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Welcome to the UFC 97 Preview by Robert Menn MAIN CARD (televised) Robert:
Do I have to write anything besides "Anderson, Rd 1, MDK"?
I do? Fine.
Look, everyone knows Thales has a great BJJ game.
And he has a heavy right hand.
But Anderson is also very versed on the ground.
A black belt from the Nogueira's is nothing to sneeze at.
It's not like Nog hands them out like candy.
Anderson not only has a heavy right hand, but a left hand, left
elbow, right elbow, left knee, right knee, left kick, and right kick.
He's pretty much a superhero or video game character.
Did you ever see his last KO in Cage Rage?
He reverse-elbow-uppercut Tony Fryklund.
Yeah, all that. That's
down, down-towards, towards A+B+X on your controller.
This guy is sick. He's
the greatest fighter on Earth and he will not be dethroned by the likes of
one Thales Leites. Winner:
Anderson Silva, Rd 1, MDK!!
Robert:
This fight would've been great 3 or 4 years ago.
Better late than never I guess.
Both fighters are coming off lackluster performances.
Chuck, lost, and Shogun looked horrible against Coleman.
There is no other way to say it.
Rua should've dominated that fight.
Instead, he was lucky to win. He
was gassed out by the second round and looked even worse than when Forrest
beat him down. His win was
just as bad as Chuck's loss. Both
these guys need a win, and badly. Rumor
has it that Chuck will indeed be changing his game up a little bit and
utilizing his wrestling a little bit more.
If that is indeed the case, Rua is in for a short night, as Chuck
will KO him early. Based on
his Octagon performances, Rua needs to improve everything, and I just
don't think he has had the time, or has the will. Winner:
Chuck Liddell, Rd 2, TKO
Robert:
Krzysztof!!! I just
like to yell that name. It's
quite fun. Go ahead, try it.
Go ahead. GO AHEAD!!
Anyways....Stann is coming off a loss and is coming over from the
WEC. Krzysztof is coming off a
win, albeit, against Shane Primm, but is on a 4 fight win streak.
The thing that stands out in this fight is that Primm has won all
his fights by some form of KO, (his very first in the WEC was a record)
and K-Sos (that's right, I just did that) has lost 4 of his 8 due to TKO.
This is a very hard fight to pick.
K-Sos has more experience and seems more rounded of the two.
But something has to be said that Stann rarely gets out of the 1st
round. Winner:
Stann, Rd 2, TKO
Robert:
Many people don't know, but Kongo was also a straight up kickboxer,
amassing a record of 19-2. Pretty
impressive. He also has all
kinds of striking titles to his name.
People don't give Kongo his due when they talk Heavyweight
contenders. Probably because
after his first two UFC fights (KOs) he rattled off 4 straight decisions.
No one wants to see someone who is a Muay Thai champion and looks
to be chisled from stone go to a decision.
We want highlight reel knockouts.
And recently, Kongo has gotten back on his KO track, winning his
last two in the 1st round via TKO. His
opponent, also a kickboxer, winning his last 3 by TKO.
Someone is getting KTFO, and I can't wait to see it.
This is Hardonk's chance to make a name for himself.
Beat Kongo and you are 2 "name" fights away from a shot
at the belt. If these guys
weren't Heavyweights, I'd say this has fight of the night written all over
it. But one shot from either
of these guys and it could be over quickly.
In the end, I think Kongo's experience and better striking will get
the job done. Winner:
Cheick Kongo, Rd 2, KO
Robert:
This is a battle to decide if one of these guys is the real deal or
not. Cantwell was the last WEC
Light Heavyweight Champion and is coming off his UFC debut win over Razak
Al-Hassan via TECHNICAL armbar. Technical,
because he dislocated Al-Hassan elbow, so the ref called the fight.
Then the tool got all excited and said, "I've been waiting so
long to do that, you have no idea."
Really? You want to
possibly end someone's career? He
has since apologized for his behavior...but he's still a tool.
Luis Cane is coming off of two straight TKO victories, and has
looked impressive in all 3 UFC fights.
His only loss was a DQ against James Irvin for an illegal knee.
So, really, he's never been defeated.
And I don't think Cantwell has what it takes to derail the Cane
Train. Winner:
Luis Cane, Rd 2, TKO Robert:
Vinny wins, he keeps his job. Eliot
wins, he's not on the undercard anymore.
This fight, I hope, is shown with time permitting.
Vinny is so damn good on the ground, he just hasn't learned how to
strike. Entering this fight,
Eliot is the better fighter of the two.
He can strike and submit opponents.
Hopefully Vinny has hired a good striking coach so he showcase his
BJJ skills to the world, and at least make this fight entertaining.
Sadly, I don't think Vinny has the killer instinct that Eliot has,
and he'll be the spring board Marshall uses to get onto the Main Card.
Hopefully, I'm wrong. Winner:
Eliot Marshall, Rd 3, Decision
Robert:
Denis, Denis, Denis...you better win this one.
Your UFC debut was tailor made for you to make a splash in the
Middleweight division and possibly be recognized as a future contender for
Anderson's belt. Instead, you
whiffed and got submitted. And
you might be hard-pressed to win this fight. X-F-P is on a 7 fight win
streak. True, not against the
best of competition, but a win is a win.
I'm not saying Kang won't win, because I'm pretty sure Dana served
this one up, but he also served up Alan Belcher and Kang couldn't step up
in that fight. I'm sure Denis
won't let this one get away, but I wouldn't bet the house on it. Winner:
Denis Kang, Rd 2, Submission
Robert:
When you guys see Nate Quarry do you get that picture of when Rich
Franklin "froze" him with that KO punch?
I know I do. That site
will never go away. Anyway...both
of these guys are in that "gatekeeper" sort of role.
Too good for pretenders, but not good enough to ever win a belt.
So, this fight should be at the very least entertaining.
Both of these guys are coming off of loses.
Quary to Maia, and MacDonald to Gouveia.
Not bad losses by any means. MacDonald
has traded losses and wins in his last 8 fights.
Since he lost this last one, he's due for his win.
No? Well, that's how it
should be done. I actually
think MacDonald's experience will be the deciding factor in this fight,
and he will get the victory. Winner:
Jason MacDonald, Rd 3, Decision
Robert:
Dana must love Loiseau. This
is his 3rd stint in the UFC. And
what's with the "The Crow" nickname?
The Crow wasn't black. But
whatever. David is riding a 3
fight win streak, and he loves the KO.
10 of his wins are due to fact that his opponents were not able to
continue the fight. Not bad.
Herman is coming off back to back losses.
One more and I'm sure his UFC days will be over.
That's gotta be some kind of motivation for a recent family man,
doesn't it? Too bad he'll need
more than motivation to beat "The Crow".
David is the better fighter, make no mistake about it.
But he's just too up-and-down.
Consistency, David. Work
on it. I see Loiseau's
striking giving Ed problems, but Ed won't be finished.
This one goes to the judges. Winner:
David Loiseau, Rd 3, Decision
Robert:
Really, I'm trying to care about this fight.
I really am. But I just
don't. Both fighters are
coming off of wins and both fighters have split wins with their UFC
contests. Both these guys are
BJJ practioners and have won most of their fights due to submission.
This fight has BORING written all over it.
Not that BJJ is boring, I happen to like it.
But these fighters are pretty boring, and pitting two boring
fighters against each other usually amounts to one big snooze fest.
I hope these fighters dropped the BJJ for this fight and start
swinging, in which case Bielkheden has a slight advantage.
But I don't see it happening. I
see both fighters going for submissions and neither one securing one.
Judges folks, judges. Winner:
Bielkheden, Rd 3, Decision
Robert:
T.J. makes his UFC debut against Team Quest member, Ryo Chonan.
Should be interesting. Chonan
has great training partners, Dan Henderson, Jason Miller, and Matt
Lindland to name a few. You
can't help but learn a thing or two from those guys....which makes me
wonder why he's 1-2 in the UFC. Not
only that, Ryo doesn't know how to finish fights.
He has 9 wins by decision. That's
impressive, in the worst way. Hit
the gym or something. Grant is
riding a 4 fight win streak and I don't expect him to slow down.
He has 12 wins via submission.
That's just crazy. All
different kinds of submissions as well...armbar, arm triangle choke,
rear-naked chocke, triangle, heel hook, etc.
You name it, Grant knows it. Winner:
T.J. Grant, Rd 2, Submission
Robert:
Matt "HANDSOME" Wiman?
Really? Way to strike
fear into the heart of your opponent with that one.
Good job. It'd be one
thing if he looked like Jason Voorhees, because then it'd be funny.
But as it is now, it's just wrong.
It should add a little more motivation for Stout to win.
I mean, who really wants to tell someone they lost to
"Handsome"? Sam "Hands of Stone" Stout (THAT'S a
nickname) is coming off two straight losses against Rich Clementi and
Terry Etim. Not exactly a
Who's Who among fighters. But
if he can keep it standing, he'll have an advantage.
Slight advantage, as Wiman has only lost once due to KO, and that
was when Spencer Fisher hooked him up with a flying knee, but an advantage
nonetheless. Winner:
Stout, Rd 2, TKO
Submitted 4/15/2009 Comment on this article to Comments@informativesports.com
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