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.
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