Official MMA Predictions Thread.

[Not Right Now]

Since the UFC 79 thread went fairly decently and It would just be lame (and probably annoying to others) for all of the MMA fans to come on here and post a thread whenever there is an MMA event. Let's keep it short and sweet, and just do the main cards for the events (or main event if that's all you care for).

I will get us started on UFC 80.

BJ Penn vs. Joe Stevenson:

I've been very vocal on the fact that I see BJ Penn as the best natural fighter in the MMA world. His one weakness to date had been his cardio, which only really affected him in the GSP fight, as Hughes had to break his rib to beat him. Supposedly however BJ has rededicated himself and if the same BJ Penn we saw show up against Jens Pulver in his last outing shows up, I can't see Joe 'Daddy' winning. Bj has arguably the best Ju-Jitsu in MMA and is a top 5 BJJ in the game itself he was the fastest person ever to a BJJ black belt (4 years), and the first non-Brazilian to win Mundials. BJ is also a good boxer with heavy hands, great in the Muay Thai clinch (and defending against it), and has the best takedown defense in the business (besides Chuck Liddell of course).

Joe daddy is a great wrestler with decent stand-up and Ju-Jitsu, who has possibly the most technically sound guillotine in MMA. His skill set should match up well with BJs, and should provide an exciting fight. Again as I said, a motivated Penn is the most dangerous man alive. I just can't go against him.

BJ by Sub probably in the third round.

Gonzaga vs Werdum II:

This will be an interesting fight as I think Werdum is one of the most underrated HWs in the world because America saw him first in a horrible fight against Arlovski. The two met once before with Werdum getting a TKO victory. Gonzaga has vastly improved in that time as well into a deadly striker as well as an incredibly strong BJJ practitioner, maybe even too strong to submit in anything but a choke.

This fight all depends on which Werdum shows up. if the oen who fought Aleksander Emelianenko does, than Napao says hello to his third career loss against a Top 10 HW, and possibly goodbye to a top 10 ranking, coupled wiht a rematch against Cro-Cop. I'm not sure where this victory would put Werdum however.

to be on the safe side, I'm picking Gonzaga by either late 3rd KO or a decision. Like I said, I'm not too sure.

Marcus Davis v Jess Laudin:

Marcus Davis has thus far been the best Boxer turned Mixed Martial Artist to date. how did he do it? He spent 8 years before the jump training his grappling while Boxing. Jess Laudin doesn't have the BJJ skill (very mediocre) set to compete with him and will probably get submitted.

Kendal Grove vs. Jorge Rivera:

Rivera has never done anything to impress me and as long as Grove doesn't eat a stupid punch, he should win by decision.

[Glory's Sun]

I'm going to take Penn with a knockout in the second. The man just looks like he wants to rip someone apart right now, and like you said, a dedicated Penn is probably the most dangerous man alive (other than Wanderlei)

I'll also take Werdum via knockout in the 3rd. This fight could really go either way, and if it goes to the ground then Gonzaga will destroy quickly.

Davis vs Laudin.. this one can go either way. While Laudin can't compete on the ground, Davis has some bad habits that can be exploited. I'll be safe and take Davis in the 3rd via submission.

Grove vs Rivera.. who cares.

[Not Right Now]

ever seen Bj look like that? I haven't seen that since he started out.

[telekinetic]

BJ Penn has the shocking ability to go from a flabby ball of Buddah looking flub to a boneless flexible choking machine. I remember the last fight of his, he said wanted to break Pulvers arm, so catch-and-release toyed with Pulver until he got the arm bar.

[evilbeefchan]

I'm on the wagon with everyone else when it comes to Penn. Big Daddy Joe is a great talent, but I'm thinking Penn's experience is going to give him quite the edge.

I'm interested to see how Werdum will handle Gonzaga. His last fight with Arlovski was fairly uneventful, and had all of England booing them. From his past UFC fights Gonzaga has shown to be a very exciting fighter, so I'm hoping it'll be a better pace for both fighters to show off their skills.

Sadly I'm just not very interested in the other fights, except for Sam Stout's prelim fight. I'm just looking for a solid PPV.

[silent_jay]

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[Not Right Now]

Originally Posted by silent_jay

Patrick Cote will be a force, he knocked the fuck out of Drew Mcfedries last night at Fight Night, now all we need is for David Loiseau to get back on track an d the Canadians will be taking over...lol.

BJ is going after GSP again after Sherk. Its going to be another War.

[evilbeefchan]

*sigh, Tyson Griffin's on the prelim card this Saturday.

[m0rpheus]

God I hope Mir kicks Lesnar's ass this weekend. I can't stand Lesnar.

[Not Right Now]

Originally Posted by evilbeefchan

*sigh, Tyson Griffin's on the prelim card this Saturday.

I'm hoping nog smashes Sylvia, but we all know the Sylvia routine. Stand and hug.
As for Mir and Lesnar. I want Mir back, but I also want Lesnar to become a serious prospect, because HW is suffering since Randy's departure... Andrei is laving fairly soon as well.


Wait till Fight Night 13:

Kenny Florian vs. Joe Lauzon
Stephan Bonnar vs. Matt Hamill
Thiago Alves vs. Karo Parisyan
Houston Alexander vs. James Irvin
Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard
Clay Guida vs. Samy Schiavo
Marcus Aurelio vs. Spencer Fisher
Josh Neer vs. Din Thomas
Anthony Johnson vs. Tommy Speer

That card is a title fight short of being card of the year.

I would kill to see Huerta vs Edgar. but thats jsut asking too much.

We may see the Tyson fight... I hope so anyways.

[silent_jay]

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[something red]

Originally Posted by silent_jay

UFC is streaming on TVU Player on MMA-TV live, just starting now http://www.tvunetworks.com/

Edit: Griffith's fight is starting now.

Thanks, man! That is fantastic.

[silent_jay]

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[evilbeefchan]

Holy crap am I loving the finish of the Yves Edwards fight!

[Not Right Now]

Next up. Hendo vs Anderson.


I can't call that fight.

[evilbeefchan]

It's a hard match to call, as Silva has shown flawless striking so far in the UFC. I haven't seen enough of Dan's fights to really say how strong his chin is (but if he can stand with Wanderlei I can assume it's solid). Silva looks like he can go 5 rounds easy, but I guess that hasn't really been tested yet. He's got that Thai Plum that he's used VERY effectively, but Dan's an accomplished Greco-Roman wrestler. I'm hoping for a long tough battle, with Dan edging out the win.

[silent_jay]

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[silent_jay]

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[silent_jay]

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[m0rpheus]

That was fucking awesome. GSP just totally destroyed him.
Funny thing was they made a comment about Serra saying at worst he's 1 and 1 against GSP. So after this one think he is going to want the rubber-match anytime soon? lol
Only problem is who fights GSP now?

[evilbeefchan]

Great show overall, everything was super entertaining. Pretty much all the matches were due to ref stoppage. For me, the Danzig/ Bocek fight was definitely my fight of the night. The match went back and forth, but Danzig kept pushing the pace. Nate Quarry vs. Kalib Starnes would have been a big thumbs down due to Starnes "defense," but Nate was awesome. I wish he would keep his hands up and not swing so wildly, but it does make for more entertaining fights. And the taunting! I didn't know Nate had it in him. (And the Rocky IV speech really won me over). The Franklin/Lutter fight seemed to move in slow motion, but at least we know Franklin hasn't lost the heart yet.

St-Pierre vs Serra was a bit unexpected, as I didn't think Georges would control Serra on the ground like that. Serra is a great BJJ fighter, but Georges had the game plan and stuck to it. Absolutely brutal knees!

It's hard to say who GSP's next opponent should be. For sure they'll probably have the Hughes/Serra match, but that doesn't necessarily benefit Hughes. I think they had mentioned Jon Fitch at the post fight conference, but then they also toyed with the idea of a superfight between GSP and Anderson Silva. Probably not going to happen, so I'm not going to get my hopes up. I'm too busy trying to pick the BJ/Sherk fight. If it's the same BJ that fought Joe Stevenson, then Sherk may have found an equal in conditioning and intensity.

[Daval]

One of the best PPV's I've seen. GSP is just so damn good. I really enjoyed the Danzig fight too. The crowd was awesome, really loud and a ton of electricity.

[m0rpheus]

The Rocky IV speech was fan-fucking-tastic. I was sitting around with a bunch of people and when we all realized what he was starting to quote, we started yelling "if I can change... and you can change... everybody can change!" along with him. Absolute comedy.

[evilbeefchan]

That was a hell of a ppv. I won't spoil anything yet, but I'm happy with most of the results. Question now is what will BJ do.

[Strange Famous]

I still think St Pierre lacks gameness.

A 22 year old Tyson would have laid him out on a platter in any fight, no matter what rules it was under.

Not that Im trying to start this same argument over again!

There arent enough great fighters out there right now, and where they are they arent fighting each other (ie Cotto and PBF) so I guess MMA is filling the void.

[silent_jay]

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[evilbeefchan]

I agree, BJ really could go either way. Stay at 155 and defend against the Florian/Huerta winner after UFC 87, or go up and face the winner of Hughes/Alves, and then really build the super(re)match with St. Pierre.

I totally forgot about EliteXC on CBS this Saturday! Gina Carano FTW!

The Affliction PPV is coming up in July, and the card looks pretty good. Of course this is just teasin til they can get the Fedor/Randy match going (which I'm still excited for, but have been losing interest as time passes).

[Strange Famous]

ah, youre probably right - I posted that when I was drunk. But I do think, from the limited fights I watched on youtube when I was arguing all this that St Pierre lacks gameness and heart. He struck me as a bully boy fighter... strong and powerful and destructive, but not prepared mentally to really come through a war.

Whatever the pro's and con's of MMA is, its a much faster and more high impact event than a boxing match. Either way most fights are done in three rounds (I searched on wiki and Pierre has never been longer than 3 rounds in a UFC match).

If someone takes a fighter like that into the late rounds in a real war, thats when they get found out often. (like Douglas vs Tyson... Tyson went on a run and knocked a lot of people down quickly and bullied them: Douglas didnt go down and Mike didnt have an answer)

[evilbeefchan]

That's pretty much how he was on his first rise to UFC champion. Everyone billing him as the perfect complete fighter, unstoppable, but then loses his new championship to an opponent nobody gave credit to (Serra). After the loss, he changed his fight camp, changed every aspect of his training and came back strong and regained his championship. During this time, he has to answer to everyone criticizing his mental toughness and gameness. Every fight was "will he crack under pressure," "is he the same fighter he used to be."

To some extent, BJ has been fighting the same kind of criticism. Questions of his cardio, of his devotion to the sport have always been popping up. Now both fighters are running up a streak, both showing how freakishly talented they are. If they rematch, I want to see the fight go to the 5th. I want to believe that they have surpassed their former selves and can defy critics. I honestly don't care who wins. What I want, is to be able to recognize that fight as one of the proudest in MMA history. As the pinnacle of what the sport is about, of what all athletes are capable of doing.

[evilbeefchan]

Anyone catch UFC 85 last night? Bisping was really impressive, as well as Mat Wiman. If Thiago can train proper and maintain weight, he is going to be an excellent fighter for years to come. The end to Vera/Werdum is questionable, definitely see a rematch coming.

Spoiler: I say it's too early to call Hughes finished. If Couture's taught us anything, talented fighters find a way to beat age. Someone had mentioned before that the Hughes/Gracie match from UFC 60 could potentially foreshadow Hughe's future, but I'm hoping he bows out when he's really done.

[Daval]

Unfortunately this was the first PPV in probably the last 18 months that I missed, we just couldnt get enough guys together, most of our usual gang were not around.

[YaWhateva]

I just wanted to come in and say that I cannot wait for GSP/Jon Fitch. Fitch is one of my favorite welterweights and it seems like nobody is giving him the time of day. I think it's going to be a great fight, whoever wins.

Also, since I haven't posted in this thread before, what do you all think of Lyoto Machida? Most people say he is super boring (e.g. every casual ufc fan that had never heard of him before UFC 84 that I watched it with). I think he is one of the smartest fighters I have ever seen. He takes his opponent's game and makes them look terrible at it. Granted, he seems content in just scoring points and getting the decision and conserving energy, but if he put more into trying to finish people, he could be one of the greatest. I doubt the UFC will give him a title fight after the Jackson/Griffin fight because Dana White knows that most fans just want an exciting finish, and that's rare with Machida.

[m0rpheus]

Originally Posted by Strange Famous

ah, youre probably right - I posted that when I was drunk. But I do think, from the limited fights I watched on youtube when I was arguing all this that St Pierre lacks gameness and heart. He struck me as a bully boy fighter... strong and powerful and destructive, but not prepared mentally to really come through a war.

Whatever the pro's and con's of MMA is, its a much faster and more high impact event than a boxing match. Either way most fights are done in three rounds (I searched on wiki and Pierre has never been longer than 3 rounds in a UFC match).

If someone takes a fighter like that into the late rounds in a real war, thats when they get found out often. (like Douglas vs Tyson... Tyson went on a run and knocked a lot of people down quickly and bullied them: Douglas didnt go down and Mike didnt have an answer)

As far as St Pierre's heart goes, I think you are wrong. I really do think that losing that first fight against Serra has changed St Pierre and made him a much better fighter mentally. He came into a fight unprepared and got schooled. His fights since that one he has looked absolutely dominant. I think that getting beat (badly) knocked some sense into him and sometimes that's exactly what a fighter needs to become better.
As far as stamina goes, well for one the max number of rounds in the UFC is five in a championship fight and three in a non-title fight. So not going more than three rounds isn't surprising. Really a five round fight in the UFC is rare, and IMO often boring. It's usually someone like Tim Sylvia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Silvia) who really just tries to get the match to go to the judges knowing that the judges will likely award the champ the win (to be the champ, you gotta beat the champ mentality) rather than actually trying to win the fight.
Anyway I'm getting off topic here, basically when it comes to GSP and conditioning, when you consider the shape that he keeps himself in I doubt that stamina is a real issue for him. Remember he took the fight against Matt Hughes (when Matt Serra was injured in training) with less than a months notice when most fighters get three months and he looked in better shape than anyone else on the card because his day-to-day training schedule is crazy intense, much less when he's training for a fight.

[evilbeefchan]

I like Machida, though I agree that when he stays in strict karate mode it's easy to mistake it as him being coy. Though a few more finishes like the one against Soku will definitely change that.

Rampage vs Forrest on July 5th. I love both these guys, and this is a tough one to pick. Both guys have strong chins, but all it takes is one solid hit. For some reason I see it going to decision, much like the Rampage/Henderson fight. Hesitantly.....Rampage, split decision.

Dunno if anyone else caught EliteXC's first CBS show, but the second one is coming up July 26th, headlined by the Robbie Lawler/ Scott Smith rematch. To me that was the highlight of that show, despite the crappy ending. (Though it's never a bad night when you have to watch Gina Carano.) The recent Kim Couture fight on the other hand, eeeesh. That was way to hard for me to watch.

Also coming up this July 19th is the Affliction ppv, headlined by Fedor/Tim Sylvia. UFC is going to compete with a UFC event on cable (Spike), headlined by Anderson Silva fighting James Irvin at light heavyweight. Dunno which one to choose. I could tape the UFC fight and order the Affliction ppv, or watch the UFC fight and wait til I "happen across" the Affliction fight. Either way, it's a good month for MMA.

[UKking]

Originally Posted by evilbeefchan

Rampage vs Forrest on July 5th. I love both these guys, and this is a tough one to pick. Both guys have strong chins, but all it takes is one solid hit. For some reason I see it going to decision, much like the Rampage/Henderson fight. Hesitantly.....Rampage, split decision.



Also coming up this July 19th is the Affliction ppv, headlined by Fedor/Tim Sylvia. UFC is going to compete with a UFC event on cable (Spike), headlined by Anderson Silva fighting James Irvin at light heavyweight. Dunno which one to choose. I could tape the UFC fight and order the Affliction ppv, or watch the UFC fight and wait til I "happen across" the Affliction fight. Either way, it's a good month for MMA.

I think Page will overwhelm Forrest. I think he's the stronger guy and while Forrest has a ground game, I'm not sure it's THAT strong to sub from his back.

I'll probably watch UFC fight night on the 19th and see if my "buddy" BT can get me the Affliction PPV

[Daval]

So who's looking forward to seeing Fedor & Sylvia? Most people are expecting Fedor to destroy Tim but he really hasnt fought much in the last few years whereas Tim Sylvia has been pretty active. Tim also did a very good job of defending against Antonio Nogueira's BJJ which is also the strength of Fedor.

It should be a good one. We're taping the UFC Fight night and gonna order the PPV.

[evilbeefchan]

Yea, I don't know why I was apprehensive about the Affliction PPV at first, but I'm getting excited for it. Haven't seen a Barnett match in a while, so his rematch with Rizzo should be fun. Didn't get to see Arlovski's last UFC match, and the fact that Rothwell was Sylvia's training partner (playing the role of Arlovski) should make this a really interesting fight. Does Rothwell's research and knowledge of Arlovski's style, strengths and weaknesses give him the upperhand over him, or has Arlovski trained to counter this strategy?

And of course, Fedor vs Sylvia. I don't feel like anyone's going to get KO'd in this one, and a submission finish is more likely to happen. Tim's reach advantage may be effective to keep Fedor from clinching, where he can use his Sambo wrestling to topple him. I felt that Sylvia's takedown defense has been improving, but who knows really. Tough fight to call, I'm hoping it goes 3 rounds, probably Fedor with the armbar.

UFC Fight Night, Irvin has major KO power as does Silva. Silva's got crazy speed, though not sure how the move up to light heavy will effect him. I keep seeing the last round of Silva's fight with Henderson in my head, and how freaked out I got when Silva got his rhythm and went in for the kill. I'm afraid to go against Silva in this one.

[UKking]

Yeah...MMA needed THIS

Originally Posted by sherdog.com

UFC light heavyweight sensation Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (Pictures) was arrested Tuesday by Costa Mesa police officers following a high-speed pursuit through the Californian suburbs from Costa Mesa to Newport Beach. Jackson was arrested on Felony Evading, Reckless Driving and Hit-and-Run charges and was processed Tuesday afternoon at the Costa Mesa Jail with bail set at $25,000.

Jackson was observed weaving his gray and green Ford pick-up truck in and out of traffic on a flat front tire while talking on his cell phone, according to a release from the Costa Mesa police department. An officer on motorcycle attempted to pull Jackson over but the fighter continued driving south on 17th St and over a center divider at Cabrillo Ave. in what became a chase with local authorities around 1:30 p.m.

Authorities said Jackson drove through red lights and onto the sidewalk on multiple occasions, "causing pedestrians to flee in terror." Jackson collided with a vehicle at the 17th St. intersection and continued driving on an exposed tire rim. The fighter was later linked to and charged for two other collisions on the southbound 55 freeway prior to the pursuit.

Sherdog.com has learned that Jackson was en route to training partner's residence and gave himself up to authorities outside his final destination at 18th St. and Newport Blvd.

"It was reported to me by the arresting officers that Jackson was cooperative and respectful [at the time of arrest], but upset," said Costa Mesa watch commander Lt. Paul Dondero.

A maestro with the sound byte, former Pride Fighting Championship star Jackson (27-8.) has been one of the UFC's richer acquisitions in recent years. The extroverted 30-year-old smashed promotion favorite Chuck Liddell at UFC 71 to garner the light heavyweight title in May 2007. Jackson defended the crown once before a dropping a hotly contested unanimous decision to Forrest Griffin at UFC 86 "Jackson vs. Griffin" in Las Vegas on July 5. Jackson and Griffin had previously traded verbal barbs as rival coaches on Spike TV's "The Ultimate Fighter 7" before meeting in the Octagon.

Photos released by TMZ.com show the former champion face down on the street outside the house during his arrest. It appears Jackson was directed to exit his truck at gunpoint.

Multiple attempts to reach Jackson's manager, Juanito Ibarra, were unsuccessful.

Stupid doesn't begin to describe it.

[evilbeefchan]

What a night of fights! Awesome KO's and submissions all night long. great matches all around. I will say the Vera/Andy fight was probably my least favorite of the night, as well as the finish of Burns/Johnson. I didn't care too much for the Buentello fight, really wish Aleksander Emelianenko had been cleared. Loved the finish to Dollaway/Taylor, I've never seen a submission like that before. Arlovski/Rothwell was my favorite fight of the night, hands down.

I'm not even going to bother comparing the shows and matches, as I'm just glad I got to see them both. Fedor is the man. Anderson is the man. My mind is blown.

[Mojo_PeiPei]

Both of those knock outs from the respective cards were amazing, but ultimately I am more impressed with Fedor's, guy is legitimately 5'10".

Silva fight should've been called about 5 punches sooner than it was.