Dave's Picks
Main Card
Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen: So, here we go! Chael
Sonnen is an amazing wrestler and a polarizing person. Anderson Silva is the
best striker in MMA and a captivating one. This will be remembered as one
of the best rivalries ever in MMA history. Let me inform you all that if Sonnen
wins, the UFC will have a new face for their brand, whether they like it or not.
Sonnen will bring the spotlight on himself and there will be no stopping him. I
could see him refusing to fight anyone for over a year so he can keep
doing media tours. I truly believe that Sonnen could either bring in a ton of
fans or alienate 99% of the casual fan base. It is going to be chaos. If Silva
wins he will still be the best fighter in UFC history and the best fighter
alive on the planet right now. It is completely obvious that Sonnen needs to
take this to the floor and Anderson needs to keep it standing. If Anderson is
healthy, unlike last time, and Chael doesn’t have 17 times the testosterone of
a normal man (he did steroids before their last fight) then Silva should win. I
think this fight will be completely different. I think ,and hope, Silva ends this
freakish parade. = Silva by TKO in round 3. My Pick for KO of the Night! My
Pick for Fight of the Night!
Forrest Griffin vs. Tito Ortiz: Uhg. That’s a grunting sigh.
This is Tito Ortiz’s last MMA fight. It is a good fight to end his career
because this will be the rubber match of their trilogy. Both fights were pretty
close and the decisions could have gone either way. But Tito will retire after
this. So, that leads me to believe he will go all out and try and kill Forrest.
Sadly, I truly think that is how you beat Forrest. Blitz him and aim for his
chin. Forrest’s chin has faded quickly over the years of abuse and Tito does
have the strength to rock him and then finish him off with a few big bombs on
the ground. Forrest should play it smart and force Tito up against the cage and
lands knees to the body. If Forrest does anything else, he is fighting a fight
he has a greater chance of losing. Anything could happen here. = Forrest by
extremely close split decision.
Patrick Cote vs. Cung Le: Patrick Cote makes his return to
the Octagon for the first time since 2010 to take on Cung Le who is making his
sophomore octagon attempt. Cote has had a bizarre up and down UFC career where
he started his UFC career off by losing 3 straight. Cote then ended up a
finalist of the fourth season of TUF and he lost in the finale to Travis Lutter
making that 4 straight. Cote then won 4 straight and that earned him a chance
to face off against Anderson Silva for the title. It was a mismatch but Cote
ended up losing because his own knee blew out in the third round. He then lost
two more which made that a 3 fight losing skid. Cote has then gone on to win 4
in a row outside the UFC. Cung Le is a great kick boxer but is coming off a
vicious KO loss at the hands of Wanderlei Silva. Cote is primarily a boxer and Le
might actually have the grappling advantage here. But Le is 40 years old and
his days of fighting high level guys are done. I know it is only one loss to Wanderlei Silva but I
think Cote is going to be able to pick Le apart and win a dominating decision.
= Cote by unanimous decision.
Dong Hyun Kim vs. Demian Maia: One of the other difficult
fights to call on this card. Kim is a great fighter with good grappling and
strength but this time he will have a better grappler who is coming down from a
bigger weight class. I am not sure who will be stronger but Kim has been much
more dependable and consistent. Maia burst onto the UFC scene in 2007 and destroyed
5 straight people all by submission including a first round beating of Chael
Sonnen. But he has gone 4-4 since then and his wins were not very
spectacular and against lower level competition. This is also Maia’s first drop
to welterweight. This is an interesting one. Kim should have a mall advantage
on the feet but Maia should have the grappling advantage. This one is giving me
fits. = Maia by split decision.
Chad Mendes vs. Cody McKenzie: No offense here but like most
people, I do not understand this matchup at all. Mendes is the #2 featherweight
in the world. McKenzie isn’t even in the top 20. I don’t get it at all and
Mendes should be able to dominate this on the feet and on the ground. BUT!
McKenzie seems to have this bizarre ability to catch people in this crazy
guillotine choke. If McKenzie can pull this off it will be one of the biggest
upsets in UFC history. But I doubt it will happen because Mendes fights really
intelligently. = Mendes by TKO in round 3.
Mike Easton vs. Ivan Menjivar: Both of these guys got wins
in their last fights. Easton beat Jared Papazian by majority decision and
Menjivar defeated John Albert by submission in round 1. Now both of these
fights were very close. Menjivar was almost finished early on but had an
amazing comeback victory that made for one of the best fights so far this year.
This fight is going to be a grueling match with back and forth striking and
grappling. I think Menjivar should take this to the ground and Easton should
keep it standing. This one is going to be fun and very close. = Menjivar by
unanimous decision.
Prelims
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Gleison Tibau: Tibau by unanimous
decision.
Fabricio Camoes vs. Melvin Guillard: Melvin by KO in round
1.
Riki Fukuda vs. Constantinos Philippou: Philippou by split
decision.
John Alessio vs. Shane Roller: Alessio by split decision.
Yoislandy Izquierdo vs. Rafaello Oliveira: Izquierdo by TKO
in round 2.
Sam's Picks
Main Card
Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen: Finally, the biggest
rematch in the history of the UFC has finally arrived. I believe that this
fight is going to be VERY different from the first. In their last fight, Silva
had badly injured ribs and Sonnen had the testosterone levels that of 17 men
combined. That is quite the handicap in favor for Sonnen. Silva will have the better
striking and grappling, along with much better takedown defense from their last fight. Chael
absolutely has nothing on him when he isn’t on steroids and Silva is healthy =
Silva by 1st round TKO. My pick for KOOTN! My 2nd pick
for FOTN!
Forrest Griffin vs. Tito Ortiz: I don’t see this fight being
as close as their first two. They are both clearly fading but Tito is the one
who is retiring and he is retiring for a reason. Although Forrest is no longer
the quick and crisp striker he used to be, he still has the better technical
standup, and he now is a smarter fighter. I see Forrest aiming for the body and
eventually finishing him = Forrest by 3rd round TKO.
Patrick Cote vs. Cung Le: Cote is, understandably, a hefty
underdog heading into this bout. But I disagree. Cote has been on a tear since
he was cut by the UFC and Le is a 40 year old vet who is on the brink of retirement,
which was shown in his brutal TKO loss to Wanderlei. Cote has the speed that can
pick Le apart. The only problem is that Cote is a slow starter. Le will most
likely win the first round but Cote will dominate the 2nd and 3rd
rounds after he finds his range = Cote by unanimous decision.
Dong Hyun Kim vs. Demian Maia: What happened to Maia? The
Marquardt loss really messed up his career and he has been trying to stand with
people too much. Kim looked amazing in his fight with Sean Pierson. His
striking was crisp and powerful; he even threw about 6 crane kicks! That’s
going to be a problem for Maia if he decides to stand with Kim. Another problem
is that Kim will probably be stronger than him too. Kim is a judo guy and judo
practitioners are very strong grapplers. If Maia goes for a takedown, it will
most likely be stuffed. I see Kim easily winning this fight = Kim by unanimous
decision.
Chad Mendes vs. Cody McKenzie: The question heading into
this fight is, “Does McKenzie even have a chance at winning this fight”? Of
course he does, with that patented guillotine of his. The only problem with
that is that Team Alpha Male is all about the guillotines. Mendes will have the
better standup, grappling, and submissions. I don’t see this fight going very
well for McKenzie = Mendes by 2nd round TKO.
Mike Easton vs. Ivan Menjivar: BARNBURNER ALERT: This fight is fantastic. It’s
going to be explosive and possibly one of the most fast paced fights we will
ever see. Menjivar is one of the most experienced fighters at 135, and I
believe that is going to be the deciding factor in this fight. He has fought
the who’s who in MMA and has been in this sport for over 11 years. He’s fought
GSP, Jeff Curran, Matt Serra, Urijah Faber, Caol Uno, and even defeated Joe
Lauzon by calf slicer. The guy has been everywhere while Easton is still a
prospect looking to make a name. Easton will rebound from this and do big
things at 135 = Menjivar by split decision. My 1st pick for FOTN!
Prelims
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Gleison Tibau: Nurmagomedov is now
getting the attention he deserves. The kid is only 23 years old and is 17-0
with 14 finishes and 9 in the first round. He will be challenging for the title
in the next 3 years but Tibau may be too much too fast. Tibau is one of the
most underrated fighters in the UFC with a 10-5 record in the octagon, all of the
losses to top contenders: Guillard, Joe Miller, Nick Diaz, Tyson Griffin, Joe
Stevenson. He is also arguably the strongest lightweight in the UFC. This may
all be too much for Khabib, but he certainly has a bright future = Tibau by
unanimous decision. My 3rd pick for FOTN!
Fabricio Camoes vs. Melvin Guillard: As I said in our prelim
preview (click here), this could truly go either way. I’m sure that Guillard
has worked immensely on his ground game following his last two submission
losses, but it likely won't be enough for Camoes. Guillard is going to have to
explode and finish to make sure it doesn’t go to the ground = Guillard by 1st
round KO.
Riki Fukuda vs. Costa Philippou: This fight is arguably the
hardest to pick. Philippou has really impressed me in his last 3 fights. Fukuda
looked really good in the 2nd and 3rd round against
Cantwell, but lost the first. Philippou has the power to defeat the technical
striker in Fukuda = Philippou by split decision.
John Alessio vs. Shane Roller: Roller is not looking like
UFC material in his last 3 fights. Alessio, although he was rather dominated,
easily beat Mark Bocek in the standup. Roller is one of those guys who fights
like he has great standup, where he leans forward with a lazy jab, but really
isn’t very good. Alessio will dominate him in the standup and although Roller
will most likely win a round due to takedowns, he will lose this fight and be
released by the UFC = Alessio by unanimous decision.
Yoislandy Izquierdo vs. Rafaello Oliviera = Izquierdo by 3rd
round TKO.
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