Main Card on PPV:
Middleweight Championship: Anderson Silva (33-4) vs. Chris Weidman (9-0)
Prediction: Silva wins via 1st round KO
Last 3 Fights for Silva:
UFC 134: Yushin Okami II - Win by TKO (punches) at 2:04 of round 2 for Middleweight Championship
UFC 148: Chael Sonnen II - Win by TKO (knee to the body & punches) at 1:55 of round 2 for Middleweight Championship
UFC 153: Stephan Bonnar - Win by TKO (knee to the body & punches) at 4:40 of round 1
Last 3 Fights for Weidman:
UFC 139 - Tom Lawlor - Win by technical submission (d'arce choke) at 2:07 of round 1
UFC on FOX 2 - Demian Maia - Win by unanimous decision
UFC on Fuel TV 5 - Mark Munoz - Win by KO (elbow & punches) at 1:37 of round 2
The greatest MMA fighter of all time is looking to continue his streak of 17 straight wins and I just don't see anybody stopping him at this point. I used to try and root for the underdogs against him, but at this point how can you tell me that he is going to lose a fight? He's made almost everyone he's fought in the UFC look absolutely stupid.
I still remember when I saw Anderson Silva come into the UFC and absolutely destroy Chris Leben in his first fight. Then he destroyed Rich Franklin twice and he's been on a roll ever since. The only two fights that even make sense after the Weidman fight are fights against the Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre and the Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones.
While I believe Weidman is a really good fighter, I just don't think he's great yet. His best wins are over Mark Munoz (struggles against the best of the division) and Demian Maia (moved down to welterweight). There wasn't anyone that really deserved a title shot at Silva yet so I'm okay with the UFC giving it to the undefeated Weidman.
The only way Weidman is going to win this fight is by taking this fight to a decision. If he is able to control Silva on the ground like Sonnen did in their first fight then maybe he comes out the winner. I don't see that happening though as Silva will likely end this fight pretty early. Weidman has superior wrestling skills, but Silva is so much better at everything else and he's already been here, a lot.
If you like highlight finishes you will probably get what you're looking for in this fight. Silva is the best striker that the sport has ever seen and expect him to end this fight in impressive fashion. Not sure how he'll end it, but I'm sure it'll be by a knee, leg, elbow or fist. Just watch it and enjoy "The Spider."
Featherweight: Frankie Edgar (15-4-1) vs. Charles Oliveira (16-3, 1NC)
Prediction: Edgar wins via unanimous decision.
Last 3 Fights for Edgar:
UFC 144 - Benson Henderson I - Loss by unanimous decision for Lightweight Championship
UFC 150 - Benson Henderson II - Loss by split decision for Lightweight Championship
UFC 156 - Jose Aldo - Loss by unanimous decision for Featherweight Championship
Last 3 Fights for Oliveira:
UFC on Fox 2 - Eric Wisely - Won by submission (reverse calf slicer) at 1:43 of round 1
Ultimate Fighter 15 Finale - Jonathan Brookins - Won by submission (anaconda choke) at 2:42 of round 2
UFC 152 - Cub Swanson - Loss by KO (punch) at 2:40 of round 1
The scene above can pretty accurately describe Edgar's most recent year and a half. He lost his belt to Henderson and then lost again in the rematch. He moved down to featherweight to challenge Jose Aldo for his title and came up short again. Edgar can't afford to lose this match tonight and I don't expect him to.
His opponent tonight is Charles Oliveira who has gone in a slightly similar route to Edgar. Both started off in the UFC's lightweight division and moved down to featherweight where their size better suits them. Oliveira isn't on the same level as Edgar and will likely be heavily outmatched in this fight.
Oliveira is also coming off a loss for this fight so he really can't take another one. If he loses tonight I could see the UFC giving him the ax. Oliveira is well-versed in BJJ and Muay Thai, but I'm not sure if he'll be able to use either all that successfully tonight.
Expect Edgar to come out and use his takedowns to keep Oliveira off balance for the majority of the fight. When he takes him to the ground I don't see Oliveira being able to do much as Edgar is one of the best wrestlers in the sport. I don't see this fight ending before the final bell, but expect Edgar to finally have his hand raised once again.
Middleweight: Tim Kennedy (15-4) vs. Roger Gracie (6-1)
Prediction: Gracie wins via 1st round submission.
Last 3 Fights for Kennedy:
Strikeforce Fedor-Henderson - Robbie Lawler - Win by unanimous decision
Strikeforce Rockhold-Kennedy - Luke Rockhold - Loss by unanimous decision for Strikeforce Middlweight Championship
Strikeforce Marquardt-Saffiedine - Trevor Smith - Win by submission (guillotine choke) at 1:36 of round 3
Last 3 Fights for Gracie:
Strikeforce Barnett-Kharitonov - Muhammed Lawal - Loss by KO (punch) at 4:33 of round 1
Strikeforce Rockhold-Kennedy - Keith Jardine - Win by unanimous decision
Strikeforce Marquardt-Saffiedine - Anthony Smith - Win by submission (arm triangle choke) at 3:16 of round 2
It's been a very long time since a Gracie was victorious in the UFC. You have to go all the way back to UFC 4 to see one have their hand raised at the end of a fight in the Octagon. At that event Royce won the UFC 4 Tournament, making him the first and only three-time UFC Tournament winner.
Since that event Royce has returned to draw with Dan Severn and lose to Matt Hughes. Renzo recently came over to the UFC and lost to Hughes as well. Rolles lost in his UFC debut back in 2010 to Joey Beltran and hasn't been back since. Tonight Roger hopes to put the Gracie name back in the UFC win column.
Roger is the typical Gracie fighter. He has great submission skills and not much of a stand-up game. He has recently come over to the UFC after Strikeforce was officially closed up and I think he has the potential to make a big splash in the UFC's middleweight division. He has to improve his stand-up game as he goes along and needs to primarily rely on getting fighters to the ground where he has the major advantage.
His opponent tonight is another fighter that is making his UFC debut after the collapse of Strikeforce, Tim Kennedy. Kennedy is a well-rounded fighter that twice challenged for the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship, coming up short on both occasions to Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza and Luke Rockhold. Kennedy will have the advantage standing up so expect him to try to avoid the ground at all costs.
While Kennedy is a really good fighter, I just see Gracie being able to get a hold of him on the ground long enough to end the fight. Kennedy has good submission skills, but they just aren't on the level of Gracie's. I see this ending in the first round with Gracie pulling off an armbar.
Middleweight: Mark Munoz (12-3) vs. Tim Boetsch (16-5)
Prediction: Munoz wins via unanimous decision.
Last 3 Fights for Munoz:
UFC 131 - Demian Maia - Win by unanimous decision
UFC 138 - Chris Leben - Win by TKO (corner stoppage) at 5:00 of round 2
UFC on Fuel TV 5 - Chris Weidman - Loss by KO (elbow & punches) at 1:37 of round 2
Last 3 Fights for Boetsch:
UFC 144 - Yushin Okami - Win by TKO (punches) at 0:54 of round 3
UFC 149 - Hector Lombard - Win by split decision
UFC 155 - Constantinos Philippou - Loss by TKO (punches) at 2:11 of round 3
Both fighters are ranked by the UFC in the top 10 of contenders for Anderson Silva's UFC Middleweight Championship. Munoz is currently ranked 8th and is coming off a loss to tonight's challenger for the title in Chris Weidman. Tim Boetsch is ranked 10th and is also coming off a loss as he was defeated by Constantinos Philippou late last year.
These two guys match up very well in my opinion. Both guys come from wrestling backgrounds with Munoz having the much higher level of wrestling as he was a D-1 all-american while in college. Both fighters have lost to guys at the top of the division and were on rolls before their most recent defeats.
Munoz has the slightly better striking game with Boetsch having a better submission game. I don't see this fight ending early as both fighters styles will keep them from doing what they want to to end the fight. I think Munoz is a slightly better fighter and he should be able to come out victorious tonight. His slightly better wrestling skills might give them the extra takedown or two that will allow him to earn the victory in a close decision.
Featherweight: Cub Swanson (19-5) vs. Dennis Siver (21-8)
Prediction: Swanson wins via unanimous decision.
Last 3 Fights for Swanson:
UFC on FX 4 - Ross Pearson - Win by TKO (punches) at 4:14 of round 2
UFC 152 - Charles Oliveira - Win by KO (punch) at 2:40 of round 1
UFC on Fuel TV 7 - Dustin Poirier - Win by unanimous decision
Last 3 Fights for Siver:
UFC 137 - Donald Cerrone - Loss by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:22 of round 1
UFC on Fuel TV 2 - Diego Nunes - Win by unanimous decision
UFC on FOX 5 - Nam Phan - Win by unanimous decision
This will likely be the fight of the night. Both guys know they are a win or two from a shot at the featherweight championship and I can't see either of them not showing up tonight. They both have enough experience in the Octagon by now that they shouldn't let the Octagon jitters get to them. Swanson and Siver are currently ranked fifth and sixth respectively in the UFC's featherweight division.
Both fighters can finish the fight on their feet and on the ground so I could see this fight being a war everywhere it goes. I'm not sure if either guy is that much better than the other at any point in the fight so I think this one will go the entire fifteen minutes. Swanson has been at this weight for most of his career and this will only be Siver's third fight in this division. I'm expecting Swanson to be slightly more used to the cut and him having the slight advantage because of it.
The winner of this fight will likely call out Aldo in the end and my guess is it will be Swanson. He won't finish this fight, but I'm expecting him to want this fight slightly more as he wants to avenge his loss to Aldo which seemingly put Aldo on the map.
No comments:
Post a Comment