UFC 110

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