UFC 147 Predictions

Sam’s Picks

Main Card

Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva: Two fading legends looking to revitalize their careers will clash this Saturday on possibly the least star studded PPV of all time. I seriously just don’t see Silva winning this. I really don’t. Franklin still has some fight left in him but Wanderlei probably only has about 2 fights left in him after this one = Franklin by 2nd round KO. My pick for KOOTN!

Cezar Mutante vs. Sergio Moraes: both of these guys have a lot of potential but there is one main thing that really makes me lean towards Mutante in this fight, Moraes is a replacement. Mutante won his way to the finals but Moraes lost during the show, Mutante should take this one = Mutante by unanimous decision.

Rony “Jason” Mariano Bezerra vs. Godofredo "Pepey" de Oliveira: Jason was my favorite to win the show when I heard that he was competing on it. Pepey also has a very good chance of winning this fight because his BJJ is very good. I’m going with Jason on this one because Pepey showed some very bad standup, very sloppy and ugly = Jason by 2nd round TKO. My 2rd pick for FOTN!

Mike Russow vs. Fabricio Werdum: Russow is really being counted out in this fight. He is a real threat against anyone in the heavyweight division and is highly underrated. Werdum on the other hand, looked absolutely amazing in his last fight against Nelson. I’m going with Werdum in this fight, but I will not be surprised of Russow wins = Werdum by unanimous decision.

Yuri Alcantara vs. Hacran Dias: Alcantara is probably the biggest under the radar title challenger that I have ever seen. He is a name that almost nobody knows and is a serious threat for the title in the coming year. Dias is going to be a very tough test for him but Alcantara should win = Alcantara by unanimous decision.

Prelims

Rodrigo Damm vs. Anistavio "Gasparzinho" Medeiros = Damm by 1st round submission. My pick for SOTN!

Francisco "Massaranduba" Drinaldo vs. Delson "Pe de Chumbo" Heleno = Pe de Chumbo by split decision. My 2nd pick for FOTN!

John "Macapa" Teixeira vs. Hugo "Wolverine" Viana = Macapa by split decision. My 1st pick for FOTN!

Leonardo "Macarrao" Mafra Teixeira vs. Thiago de Oliveira Perpetuo = Perpetuo by unanimous decision

Marcos Vinicius "Vina" Borges Pancini vs. Wagner "Galeto" Campos = Vina by 3rd round TKO.

Felipe Arantes vs. Milton Vieira = Arantes by 2nd round submission (choke).

Dave’s Picks

Main Card

Rich Frankin vs. Wanderlei Silva: Wow, how did we end up back here? Another major injury to opposing coach Vitor Belfort made Franklin take his place. Rich is used to fighting on short notice because the UFC has asked him to do it many times before. Rich is coming off a very disappointing and boring loss to Forrest Griffin over a year ago. While Silva is coming off a great comeback KO over Cung Le. I say comeback because he was rocked prior to winning. This fight is actually hard to pick for me. The first time they fought they went the distance and Rich won but both of their chins are so bad now and Silva has more power in his fists. I think is Silva lands he could KO Rich but Rich could execute the same game plan as before and still win because Silva never changes his fighting style. This one is hard for me because I can see Rich getting KOed but if Rich can last past a few rounds Silva may fade after awhile because it is 5 rounds. But I can also see Silva being so pumped up because he is fighting in Brazil…geez = Rich by unanimous decision.

Cezar Ferreira vs. Sergio Moraes: Moraes is a great BJJ practitioner and is extremely deadly on the ground. Ferriera has dynamite in his hands and has looked like an animal. This fight is hard to pick for me but I’m going with my gut. = Ferreira by TKO in round 2. My Pick for Fight of the Night!

Rony Mariano Bezerra vs. Godofredo de Oliveira: Rony has looked pretty impressive but so has Oliveira. Rony to me has been the more well-rounded fighter and has an amazing training camp (Nogueiras). So, this could be a close one. = Rony by unanimous decision.

Mike Russow vs. Fabricio Werdum: This fight is pretty interesting. Werdum is rated in the top 5 heavyweights for some people and Mike Russow can be found outside the top 20. But in reality this fight should not be close. Werdum has the skills to put him away quickly. However, Werdum can have trouble finishing guys he should be able to finish and Russow can beat people he should not be able to beat. There is a chance Russow could pull of another crazy victory but voting against Werdum here is just dumb. = Werdum by submission in the 2^nd round. My Pick for Submission of the Night!

Yuri Alcantara vs. Hacran Dias: This fight will be amazing. This is the fight that actually makes me want to watch this horrible PPV.Both of these guys are highly entertaining and so much fun to watch. But Alcantara has faced the tougher competition and has beaten them. I think it will be close and I wouldn’t be shocked if it went the other way. = Alcantara by unanimous decision. My Pick for Fight of the Night!

Prelims

Rodrigo Damm vs. Anistavio Medeiros: Damm by unanimous decision.

Francisco Drinaldo vs. Delson  Heleno: Drinaldo by split decision.

John Teixeira vs. Hugo Viana: John by split decision.

Leonardo Mafra Teixeira vs. Thiago de Oliveira Perpetuo: Perpetuo by TKO in round 2.

Marcos Vinicius Borges Pancini vs. Wagner Campos: Pancini By submission in round 1.

Felipe Arantes vs. Milton Vieira: Arantes by unanimous decision.

The Ultimate Fighter Live Finale Predictions

Dave’s Picks

First off I would like to inform you all that my beautiful wife predicted every single fight correctly except one this entire season of TUF. No, she does not help me with my predictions…but maybe she should..

Main Card

Jake Ellenberger vs. Martin Kampmann: What a great fight. I love watching these guys but in my opinion Ellenberger is on another level at this point. Kampmann is a dangerous guy who can beat anyone if they get careless but Jakes is just a monster. Kampmann is almost impossible to finish but I think Jake needs to do that early on or he may be in trouble. Jake has shown that his gas tank can run dry due to his insane pace he keeps up and this one is a 5 rounder. If I was Jake I would intelligently try and finish this quick and I believe he can. I see Jake putting on pressure, getting a knockdown and then finishing Kampmann with crazy ground and pound. = Ellenberger by TKO in round 2. My Pick for KO of the Night!

Mike Chiesa vs. Al Iaquinta: Anything could happen in this fight but knowing that Al trains with Matt Serra makes me put some faith in him. The other thing that gives me great confidence in picking Al is that when I interviewed Urijah (Click here for that interview) he said he thought Al would win. Urijah coached both of these guys the entire time and he is choosing Al. I think Al has much better standup and better wrestling but Chiesa has a knack for pulling off crazy stuff. But I feel pretty safe picking Al. = Al by unanimous decision.

Max Holloway vs. Pat Schilling: Max Holloway is a little monster. The kid is only 20 and has crazy standup skills. Go watch his youtube highlight video. I really like this kid a lot. We interviewed him recently (Click here for that interview) and you can tell he is just a great kid loving his time in the big leagues. But Schilling is no joke as well. This fight could be closer than I am expecting but I see Holloway dominating. = Holloway by TKO in round 1.

Jonathan Brookins vs. Charles Oliveira: I can’t wait for this one. This will be a very fun fight. Brookins is coming off the greatest win of his career by absolutely destroying Vagner Rocha and Oliveira is coming off a successful featherweight debut. If you were to ask me about this fight a year ago I would have likely picked Oliveira by a close decision but after their last couple fights I have to go with Brookins. However, this fight will be very close and expect some fireworks on the feet and on the ground. = Brookins by split decision. My Pick for Fight of the Night!

Prelims

Justin Lawrence vs. John Cofer = Lawrence by unanimous decision.
Myles Jury vs. Chris Saunders = Jury by split decision.

Daron Cruickshank vs. Chris Tickle = Cruickshank by unanimous decision.
Cristiano Marcello vs. Sam Sicilia = Marcello by 3rd round submission. My Pick for Submission of the Night!
John Albert vs. Erik Perez = Albert by unanimous decision.
Jeremy Larsen vs. Joe Proctor = Proctor by unanimous decision.

Sam's Picks

Main Card

Jake Ellenberger vs. Martin Kampmann: In a welterweight clash that will undoubtedly be an amazing fight, the winner is next in line for a title shot. At least, that’s how I feel about it. Apparently, Johny Hendricks is the next one to receive a title shot after Condit but I disagree. Hendricks is 4-1 in his last 5: decision loss to Story (not impressive), TKO victory over TJ Waldburger (pretty impressive), squeaked by Mike Pierce (not impressive), KO’d Jon Fitch in 12 seconds (extremely impressive), and squeaked by Josh Koscheck (not impressive). I don’t see how that deserves a title shot. Now what Ellenberger and Kampmann have done is much more impressive and worthy of a title shot. Kampmann is 3-2 (with the two being very controversial decision losses) and Ellenberger 6-1 in the UFC with the loss also being a controversial decision loss. But hey, lets get back to the fight. Between these two, the most impressive as of late is by far Ellenberger. A 50 second KO of Jake Shields, a dominating decision win of Diego Sanchez (besides the 3rd round), and another KO of a game Sean Pierson. Kampmann on the other hand, was being dominated by Thiago Alves until Alves made a horrible mistake and Kampmann capitalized on it. Personally, I think that the deciding factor will be Ellenberger’s power and momentum in the UFC. But if he doesn’t finish, Kampmann will win by unanimous decision = Ellenberger by 2nd round TKO. My pick for KOOTN and 1st for FOTN!

Mike Chiesa vs. Al Iaquinta: Iaquinta has rolled along the competition in TUF despite his two close fights between Jury and Pichel, he never really took damage in those fights. Chiesa on the other hand, has taken lots of damage in his last fights. Almost being finished by Lawrence with a body shot and submitted by Vick. He has a lot of heart, but simply not the technique that Iaquinta holds. Look for Chiesa to pull off the upset and comeback if he isn’t finished in the first. I will be cheering for him = Iaquinta by 1st round TKO.

Max Holloway vs. Pat Schilling: I see this fight being a one sided beatdown handed by Max Holloway, and no I’m not just saying that because we got an interview with him, its because I thought that the second I saw this fight announced (which was before the interview). Schilling was destroyed by future contender in Daniel Pineda, and he looking terrible and not UFC caliber. Holloway, on the other hand, despite losing in the first round really impressed me in his debut. He was winning the standup against one of the top contenders in Dustin Poirier before being finished with a bizarre mounted triangle/armbar = Holloway by 2nd round TKO.

Jonathan Brookins vs. Charles Oliveira: This fight is probably the hardest one to pick on the whole card. These guys are both young phenoms who are undoubtedly going to fight for the title in the future. I’m going with Brookins on this on this one because he has been more impressive, knocking out the always dangerous Vagner Rocha brutally in one minute and barely losing to (now) title contender Erik Koch = Brookins by split decision

Prelims
Justin Lawrence vs. John Cofer = Lawrence by unanimous decision. My 2nd pick for FOTN!
Myles Jury vs. Chris Saunders = Jury by split decision. My 3rd pick for FOTN!
Daron Cruickshank vs. Chris Tickle = Cruickshank by 1st round TKO
Cristiano Marcello vs. Sam Sicilia = Marcello by 2nd round submission (choke). My pick for SOTN!
John Albert vs. Erik Perez = Albert by unanimous decision
Jeremy Larsen vs. Joe Proctor = Proctor by split decision

RIP Mr. Chiesa.