UFC on Versus 5 Predictions

Sam’s Picks

Main Card

Chris Lytle vs. Dan Hardy: Poor Dan Hardy has been on a 3 fight losing skid since he earned a title fight with GSP and has shown a huge weakness on the ground. Chris Lytle is a very well rounded fighter in being a decorated boxer and being a black belt in BJJ so I believe that Lytle is going to take this fight with dominance on the ground = Lytle by 2nd round Submission. My Pick for Submission of the Night!

Ben Henderson vs. Jim Miller: Ben Henderson is a very good all around fighter who is always looking for the fight of the year and I believe that Miller will be able to bring it to him. You can’t ever count out Ben Henderson but I believe that this is Jim Miller’s time and will earn the title shot = Miller by unanimous decision. My Pick for Fight of the Night!

Donald Cerrone vs. Charles Oliviera: This is a really good fight to show if either of these guys are ready for the upper echelon of the lightweight division. Cerrone has been looking really good in the UFC so far but so has Oliviera. This will be really close but I think Oliviera’s ground skills will be too much for Cerrone = Oliviera by 3rd round submission (choke).

Amir Sadallah vs. Duane Ludwig: This is an interesting fight but I don’t think it deserves to be on the main card, what about Benavidez vs. Wineland? Anyway, I think that Amir’s Muay Thai will be too devastating for Ludwig to handle = Sadallah by 2nd round TKO. My Pick for KO of the Night!

Prelims
C.B. Dollaway vs. Jared Hamman = Dollaway by submission (Peruvian necktie)
Joseph Benavidez vs. Eddie Wineland = Benavidez by unanimous decision
Ed Herman vs. Kyle Noke = Noke by Split decision
Ronny Markes vs. Karlos Vemola = Vemola by 1st round TKO
Alex Caceres vs. Jim Hettes = Hettes by 1st round submission (choke)
Cole Miller vs. T.J. O’Brien = Miller by 2nd submission (choke)
Danny Castillo vs. Jacob Volkmann = Castillo by unanimous decision
Edwin Figueroa vs. Jason Reinhardt = Figueroa by 1st round TKO

 

Dave’s Picks

Main Card

Dan Hardy vs. Chris Lytle: First off, Miller vs. Henderson should be the Main Event then Benavidez vs. Wineland should be Co-Main Event. Anyway! Back to this fight. Hardy has been looking really bad lately and Lytle was on a run until he met Brian Ebersole. This fight is hard to pick because both are so unpredictable. But they should keep this one standing and on the feet. I think Hardy knows that if he loses this fight that he will be fired. I also think Hardy punches harder and will be the all-around stronger fighter = Hardy by unanimous decision.

Ben Henderson vs. Jim Miller: This should be a great fast paced technical battle where both fighters will never give up. Miller is one of the hottest fighters in the world right now. Miller is 9-1 in his UFC career with his only loss coming to #2 Gray Maynard by decision. He can submit or (T)KO anybody in that division and should get a title shot soon. I personally got to see Ben Henderson’s last fight live where he somewhat-easily handled Mark Bocek at UFC 129 in Toronto. Henderson is a tough guy with a never-give-up attitude but Miller is just on top of his game = Miller by unanimous decision. My Pick for Fight of the Night!

Donald Cerrone vs. Charles Oliveira: Cerrone is a tough fighter with some decent technical prowess. However, his performances (in my opinion) are incosistant. In his last fight he fought an undersized late replacement in Vagner Rocha but won by an uninspired decision. Charles Oliveira is a young guy with “future champion” written all over him. He has some of the sickest BJJ in the lightweight division and his striking is fun to watch. If Cerrone doesn’t come 100% prepared it will be a short night for the “Cowboy” = Oliveira by unanimous decision.

Duane Ludwig vs. Amir Sadollah: Both these guys are primarily Muay Thai guys so this should be a good striking matchup. Before Amir’s absolute destruction of DaMarques Johnson I would have picked Duane to win this by close decision but Amir has been looking like a beast = Amir by unanimous decision.

Prelims

C.B. Dollaway vs. Jared Hamman: Dollaway by unanimous decision.

Joseph Benavidez vs. Eddie Wineland: Benavidez by unanimous decision.

Ed Herman vs. Kyle Noke: Herman by split decision.

Ronny Markes vs. Karlos Vemola: Vemola by TKO in the 2^nd round.

Alex Caceres vs. Jim Hettes: Hettes by Submission in the 1^st round.

Cole Miller vs. T.J. O’Brien: Miller by submission in the 3^rd round. My Pick for Submission of the Night!

Danny Castillo vs. Jacob Volkmann: Castillo by split decision.

Edwin Figueroa vs. Jason Reinhardt: Figueroa by KO in the 1^st round. My Pick for KO of the Night!

The "Hammer" Retires

Matt Hamill decided, after his one-sided loss to Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 133, to retire. Hamill is only 34 years old and that has some fans crying at a premature retirement but I, for one, am happy to see an athlete retire before his legacy is tarnished. Hamill had a great amateur wrestling  career in college at the Division 3 level. He also created a name for himself on the third season of the Ultimate Fighter as Tito Ortiz's favorite student. His overall UFC record is a commendable 9-4 which consists of wins over some decent competition. I was never "in love" with Hamill but I'm glad he settled down here in New York State and will continue to teach at his MMA camp and help out in the community. Thanks Hammer for giving people hope by showing us that people with disadvantages can accomplish great things.

UFC 133 Recap

Sam’s Recap:

Alright so, 133 was a decent card from top to bottom but not for me or my brother’s picks. I went 6 for 12 and he went 7 for 12 and that really sucks but there were a few surprises on the card.

Although I did expect Gustafsson to win (and finish) Hamill, I had no idea that it would be such a one-sided beating leading up to the stoppage and also for him to basically knock him out. I was very impressed with him.

Now lets talk about the phenomenal young athlete in Rory MacDonald. I thought leading into the fight that Pyle’s experience and tenacity would be able give him the close decision win but boy was I wrong. The hungry young beast destroyed the equally hungry veteran in devastating fashion in a first round TKO. Rory was the favorite going into the fight but he showed all the people that he is ready for the top fighters in the world. I will no longer ever count out MacDonald.

How about Costa Philippou? He looked really good against Jorge Rivera who I believed to be able to knock him out early on in the fight but he held his own almost even TKOing him in the second round, he looked really good. The omoplata that he had could have finished Rivera but Philippou clearly had no idea how to finish it. Props to Philippou on proving a lot of people wrong.

I was embarrassed and disgusted by Hallman’s attire much like Dana White’s reaction. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to seeing Ebersole’s “Hairrow” again but, Hallman blew him out of the water. I was happy that I actually got this fight right and also how Ebersole got done quick and early so those “shorts” were off TV.

Vitor looked fast, technical, and powerful. He was just flat out amazing against Akiyama. I had a strong feeling before the fight that Vitor was going to be able to finish early but I was hoping that Akiyama would have been a little bit more of a challenge but his chin was no match for speed and power of Vitor. I was a little weirded out how no one really said all that much about the powerful back of the head shots when he was out. I don’t care if he was already out. It is still a fight and they are illegal and someone should do something. I am not saying like take the win away but that he should be fined because the same thing happened in the Rick Franklin fight. Knocked him out and then landed a few huge back of the head shots. But it doesn’t seem like anything is going to happen so oh well.

Oh boy was I happy with the main event! Rashad looked amazing, a new and improved version of the Rashad that fought 14 months ago. Tito is my least favorite fighter and always will as long as I am alive so seeing him crumble into pieces and punched in the face so many times was amazing! Congrats to Rashad and we hope to see the Jones feud end.

UFC 133 Predictions

Sam's UFC 133 Picks

Main Card - 

Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz: Rashad Evans was next in line to get a title shot against the top 3 P4P fighter, Jon Jones.   Tito Ortiz was one fight away from getting cut from the UFC forever and he got lucky because Ryan Bader was nervous and not on his game that night.  Now Tito is getting a chance to fight the number one contender in Evans.  I believe that the UFC was desperate for someone to fill in for Phil Davis on short notice and thought that it would be a good draw by saying it’s the comeback fight for Tito and a rematch= Rashad Evans by Unanimous decision. 

Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Vitor Belfort: Vitor Belfort just fought for the middleweight belt against Anderson Silva and, up to the front-kick KO, he actually looked really good. If you re-watch that fight you could see that Belfort was landing most of his shots and Anderson couldn’t do much…till the front kick.  Akiyama has looked terrible since his UFC debut. I thought Belcher beat him, he lost to an on-fire Chris Leben, and got dominated by Michael Bisping = Belfort by TKO 1^st round.

Brian Ebersole vs. Dennis Hallman: The battle of the journeymen. I was really disappointed to see that this fight was promoted to the main event instead of Mendes vs. Yahya but oh well.  Ebersole looked really good against Lytle who himself has been looking really good and had never heard of him before that except for his cartwheel kick KO seen all over YouTube.   Dennis Hallamn is fighting off two upset victories against Parisyan and Ben Saunders but I see Ebersole being a little too unorthodox = Ebersole by Split decision.

Constantinos Philippou vs. Jorge Rivera: The cursed fight once again scratched. Philippou replaced Alessio Sakara on short notice. He lost to Nick Catone in his debut who is a mediocre fighter and Jorge Rivera is a KO artist who will easily add another one onto his list = Rivera by 2^nd round KO. My Pick for KO of the Night.

Mike Pyle vs. Rory MacDonald: I am literally ripping out my hair over this one. Pyle is extremely underrated and hasn’t been appreciated well enough till now.  Rory is a young phenom, basically beating Carlos Condit for over 2 rounds and absolutely manhandling Nate Diaz in one of the most one sided affairs I have ever seen Nate in before.  Mike Pyle derailed the hype train named John Hathaway and retired Ricardo Almeida. I am very unsure of this prediction but I guess we will see = Pyle by Split decision. My Pick for Fight of the Night.

Prelims - 

Alexander Gustafsson vs. Matt Hamill = Alexander by Submission (choke). My pick for Submission of the Night.

Chad Mendes vs. Rani Yahya = Mendes by Unanimous Decision.

Ivan Menjivar vs. Nick Pace = Pace by Submission.

Johny Hendricks vs. Mike Pierce = Pierce by 3^rd round TKO

Mike Brown vs. Nam Phan = Phan by Unanimous decision.

Paul Bradley vs. Rafael Natal = Natal by Submission (choke)

Dave's UFC 133 Picks

Main Card -

Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz: Since their first fight Rashad has gone on to beat some of the best (Rampage, Forrest, Thiago Silva ect.) and Tito won just one fight. Rashad has improved by leaps and bounds and Tito has continued to stall. It’s as if Tito purposefully refuses to evolve. However, there are many concerns for me when it comes to this fight. Rashad hasn’t fought in 14 months and Tito should still be in great shape. Does Tito have a chance? Yes but not much of one. = Rashad Evans by unanimous decision. My pick for Fight of the Night.

Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Vitor Belfort: I agree with Sam on both accounts. Akiyama has never looked great in the Octagon and Belfort looked decent in his last fight. Although Akiyama has a better chin, I still think Belfort will win this slugfest by being the stronger and faster fighter. = Vitor Belfort by KO in the 2^nd round. My pick for KO of the Night.

Brian Ebersole vs. Dennis Hallman: Why is this on the main card? Hallman has been impressing me as of late and Ebersole looked super weird but good in his debut against Lytle. Hallman should have a respectable upper hand on the ground but Ebersole’s striking may prove to be too much for Hallman. Tough pick but = Dennis Hallman by submission in the 2^nd round. My pick for Submission of the Night.

Constantinos Philippou vs. Jorge Rivera: Another mediocre main card bout. Rivera’s last fight was isnane and he looked bad but Philippou has done nothing to prove he can handle anything close to the striking ability of Rivera. = Rivera by TKO in the 1^st round.

Rory MacDonald vs. Mike Pyle: Like Sam stated this is a hard fight to pick. Mike Pyle is a game veteran who has looked exceptional lately. Rory is a young beast who is quickly moving up the ranks in the welterweight division. I think Rory will just be too strong and I will continue to buy into his hype train. = Rory by unanimous decision.

Prelims-

Alexander Gustafsson vs. Matt Hamill = Gustafsson by split decision.

Chad Mendes vs. Rani Yahya = Mendes by unanimous decision.

Ivan Menjivar vs. Nick Pace = Menjivar by split decision.

Johny Hendricks vs. Mike Pierce = Pierce by unanimous decision.

Mike Brown vs. Nam Phan = Brown by TKO in the 3^rd round.

Paul Bradley vs. Rafael Natal = Bradley by split decision.