Sam's Picks
Main Card
Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida: A very interesting fight that I believe will be a lot more exciting than people are looking at it. I don’t know how Machida’s chin is; he has been KO’d but hasn’t been tested since, even though he fought Rampage. Jones keeps claiming that he has solved the Machida puzzle, and to be totally honest, I believe him. Machida’s fighting style really falls into Jones’ fighting style. Jones’ destiny is to be champion for a very long time, he is the next Anderson Silva; he will be one of the most dominant champions of all time. Machida is my favorite current fighter (Cro Cop overall) but his days as the Champion are over = Jones by unanimous decision.
Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: Oh boy, I really don’t like this fight. I never like it when Nogueira has a good chance of losing. I could barely watch his fight with Schuab, but this time, I going to be there, oh the nerves! Frank Mir has an even better chance of winning this fight then he did last time. Although Nogueira looked awesome in his last fight but Mir is younger and has a lot more fight in him then Nog does = Mir by 2nd round TKO. My pick for KOOTN!
Tito Ortiz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: This fight I like more than the other one, mainly because Little Nog has a better chance of winning this rather than his twin brother. Tito looked really bad in his fight with Evans, but then again, Evans looked phenomenal. Also, Little Nog hasn’t fought in a long amount of time. We also have to take into account that Tito is on the brink of Retirement and Little Nog isn’t, he has more fight in him then both Tito and his brother. I believe that will be the deciding factor in this fight = Nog by 2nd round submission (choke). My pick for SOTN!
Brian Ebersole vs. Claude Patrick: I’m really disappointed to not see Rory MacDonald in this fight but oh well. Claude Patrick hasn’t exactly proved himself at the level of Ebersole. Ebersole dominated Chris Lytle and Lytle would destroy Patrick = Ebersole by 1st round TKO.
Mark Hominick vs. Chan Sung Jung: Fight of the year candidate anyone? Both these guys are sluggers. Both these guys have really improved. Although the difference is that Jung throws fastballs while Hominick goes right down the pipe, this will be the whole fight: Jung swings wildly while Hominick picks him apart with straight punches = Hominick by unanimous decision. My pick for FOTN
Prelims
Igor Pokrajac vs. Krzysztof Soszynski = Soszynski by 2nd round submission (Arm)
Jared Hamman vs. Constantinos Philippou = Philippou by split decision
Dennis Hallman vs. John Makdessi = Makdessi by unanimous decision
Yves Jabouin vs. Walel Watson = Watson by 2nd round submission
Mark Bocek vs. Nik Lentz = Lentz by unanimous decision
Rich Attonito vs. Jake Hecht = Attonito by unanimous decision
John Cholish vs. Mitch Clarke = Cholish by 3rd round submission (choke)
Dave’s Picks
First off myself, Sam, my other brother Andrew and my nephew Stephen are going to this event live! I cannot wait to go back to Toronto for some fights! I haven’t been to a live UFC fight since UFC 129 which was also in Toronto. I have been to MLB, NFL, NBA and other sporting events but there is nothing like a live fight. I try and go see local events every chance I get but it’s harder now that I live in New York but I go see kickboxing matches locally. Anyway we will be doing a special recap for this event.
Main Card
Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida (for light-heavyweight title): I am so blessed to be able to see this fight live. If Jones can win this and continue his streak of dominance, which I believe he will, and I can see a piece of that live then I will be extremely happy to say the least. This fight is based on two things: footwork and angling/cornering an opponent. Machida fights with a text book karate style. It’s like watching a fencing match but without the swords. It’s all about staying away and then jumping in to strike and then jumping back out. Jones will have to cut off the running away and use his amazing Greco-Roman wrestling to pin Machida against the cage. There he can use his size and strength advantage to beat Machida up with his amazing elbow strikes. Also, Machida has never faced an opponent with a reach like Jones’; which is 84.5” and the longest in the UFC in any weight class. It might be impossible for Machida to jump in for a strike without getting hit first. Machida has been KO’ed before by a man Jones forced to tap due to strikes. Now that is scary and you know Machida is aware of that. I am giving Machida a chance but until Jones loses how can you ever vote against this dude? = Jones by TKO in round 4.
Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: I’m not a huge Mir fan and Nog is one of my top 5 favorite fighters of all time. So, this fight will be an emotional one for me. I hope Nog can have a repeat performance of his crushing KO victory over Brendan Schaub. But Mir has looked very dominant lately with easy wins over Kongo, Cro Cop and Nelson and I think Nog just won’t be quick enough to handle Mir’s striking. Nog’s reaction time to striking has been extremely bad for the last few years and against a big guy like Mir that is not okay. I literally hate to say this = Mir by TKO in round 2.
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Tito Ortiz: I dislike Tito Ortiz. I like Lil Nog. But sadly Tito has a chance to win this. He just has to follow the blue print Jason Brilz and Phil Davis setup. Which is takedown after take down until the bells rings. But Lil Nog did show incredible takedown defense early in his fight against Phil Davis, who won a national title in Division I wrestling. If Tito can get this to the ground he can win but he will have to go to the ground fast because Lil Nog’s striking is much better than Tito’s. He has power and it’s technical. This fight is sadly hard to call for me but = Lil Nog by unanimous decision.
Brian Ebersole vs. Claude Patrick: This fight was not the original set up. Ebersole was supposed to fight Rory MacDonald and Patrick was supposed to fight Rich Attonito. Lucky for Ebersole, Patrick is no Rory. I would have said that Rory would crush Ebersole but Ebersole has a good arsenal and Patrick is pretty one dimensional = Ebersole by unanimous decision.
Mark Hominick vs. Chan Sung Jung: This fight should be an absolute slugfest! I can’t wait for this fight. I like watching Jung fight but he can fight sloppy and he got destroyed by George Roop. Not only did Hominick destroy Roop but he also trains with Roop so it’s not only a foreshadowing but Hominick has some good intel. This fight will be amazing. = Hominick by TKO in round 2. My Pick for Fight of the Night!
Prelim
Igor Pokrajac vs. Krzysztof Soszynski: Polish Experiment by TKO in round 1. My Pick for Fight of the Night!
Jared Hamman vs. Constantinos Philippou: Hamman by unanimous decision.
Dennis Hallman vs. John Makdessi: Makdessi by TKO in round 3.
Yves Jabouin vs. Walel Watson: Jabouin by TKO in round 1.
Mark Bocek vs. Nik Lentz: Bocek by submission in round 2. My Pick for Submission of the Night!
Rich Attonito vs. Jake Hecht: Attonito by unanimous decision.
John Cholish vs. Mitch Clarke: Cholish by unanimous decision.
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