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Welcome to the UFC 100 Preview! I am David "(insert wittiness here)" Snipes, joined by Robert "X" Menn and Jason "SoCaro" Adams, Joao is in trouble for doing something I can't talk about in Wanderlei's Dressing room in a family website- so he won't be with us this time- but If he makes bail, I'll get his predictions in as soon as I can. ON WITH THE SHOW! Preliminary card David: Grice (9-2 overall ,1-2 UFC) came into the UFC a VERY nice 8-0 and has struggled a bit here in the deep end that is the UFC, being submitted by Terry Etim in his first fight and has not gained any traction. Grice is a VERY respected wrestler but seems limited so far- his lone victory coming from the scorecards. Gugerty (10-2,1-1) is also a ground guy best known for being the guy getting hit when Corey Hill was put down (You tube it- If Hill was a horse, they would have shot him ringside) Gug has fought the best fighter between the two- losing in round three to Spenser Fisher- so I will give him the edge here. Robert : Both guys are coming off of losses. The loser could quite possibly join Danzig in the unemployment line. It would on be 2 losses in a row, but neither guy has shown great promise. They are more "just there" than anything else. Let's see, where did I put that quarter....heads Grice, tails Gugerty. Aaaannndd......it's heads. Jason: Both fighters are looking to get back to winning after they both lost their last night. While both have show submission skills I think Gugerty has the advantage here and that Grice's best shot to win is standing. While Grice has shown he can win via submission I he has the advantage on their feet. Gugerty would be more comfortable having this fight go to the ground where he could use his BJJ to get the submission win. WINNER Middleweight bout: David: CB (8-1,2-1) is finally showing some promise that Amir simply stole on the Ultimate Fighter, and even though he seems lost in the Middleweight divison with an 8-1 record, putting together even 2 more wins will put him in line for a title shot (when the top of the Division are asking to be gatekeepers, 10-1 will get you somewhere) CB has heavy hands and a very good ground game- I would be willing to be he lasts longer than Mac Danzig does in the UFC . Lawlor (5-1-1 NC,1-0) is also a heavy handed guy and is a bit underrated on the submission side of things , but is making his first fight as his new weight- and I wonder if that will cause him to lose some of his power. Robert: CB should win this. I mean, it's not like he's fighting Amir Sadollah. I'd really like to give Lawlor more than just a punchers chance, but that's all I see for him. Dollaway is better at everything Tom is good at. Jason: Both of these guys have wrestling backgrounds, so I think it comes down to who is the better striker. CB even commented that Lawlor likes to take the fight to the ground and that he hasn't seen much of his standup game, so I believe he will give Lawlor's standup game a test. which I believe Lawlor will fail. WINNER David: CB, Submission,
R2 Light Heavyweight bout:
David : I am a pretty big fan of Jones (8-0,2-0) who most likely killed any chance of seeing Bonner as a credible contender and in my opinion- should be fighting Coleman on the main card instead of him- sadly he drew a tougher opponent than the Hall of Famer Coleman with Jake (11-2,4-2) who is going to treat the fans to a standup WAR- both are decent on the ground – but I don’t think that this fight will or should get to the ground. Jake is more experienced and might have the better chin- but I think Jones will get hit as square as Jake will- and that will make all the difference. Robert: Ummm, this fight is over before they step in the cage. Jones is too good for O'Brien. At one time Jake was undefeated and looked on the up and up. Then Andre Arlovski put an end to that mess. (Yea, I got in my AA pat on the back. Sue me.) Then Cain Velasquez KOed him. Jake has since dropped to the Light Heavyweight division and beat Christian Wellisch. Not impressive in the win, but a win. Jones looks like a hurricane in there, strikes coming from everywhere. No way O'Brien has the skills to keep up. Jason: O'Brien made a good decision dropping to LTHW. He is too small to try and fight with the big boys. But I don't think this is a great matchup for him. I think if he has a chance to win this fight it's by taking it to the ground. I think if he tries to stand and trade punches, then he is going to wake up on his back. His problem is going to be getting Jones on his back. WINNER David: Jones KO 3
(fight of the night) Welterweight bout: David: Kim (11-0-1 1NC,2-0 1NC) is another fighter that should be interesting- he did pretty good vs Karo- a but later changed to a NC due to Karo failing a drug test, but ti almost seems like he is the one eing pushed down the card, (no disprespect) taking on Grant (14-2,1-0) who will be fighting in the US for the first time- he is the guy that knocked Ryo Chonan out of the UFC (Chonan being the last guy to make Anderson Silva Tap) Grant has 12 wins by tapout- and that is just plain scary – no matter his competition- Kim is well above average on his own, and depending on how much he learned from his Karo fight will be the tale here. This could very well be the Karo/Diaz from UFC 49 in a few years. Robert: This should be interesting. DHK is coming off a loss, errr, no contest and he really hasn't been all that impressive during his stint in the UFC. Grant is coming of his UFC debut with a Split Decision win over Ryo Chonan. I imagine Grant will want to take this fight to the ground as DHK is a pretty decent striker. That, and Grant's ground game is pretty good, finishing 12 of 14 by some sort of submission. Jason: I think this could be a very interesting fight. Both have good submission skills, but I think Kim may have some things up his sleeve that TJ hasn't seen before. WINNER David: Grant, Des Lightweight bout: David Jim Miller (13-2,2-1) is fighting fight #4 in a 4 fight contract- so if he loses here he is done, Danzig (18-6-1,1-3) has the 6 figure deal, but a loss here and Dana is going to be either adding lawyerese to the winner of TUF 10’s contract or claiming it’s a Zuffa contract and sending him to the WEC’s undercard. Danzig trains with Maynard- who cornered him at UF5- and also stopped Miller’s 8 fight win streak. Problem is, I think Danzig was the best fighter in a VERY weak class (Speer – the other finalist, has already retired, after a grand total of 3 minutes in 2 UFC fights). Of the 3 Millers on the UFC Roster, Jim might be the weakest- but he’d walk through Season 6 Robert: Mac needs to win this. He's dropped two straight and the way the UFC has been cutting fighters, this is his last shot. Three losses and he gets the axe. And he didn't draw an easy opponent. Miller was on a tear before he ran into Gray Maynard. The reason? Because Maynard is a better wrestler than Miller. But Miller isn't fighting a wrestler this time around. This time he's fighting someone who is weak against wrestlers. Hopefully Mac has trained extensively for this fight. Otherwise he'll have more time to work on that photography career. Jason: Danzig needs to
win this fight to break a 2 fight losing streak after a couple of
wins. Miller is also coming off a loss after a couple of wins to
start his UFC career. Both of these fighters should be hungry
and it should make for an exciting matchup. Both fighters have
won the majority of their fights by submission so this could turn into
a very strategic battle on the mat. Danzig has been in the game
longer and has more experience, but Miller has been impressive in his
short career. I think experience could be the difference in this
fight. WINNER David: Miller Rd 1
submission Light Heavyweight bout:
David Coleman (15-9,6-4) did nothing for me vs Shogun- and take a look at that W/L record- and he hasn’t exactly been fighting Randy Couture (16-9) level of competition (other than Fedorx2) Coleman beats who he should beat- loses (badly) to those he should lose too. Bonner (11-5,5-4) simply loses in great fights, other than Keith Jardine- there is not a fighter he has beaten that is even 5 fights away from a title fight. Bonner has a good chin and good submissions- but I wonder if he is just playing out the contract before taking some serious time off (in the minors) I have to think if the WEC had a LHW division he would be fighting Bobby Southworth soon. Coleman should be training somewhere- I don’t even think he is still a legit name at this point. Robert: I'm going to say it, Stephan Bonnar needs a win. He was part of the greatest fight in the history of UFC (Yea, I said it, and I'll probably be proven right. Watch the top 100 on Spike) but he just hasn't done what Forrest has done. And Mark Coleman looked horrible against Shogun. True, it was his first fight in like 3 years, but still. If the same Coleman comes to fight as the "Rua Coleman" I see Stephan actually getting a win. Oh, I fully expect the same Mark Coleman. Stay retired Mark. Jason: Why is Coleman
still fighting? I guess he needs the money. Coleman will
obviously try to take this to the ground since that's all he's done
throughout his career. Bonner has the ability to submit Coleman
off his back, but if he keeps the fight on the feet where Coleman is
no threat he will have a much easier time. WINNER David: Bonner DES (no
one cares) Main Card Middleweight bout: David: ok, there are 3 fights on the undercard I care more about than this fight- let me get that out of the way ok? Akiyama (12-1 2NC – one he lost and won he won, both overturned, DEBUT) is one of the worlds best in Judo- I do kind of wonder why they would put him on the same card as GSP- you know the grease is going to comeup and UNLIKE GSP- Akiyama has been busted for it. Belcher (14-5,5-3) is a game opponent – but is NOT going to be the focus of this fight, and if he does not win in round 1 is not going to win, period. Robert: Sexyama is in
the UFC!!! That's right, I said it. (I didn't give him that name
but I'm rolling with it.) In a move to get the Asian PPV buys,
the UFC set Yoshi up with a very winnable fight. It is a fight
so anything can happen, but I fully expect Yoshi to dispose of
Belcher. Sexyama submitted Melvin Manhoef (that guy is a beast!)
and KOed Denis Kang. His Judo is world class and his kickboxing
is top notch. This fight is probably over very quickly. Jason: There aren't many people who can match Akiyama's Judo skills. He seems to be involved in controversial fights as well. No lotion before the fight please Akiyama. He has as almost as many KO's as submissions, so he can bang as well. Belcher's no slouch himself showing me can win via KO or tapout as well. I think Belcher tries to keep this fight on the feet and test Akiyama's chin. WINNER David: Akiyama, Des Welterweight bout: David: This fight could very well be the most interesting fight of the night- Thiago (11-0,1-0) is undefeated and KO'ed Josh Koscheck who moved his head into an uppercut- but he is Brazillian so he is a purple belt at birth and has submitted 7 Brazillians so that might make him immortal. Jon "Mythbuster" Fitch (18-3-1,9-1) got picked apart by GSP ending a record streak of 8 wins in the UFC, and might be looking at a fight vs the loser if he wins this fight. One is unknown but undefeated against not much- the other was dominant but the champ made him look silly. Robert Jon Fitch is
looking to get revenge for teammate Josh Koscheck in this one.
Paulo knocked out Koscheck a few months back. Was it an early
stoppage? Maybe. But Koscheck did look out for a second.
If I was the ref I wouldn't have called it, but that's me.
Anyways....How good is Paulo? Who knows? He's undefeated,
so that counts for something. We will definitley find out after
this fight. Fitch went 5 full rounds with GSP. He was
dominated, but he showed tremendous heart. Some people still put
him at #2 over Alves. Not me, but whatever. Either way,
this is the biggest fight of Thiago's career. And while I
haven't seen a lot from Paulo, I just don't think he's going to walk
away from Saturday night with a "W". Fitch is too
good. His game is well rounded. His striking is up there with
the best in the division, and his ground game is nothing to sneeze at. Jason This is a tough
fight to call. For someone knows as a BJJ guy Thiago sure can
pack a punch. Not sure how the KO of his teammate will effect
Fitch's gameplan. Fitch's bread and butter is on the mat and I
think he takes the fight there and tries to control Thiago from there.
Obviously with Thiago's extensive BJJ resume he has no problem
with the fight going to the ground. Should make for a very
technical fight on the ground. WINNER David: Fitch, R3 Sub (
and PLEASE do the GSP asking for a title fight prayer) Middleweight bout: David: My Name is David Snipes, and I am a Bisping fan Crowd: hello David! Bisping (17-1,7-1) is THAT close to being 8-0, and some people think 6-2 in the UFC but if you really sit down and watch that Evans fight- that was a coinflip fight right there. Hendo (24-7,4-2) is a wrestler and should take Bisping down with ease. Only problem is that Bisping is very good with the kicks- and Rich used them very effectivly vs Hendo in that fight (still think he was robbed) - Problem is- Hendo can take down Bisping and sit on him for 15 minutes, I do not think Hendo has to power to KO Bisping- who has a VERY good chin, and Bisping is not going to KO Henderson- so we are down to the judges- will they give it to Hendo via lay and pray? Or Bisping who is active from the bottom and the first 30 seconds of each round before being dropped to the mat? Robert This is the biggest test in Bisping's career. Let's face it, most of Michael's opponents have just been so-so. (And he LOST to Matt Hamil!!!) I heard Michael say he's going to knockout Dan. Uh, happnen. Not. Gonna. Michael doesn't have the power to KO Henderson. He might try to stay outside of Dan and pepper him like he did Leben, but Dan is way too smart for that. Dan will shoot and take Bisping down and impose his will and get revenge for Team USA. And if by some chance Bisping improved his takedown defense to that of an Olympic wrestler, Dan can easily knock him out standing. Jason: While only 2-2 since his return to the UFC Dan Henderson is still a very tough fighter. I also believe this is a better weight for Dan to fight at. This fight will show if Bisping can hold his own against a world class wrestler, as wrestlers seem to have his number(losing to Evens, and the controversial win over Hamill, which I believe he clearly lost). Has he learned to defend a takedown? Will Dan watch his prior fights and see that he can be taken to the ground and controlled, or will he stand and bang with Bisping? Bisping seems to be doing a lot of talking before the fight, while Dan is quiet as usual. I think Dan is too much of a pro to get caught up in any mind games, and wants to show that he is still one of the best fighters in the world. WINNER David: Bisping, Des
Welterweight Championship bout:
David: Alves (16-3,9-2)is by FAR the best striker that GSP has EVER faced- far better than Trigg and even though Serra hits hard- Alves is FAR more technical and a MUCH more percise striker- that said- If Alves is twice the striker Trigg is, GSP (18-2,12-2) is MUCH better on the ground than he was even while covering Trigg like Butterbean on a danish. Compounding the problem for Georges is Alves is VERY good at take-down defense. GSP has fought primarily wrestlers for the past 13 fights- only Trigg has more KOs than Submissions in his previous opponents. GSP is going to have to change a LOT here as Thiago will be more than willing to stand- and has a purple belt in JU-JU in case they hit the ground- and he has 25 minutes to find the same spot Serra did. I think he finds it. Scary thing is- GSP comes back from every defeat stronger- he may comeback after this fight coated in cast iron. Fight of the Night Robert Oh yes! This fight alone is worth your PPV money. The #1 Welterweight vs the #2 Welterweight in th world. Who doesn't want to see this? That's what I thought. Vegas has this at -300 for GSP. That, I think, is ridiculous. If you are in Vegas at this time to bet, bet on Alves. Alves is the strongest, biggest, and best striker GSP has ever fought. GSP will want to take Alves down, but Thiago has improved his takedown defense to a point where not even Hughes nor Koscheck could take him down. That is crazy. If GSP can keep Thiago down, and that's a big if, then he can retain his title. I just don't think he can take him there and keep him there. And since the fight starts out on the feet, I give Alves a huge chance at taking that belt. Jason: Well, I know one
thing. Robert is picking Thiago to win this fight. I also
believe this has fight of the night written all over it. I see
this fight staying on their feet while GSP tries to take it to the
ground after he realizes that Thiago is the better striker. Is
Thiago's takedown defense good enough to thwart GSP? GPS has
taken down every top wrestler he has fought, but then none of them had
the BJJ background that Thiago has. WINNER David: ALves Des Heavyweight Championship bout:
David: Mir (12-3, 10-3) is the HUGE underdog coming into this fight- and for the life of me, I cannot see why- Mir is better on the feet- he may not have the pure power that Brock (3-1,2-1) has- but Brock beat on Heath Herring for 15 minutes and never KO'ed him- Mir KO'ed the great Nog- who has never seen the lights in the rafters before that night. Mir is the FAR better submission guy- I think this fight goes the same- Brock uses his wrestling to take Mir down at will- Mir goes for the submission- this is almost like a 255 BJ Penn vs Matt Hughes- I'll take Mir in this fight- Mir will get busted up but he only has to catch him ONCE in 25 minutes. Let's also keep in mind that dispite the outlook that Mir has been around forever it seems (since UFC 34) He is YOUNGER than Brock and only has had 14 fights to there is not a lot of ring wear on that frame. Robert: Probably MMA's most anticipated rematch in quite some time, these two finally throwdown. This was originally the Main Event for UFC 98, but Frank Mir got "hurt" and thought he wouldn't be able to make the event, so it was moved to UFC 100. I say all the better. These two plain don't like each other. Lesnar's only loss is to Mir, and he has to be kicking himself for letting that fight get away. Lesnar was dominating Mir but made a rookie mistake and got submitted. That was then, and this is now. Lesnar has improved drastically every fight. His improvement and his size and strength along with his quickness leads me to believe that this fight will go exactly like the first one, without the mistake. Because, let's face it, his takedown is impossible to stop. Jason: Where to start... So many things could happen in this fight. Has Brock learned how to defend against submissions? Certainly not all of the ones Frank knows. I think both have improved their standup since their last fight. I don't see Brock rushing and trying to overwhelm Mir like he did last time, but it was working, until the ref stepped in because of the shot to the back of the head. While Brock is limited in the positions he can win the fight from Frank can win from any position he may find himself in. Frank has definitely improved his standup as shown in his fight against Nog and remains as dangerous as ever on the ground. I can see either fighter winning this fight. WINNER David: MIR Submission
Round 2 Joao was able to mail me his picks before the show, but since he cant man up and submit the full picks- his picks to win are in PINK! Brock
Lesnar vs. Frank Mir Well, thats who WE think will win- if you got something to say about it- let us know- and send in your picks as well- If you get more right than we do- you can join us on UFC 101! Submitted 7/9/09 Comment on this article to Comments@informativesports.com
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