Tag: michael bisping

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UFC 127

After dropping two decision losses to current Lightweight champ, Frankie Edgar, BJ Penn rebounded back by KOing future hall of famer, Matt Hughes. It seems like Penn is back at welterweight again trying to make another run for the title.

Unfortunately for Penn, Jon Fitch is standing in his way. Fitch is a force to be reckoned with in the division. Fitch’s only loss in his 20+ fights is to current champ Georges St. Pierre. Penn looks to be the Prodigy everyone knows him as but that’s what everybody says before he steps into the cage so that doesn’t mean much anymore. The big question is can he put Fitch away like he did with Hughes? I doubt it.

Fitch will be too much for Penn. His wrestling, size, and strength will be too much for the under sized Hawaiian. Penn has decent striking and his hands are fast and deadly accurate. He will need to use his striking to setup grappling control and work to get top position. As good as Penn is at BJJ being under Fitch is a bad idea as he has strong top control and relentless ground and pound.

My picks:

Jon Fitch beats BJ Penn
Michael Bisping beats Jorge Rivera
George Sotiropoulos beats Dennis Siver
Chris Lytle beats Brian Ebersole
Ross Pearson beat Spencer Fisher
Chris Camozzi beats Kyle Noke

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UFC 110

UFC 110 has one of the most stacked cards I’ve seen in a while.  All the fights in the preliminaries and main card are worth watching.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs Cain Velasquez

Headlining the event is the Nogueira vs. Velasquez bout.  Both fighters are currently ranked near the top of the heavyweight division and a win for either of them would catapolt them to title contention. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is one of the most dangerous fighters in the division.  He’s not just dangerous because he is one of the best grapplers in the sport, or that he’s fought almost all of the biggest names in the sport. It’s the fact that he can take a Rodney King beating and still come back to win. Nogueira is the Jason Voorhees of MMA you can’t count him out until the credits starts rolling. And on the other side of the cage is Cain Velasquez. He’s a very strong wrestler with a good chin. A product of American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), Velasquez has been crushing his opponents with his superior wrestling. The only hole in his game is his stand up, which Cheick Kongo was able to expose during their fight, but as long as he continue to train with AKA his stand up is only going to get better.

What does Nogueira have?
– Dangerous grappling
– Strong chin
– Tons of experience

What does Velasquez have?
– Superior wrestling
– Strong chin
– Physically strong

My Pick:
Cain Velasquez takes it.  He will take the fight to Nogueira and use his wrestling ability to control the fight. The fight will go to the ground with Cain on top raining down elbows and punches. The only thing he has to worry about is getting sloppy and getting caught in a submission during a flurry or a takedown attempt. The last time Nog submitted anyone was when he fought Tim Sylivia in 2008 and before that it was Zuluzinho in 2006.  Nogueira hasn’t shown he has KO power. With about 40 fights he’s only has 2 KO on his record, the rest were submission and decision wins, so a knock out win for Nogueira is unlikely. Continue reading “UFC 110”

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UFC 83

Ufc83

Serra vs GSP

It has been about a year since George St. Pierre loss his title. A 10 to 1 underdog in their last fight, Serra shocked the MMA community by beating the seemingly invincible GSP. Today GSP will get his redemption and he will have the opportunity to do it in his hometown of Montreal.

Matt Serra is on this roller coaster that is riding high as the Champion of the Welterweight division. But is he a true champ? He did beat GSP in their last outing, but all great fighters get beat sometime in their career. Great fighters are great because they’ve been in epic battles in the cage and hold victory over ranked fighters, or even clearing out a division within their weight class. That’s what makes fighters great. Matt Serra came from the bottom of the division to join and win a TV show contest and for Serra the credibility just isn’t there. The TUF show was called ‘The Comeback’ and there was a reason why he was was on it. He had a chance to fight Matt Hughes, but had to pull out due to an injury. If Serra would have beaten Hughes then he would have definitely been considered a threat in the division.

I believe there is a possiblity that Serra can win this fight again because like with any fight anything can happen. Serra beat GSP last year because he threw a well-placed punch at the right timing and stunned GSP. Serra didn’t control the stand up game or the ground game. It was just a great punch that caught GSP. Besides pulling out another awesome punch I can’t see Serra winning by any other means except for taking GSP’s back and work for a submission which is very unlikely. For GSP I see him standing with Serra and picking him apart then take Serra to the ground and pound him out for a TKO similar to what he did against Hughes and Sherk.

GSP training with Greg Jackson’s camp is probably the best thing he’s done in his career and which is why he’ll be back on top of the Welterweight division.

Franklin vs Lutter

Franklin and Lutter are some of my favorite fighters and when I found out they were fighting I was really excited. I like these fighter because they come into the cage and do exactly what they need to do to win. There’s no ego and no showboating. Lutter is a BJJ wizard and he uses it to his complete advantage. Unlike other fighters who have great BJJ skills they go into the cage and try to knock out their opponents. Franklin likes to work his stand up game. He uses his power and size advantage to beat his opponents. Nothing flashy. Just a straight beat down. I don’t see this fight going the distance. Lutter will either take Franklin down for a submission or Franklin will beat Lutter on his feet. People should pay close attention to this fight. Both of them are coming off losses to Anderson Silva. Franklin got destroyed by Silva twice in similar fashion, but Lutter had a moment in the light where he was able to get a full mount on the champ, but was unable to take advantage of the opportunity. The winner of this fight may get another shot at Silva.

My picks:

GSP beats Serra
Lutter upsets Franklin
Starnes beats Quarry
Bisping beats McCarthy
Doerksen beats MacDonald
Belcher beats Day
Herman beats Maia
Stout beats Clementi
Velasquez beats Morris
Goulet beats Hironaka