natural" Couture vs Mark "The Hammer" Coleman
Lightheavyweight (205)
History is being made! Not the best kind of history, it's two current UFC Hall of Famers will face off in the octagon for the first time, but they're both on the wrong side of 40, and only one of them has been relevant in the past five years.
This is another open and shut case. Both have solid wrestling, but only one is a former Olympic alternate, and of the two skill sets, one posesses the necessary stand up to pummel the other for three rounds. Couture is the better striker, better wrestler, and the better fighter. "The Natural" will impose his will on "The Hammer, and get the stoppage via ground and pound either late in the second, or early in the third.
The one really interesting thing about this fight, is that the winner will potentially be in line for a shot at the winner of Machida-Rua 2. I really hope not, because I don't want to watch either one of these guys get the poop kicked out of them by a mean and nasty brazilian.
Matt "The Terror" Serra vs. Frank "Twinkletoes" Trigg
Welterweight (170)
Two guys with a ton of experience, skill, and trash talking capabilities, step into the octagon, potentially fighting for their UFC jobs. Trigg last fought in September when Josh Koscheck separated him from his senses, and Serra has been inactive since May when he lost a very close decision to Matt Hughes. Both fighters are in the waning years of their respective careers, but have more than a little left in the tank.
Trigg is making his second fight at 170 pounds after a number of scraps at 185. He is a very strong wrestler, with solid striking, but less than stellar submission defense. Serra is a slightly undersized welterweight, with an excellent ground game, and very heavy, if not precision stand up skills.
This comes down to who can implement their gameplan with more authority. Trigg is the bigger, stronger fighter, and will look totake Serra down for some good old ground and pound. Serra, on the other hand, will either try to drop fist down Knockouttrigg Alley, or let Frank take him down, and go to work with his superior jiu jitsu game. I believe it will come down to a closely fought match, with Trigg getting the judges nod.
Trigg, via unanimous decision
Demian Maia vs. Dan Miller
Middleweight (185)
Short and sweet. Miller is at his best when he can utilize his wrestling and jiu jitsu. Maia is so much better than him with the submission game, and has twisted better wrestlers into unrecognizeable knots. Maia is also looking to prove that his brutal KO loss to Nate Marquardt was not indictitive of his abilities, and try to bounce back by making Miller do a little tap, tap, tap. This fight ends with Miller succumbing to the constrictive twistabilities of Maia in the second round.
Maia, via submission (triangle choke) Rd. 2
Paulo Thiago vs. Mike "Quick" Swick
Welterweight (170)
This was supposed to be Thiago fighting the man he knocked out a year ago in Josh Koscheck. When a knee injury sidelining "Kos" his teammate Swick stepped up to try and work his way back up the welterweight ladder. After a surprising, but possibly self enlightening loss to Dan Hardy, Swick needs this win. "Quick" takes this fight on short notice, which is bad news for any fight, but especially against Thiago. After disposing of Koscheck, he lost a close decision to former contender (and teammate to Swick and Koscheck) Jon Fitch, he came back strong with a strong showing with a win over Jacob Volkmann.
Thiago has strong, if unorthodox strikes, and a superb grappling/submission game. He will most likely look to get this fight to the ground, and avoid the reach, and vastly superior striking of Swick. If he can't, it's going to be a long night for the Brazilian. I can't imagine a scenario where Swick gets in close enough to get taken down, or let Thiago land the type of punch that floored Koscheck. It ends in round one, with the referee pulling Swick off after a trademark flurry from "Quick".
Swick, via TKO. Rd.2
Nate "The Great' Marquardt vs. Chael Sonnen
Middleweight (185)
This fight has officially been tabbed to name he next challenger for the midlleweight belt. Marquardt is fresh off his brutal, and very surprising 22 second destruction of Demian Maia, while Sonnen has put together an impressive string of victories, including a thorough dismantling of Yushin Okami, once thought to be the fighter to unseat Anderson Silva.
Both fightes have strong wrestling, but that's where their skill sets diverge in very different directions. Sonnen is a decorated amateur wrestler, who uses that experience to grind his opponents out, and drag fights into the later rounds where his heavy top game, superb conditioning, and underrated stand up, can win dominating, if not spectacular fights.
Marquardt has solid wrestling, a bjj blackbelt, and precise, heavy striking. Overall, his abilities are much more well rounded than Sonnen, and he is going to need to focus on the areas where Sonnen is weakest, to take the W home. More exactly, he will want to work his striking, and try to avoid getting taken down and try to get Sonnen down himself, so he can either snag a submission, or pound out a TKO win.
This is a very intriguing fight, with a lot riding on it. Marquardt can earn another shot at the middle weight championship, or Sonnen can finally prove that he belongs in the upper echelon of 185 pounders. This will be very competetive fight, but ultimately, Marquardts superior striking, and his ability to dictate the pace on the feet will win out. Marquardt will not be able to catch Sonnn lie he did Maia, but he will outpoint the Oregonian in every aspect of the fight enroute to a unanimous decision.
Marquardt, via Unanimous Decision.
Randy "The Natural" Couture vs Mark "The Hammer" Coleman
Lightheavyweight (205)
History is being made! Not the best kind of history, it's two current UFC Hall of Famers will face off in the octagon for the first time, but they're both on the wrong side of 40, and only one of them has been relevant in the past five years.
This is another open and shut case. Both have solid wrestling, but only one is a former Olympic alternate, and of the two skill sets, one posesses the necessary stand up to pummel the other for three rounds. Couture is the better striker, better wrestler, and the better fighter. "The Natural" will impose his will on "The Hammer, and get the stoppage via ground and pound either late in the second, or early in the third.
The one really interesting thing about this fight, is that the winner will potentially be in line for a shot at the winner of Machida-Rua 2. I really hope not, because I don't want to watch either one of these guys get the poop kicked out of them by a mean and nasty brazilian.
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