Sam’s Picks
Main Card
Cain Velazquez vs. Junior dos Santos: This is easily the most important fight in heavyweight history and UFC history. These are both dominant young beasts ready to show the world what the UFC is all about. This was literally the best choice for a fight to be shown on Fox. They are heavyweights, the biggest draw in combat sports and they are both fast heavyweights with huge amounts of strength and cardio. They are both extremely intimidating and equal in skill making this an extremely hard fight to pick. Ever since dos Santos joined the UFC, he has been on the biggest tear I have ever seen: Fabricio Werdum (TKO), Stefan Struve (TKO), Mirko Cro Cop (TKO), Gilbert Yvel (TKO), Gabriel Gonzaga (TKO), Roy Nelson (Dominant UD), Shane Carwin (Dominant UD). These are all of his opponents in the UFC so far and none of them have had a chance to beat him. Cain will easily be his biggest test to date and Junior will be Cain’s biggest test to date as well. Velazquez has looked unstoppable since his UFC debut but hasn’t fought the same caliber opponents as dos Santos has. Velazquez’s ground game is brutal, very strong takedowns and ground and pound but apparently dos Santos also has a very good ground game according to his camp. We have not been able to see his ground game, but there is a very good chance that we will see his BJJ in action Saturday night when Velazquez will inevitable take him down at least once. This is a very hard fight for me to pick but I’m going to go with my gut on this one = dos Santos by 4th round TKO. My Pick for KOOTN
Cain Velazquez vs. Junior dos Santos: This is easily the most important fight in heavyweight history and UFC history. These are both dominant young beasts ready to show the world what the UFC is all about. This was literally the best choice for a fight to be shown on Fox. They are heavyweights, the biggest draw in combat sports and they are both fast heavyweights with huge amounts of strength and cardio. They are both extremely intimidating and equal in skill making this an extremely hard fight to pick. Ever since dos Santos joined the UFC, he has been on the biggest tear I have ever seen: Fabricio Werdum (TKO), Stefan Struve (TKO), Mirko Cro Cop (TKO), Gilbert Yvel (TKO), Gabriel Gonzaga (TKO), Roy Nelson (Dominant UD), Shane Carwin (Dominant UD). These are all of his opponents in the UFC so far and none of them have had a chance to beat him. Cain will easily be his biggest test to date and Junior will be Cain’s biggest test to date as well. Velazquez has looked unstoppable since his UFC debut but hasn’t fought the same caliber opponents as dos Santos has. Velazquez’s ground game is brutal, very strong takedowns and ground and pound but apparently dos Santos also has a very good ground game according to his camp. We have not been able to see his ground game, but there is a very good chance that we will see his BJJ in action Saturday night when Velazquez will inevitable take him down at least once. This is a very hard fight for me to pick but I’m going to go with my gut on this one = dos Santos by 4th round TKO. My Pick for KOOTN
Prelims
Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson: This fight has all the works for fight of the year (which is too bad it’s not on Fox but rather Facebook) and I think that whoever wins this should get a title shot against Frankie. Henderson has some of the biggest heart I have ever seen and has a ton of skill to back it up. Guida is a super hardheaded exciting fighter with great wrestling and a tendency to be in exciting fights. A year ago I would say that Guida would easily win this but Henderson showed us you can never doubt him with his dominating win over Jim Miller = Henderson by unanimous decision.
Pablo Garza vs. Dustin Poirier: A really cool Featherweight fight that will show who is ready for the upper echelon guys of the surprisingly stacked 145 lb. pound division = Poirier by unanimous decision.
Ricardo Lamas vs. Cub Swanson = Swanson by split decision
Clay Harvison vs. DaMarques Johnson = Johnson by 1st round TKO
Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto vs. Darren Uyenoyama = “Kid” by 2nd round submission (choke) My pick for SOTN
Robert Peralta vs. Mackens Semerzier = Semerzier by unanimous decision. My pick for FOTN
Alex Caceres vs. Cole Escovedo = Escovedo by 2nd round TKO
Paul Bradley vs. Mike Pierce = Pierce by unanimous decision
Matt Lucas vs. Aaron Rosa = Rosa by split decision
Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson: This fight has all the works for fight of the year (which is too bad it’s not on Fox but rather Facebook) and I think that whoever wins this should get a title shot against Frankie. Henderson has some of the biggest heart I have ever seen and has a ton of skill to back it up. Guida is a super hardheaded exciting fighter with great wrestling and a tendency to be in exciting fights. A year ago I would say that Guida would easily win this but Henderson showed us you can never doubt him with his dominating win over Jim Miller = Henderson by unanimous decision.
Pablo Garza vs. Dustin Poirier: A really cool Featherweight fight that will show who is ready for the upper echelon guys of the surprisingly stacked 145 lb. pound division = Poirier by unanimous decision.
Ricardo Lamas vs. Cub Swanson = Swanson by split decision
Clay Harvison vs. DaMarques Johnson = Johnson by 1st round TKO
Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto vs. Darren Uyenoyama = “Kid” by 2nd round submission (choke) My pick for SOTN
Robert Peralta vs. Mackens Semerzier = Semerzier by unanimous decision. My pick for FOTN
Alex Caceres vs. Cole Escovedo = Escovedo by 2nd round TKO
Paul Bradley vs. Mike Pierce = Pierce by unanimous decision
Matt Lucas vs. Aaron Rosa = Rosa by split decision
David’s Picks
Main Card
Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos: What can you say? It’s huge! I have been watching MMA since I was a kid and to think that there is a heavyweight title fight on FOX during primetime hours is literally too much for me to handle. I am so happy about this and cannot wait to watch it. Cain’s take downs and top control are brutal grinding stuff. His standup has improved so much it’s unbelievable but then there’s Dos Santos. I think JDS has the best standup in the heavyweight division. His hooks and uppercuts are brutal and have put many foes to sleep. This will be such an amazing fight regardless of who wins. Dos Santos will have to be able to do some pretty active BJJ in order to sway the judges into voting for him because he will get taken down at some point. Cain’s chin didn’t look great against Kongo and JDS is a much better boxer and has way more power than Kongo, so I truly believe that if JDS catches Cain he will get KOed. This is an extremely hard fight to pick but I think I’m going with the fact that Cain has never faced a guy like JDS and we was out for over a year = Dos Santos by unanimous decision. My Pick for Fight of the Night!
Prelims
Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson: What a great fight! Probably the best fight set to never air live. Like Sammy said if you were to set up this fight a few years ago it would be a no-brainer that Clay would win but after Henderson’s dominant wins over Bocek and Jim Miller it makes this a very hard fight to pick. Henderson is a very big and strong 155 but has never faced a guy like Guida who has the best cardio in the world. If Guida is on I think he can win a narrow decision and I think he will be = Guida by unanimous decision.
Pablo Garza vs. Dustin Poirier: A really fun featherweight matchup featuring two fighter looking to step up in competition. Whoever wins this will be bumped up into title contender bouts. I think Garza is a great steady fighter who will have a decent career in the UFC but I think there is something special about Dustin. He is an animal and I see him possibly being a title challenger within the next 2 years. = Dustin by unanimous decision.
Ricardo Lamas vs. Cub Swanson: Swanson by split decision.
Clay Harvsion vs. DaMarques Johnson: Johnson by tko in round 1.
Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto vs. Darren Uyenoyama: Kid by tko in round 2. My Pick for KO of the Night!
Robert Peralta vs. Mackens Semerzier: Mackens by split decision.
Alex Caceres vs. Cole Escovedo: Escovedo by submission in round 2. My Pick for submission of the Night!
Paul Bradley vs. Mike Pierce: Pierce by unanimous decision.
Matt Lucas vs. Aaron Rosa: Rosa by split decision.
No comments:
Post a Comment