UFC on Fuel TV 2 Predictions

Sam’s Picks

Main Card

Alexander Gustafsson vs. Thiago Silva: A lot of people would probably disagree with me, but this fight is much easier for Gustafsson than Nogueira would have been. Silva’s standup is really sloppy, but powerful, but Nogueira’s standup is crisp. Gustafsson has a significant ground and standup advantage, along with technique. The only real advantage that Silva has is power, and that’s it. Not only are these all positive factors toward Gustafsson, but he is also fighting in his home country, just adding fuel to the fire. All these factors just play perfectly with Gustafsson, and he will be fighting for the title very soon = Gustafsson by 1st round submission (RNC). My pick for SOTN!

Alessio Sakara vs. Brian Stann: This fight is probably the easiest fight to pick on the whole card. Sakara’s chin has proven to be suspect in the past with KO losses to the likes of Chris Leben, Houston Alexander, and Drew McFedries. Stann is one of those guys that can KO anybody in his division. A KO artist plus a suspect chin equals a likely KO = Brian Stann by 2nd round KO. My pick for KOOTN!

Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Paulo Thiago: This is a hard one to pick. Bahadurzada is one of those guys who is super well rounded and likes to make quick work of his opponents and Thiago is really hard to bet against. Thiago has been looking really bad lately and Siyar is in an upswing = Bahadurzada by split decision. My pick for FOTN!

Diego Nunes vs. Dennis Siver: These guys are both beasts. This has all the makes to be fight of the night. Nunes has looked very impressive in his recent outings but Siver hasn’t. This is also Siver’s first fight at 145, meaning he might have trouble dropping down. That usually leads to bad cardio. Nunes has cardio for days, along with more speed = Nunes by unanimous decision. My pick for FOTN!

DaMarques Johnson vs. John Maguire: No offense to Johnson but his ground game is not that great and Maguire is a ground fighter I believe Johnson will be submitted = Maguire by 1st round submission (RNC).

Damacio Page vs. Brad Pickett: Fight of the year candidate right here! Both these guys love to put on barnburners for the fans. Page has the power while Pickett has the speed and technique. Speed and technique wins a majority of the time = Pickett by unanimous decision. My pick for FOTN (yes, 3 FOTN)!

Prelims
Papy Abedi vs. James Head = Abedi by unanimous decision.
Cyrille Diabate vs. Tom DeBlass = DeBlass by 2^nd round submission.
Francis Carmont vs. Magnus Cedenblad = Carmont by unanimous decision.
Yoislandy Izquierdo vs. Reza Madadi = Madadi by split decision.
Simeon Thoresen vs. Besam Yousef = Thoresen by unanimous decision
Jason Young vs. Eric Wisely = Young by split decision

Dave’s Picks

Main Card

Alexander Gustafsson vs. Thiago Silva: I think this fight would have been hard to pick is Silva had fought recently but due to testing positive for PEDs Silva missed over a year of competition. Gustafsson continues to improve every time he enters the cage and his technique, reach and all-round skills make him a threat to everyone at 205, including the champ. Silva is a very good fighter with well rounded skills but he will be picked apart and eventually finished by Gustafsson. = Gustafsson by submission in round 2. My Pick for Submission of the Night!

Alessio Sakara vs. Brian Stann: Brain Stann has really transformed himself into an elite level fighter…at least with his standup. His ground game will never be that good but Sakaras ground game isn’t that great either. This will be a great standup battle with someone most likely getting KOed. Sakara hasn’t fought in over a year and his chin lets him down at times. = Stann by TKO in round 2. My Pick for KO of the Night!

Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Paulo Thiago: Paulo is a legit solid fighter. He can compete at a very high level but sometimes he looks tired and sloppy. Siyar has not fought a lot of great competition except against a few but he lost those fights. Siyar has also not fought in the UFC yet and Paulo is a veteran against some of the best in the world. Siyar hasn’t fought in almost a year and Paulo should be able to handle this. = Paulo by unanimous decision.

Diego Nunes vs. Dennis Siver: This is a very tough fight to pick. Siver was looking so good for awhile beating some very elite fighters but then got wrecked by Donald Cerrone. Both these guys have pretty crisp striking with great kicks. I just don’t feel confident in this pick because Siver is dropping to 145 for the first time in his career. = Siver by split decision.

DaMarques Johnson vs. John Maguire: This fight will be interesting. You never know how DaMarques will perform. He is very inconsistent and Maguire has not fought a lot of tough competition. Maguire is a grappler with most of his wins coming by way of submission and most of Johnson’s losses are by submission…= Maguire by 3^rd round submission.

Damacio Page vs. Brad Pickett: This Fight will be fantastic! Page hasn’t fought in over a year and has lost two in a row by submission. He fights so infrequently is must be hard for him to find a rhythm. Pickett is a great scrappy fighter but he looked awful in his last fight. This fight could go anywhere and anything can happen. Page’s cardio might not be great and Pickett’s cardio is always great. I think Pickett can outlast Page’s initial onslaught and end up pulling it out. = Pickett by unanimous decision. My Pick for Fight of the Night!

Prelims

Papy Abedi vs. James Head = Abedi by unanimous decision.
Cyrille Diabate vs. Tom DeBlass = DeBlass by 1^st round submission.
Francis Carmont vs. Magnus Cedenblad = Carmont by unanimous decision.
Yoislandy Izquierdo vs. Reza Madadi = Madadi by unanimous decision.
Simeon Thoresen vs. Besam Yousef = Thoresen by unanimous decision
Jason Young vs. Eric Wisely = Young by unanimous decision

Great free card! Make sure you catch it on Fuel at 3pm. Prelims are on Facebook at 12:30pm.

UFC on FOX 2 Predictions

Sam’s Picks

Main Card

Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis: This is one fight that I would prefer to get wrong. Although Davis has the better wrestling on paper, that doesn’t mean that Evans can’t stop the takedown. I believe that Evans has the takedown defense that can stop some of the takedowns coming from Davis. Davis is going to want to pull out a boring grinding out win before Evans has the chance to win the standup. They are very closely matched up on paper but Evans is going to pull out the win based on his standup and experience advantage over Davis = Evans by unanimous decision.

Michael Bisping vs. Chael Sonnen: The battle of the big mouths lead to be a rather silent trash talk war. Actually, it wasn’t even a war, they never really talked. Astonishing. Anyway, Sonnen has proved to have absolutely devastating wrestling and Bisping doesn’t have the ground game to be able to defend or counter anything involved with grappling with Sonnen. This is all Sonnen and I can’t wait for his rematch with Anderson Silva = Sonnen by 2nd round TKO. My Pick for KOOTN!

Demian Maia vs. Chris Weidman: I was really surprised to see that Weidman is the favorite going into this fight. Not only did he take this fight on short notice, but he also hasn’t proved to be able to hang with the elite of the division yet, Demian Maia is not a gatekeeper. Weidman needs to go through a gatekeeper before he can prove his worth with guys like Maia. Maia should be able to submit him after Weidman will most likely take him down = Maia by 1st round submission. My pick for SOTN!

Prelims
Evan Dunham vs. Nik Lentz = Dunham by 2nd round submission (choke).
Michael Johnson vs. Shane Roller = Roller by 1st round submission (arm).
Jon Olav Einemo vs. Mike Russow = Einemo by 2nd round submission.
George Roop vs. Cub Swanson = Roop by 1st round TKO.
Charles Oliviera vs. Eric Wisely = Oliviera by 2nd round submission (choke).
Joey Beltran vs. Lavar Johnson = Beltran by split decision.
Chris Camozzi vs. Dustin Jacoby = Camozzi by 1st round submission (choke).

Dave’s Picks

Main Card

Phil Davis vs. Rashad Evans: Very interesting matchup. First off, I’ve said this before and then Davis himself reiterated that although Rashad is a good wrestler he is not on the same level as Davis. Davis’ collegiate record was 116–17 at Penn State and he won the National Championship in 2008. However, Rashad has found a very successful formula for his wrestling in MMA. Davis’ wrestling in MMA is good too but his experience level is just not the same. So, because the wrestling is somewhat equal in MMA I would guess this will stay standing. When it comes to striking Rashad has the clear advantage. He has proven that he can handle himself with some very good strikers. Davis, however, has very mediocre striking. This fight will be very interesting but I have to go with the more proven fighter = Rashad by unanimous decision. 

Michael Bisping vs. Chael Sonnen: Another interesting matchup. You would naturally think that Bisping has the better standup and Sonnen obviously has the better ground game. The only chance Bisping has is to KO Sonnen early or somehow submit him off his back. The thing I am most certain about with this fight is that Bisping will be on his back with Sonnen smashing his face. I really don’t think Bisping has the same BJJ skills as Maia, Anderson or Filho. = Sonnen by unanimous decision.

Demian Maia vs. Chris Weidman: Maia has a world class ground game and Weidman has not faced the likes of that yet in his young career; not even close. Weidman has some great grappling skills but Maia is top ten in all of MMA, if not top 5. The fact that Weidman is the betting line favorite is crazy in my mind. Can Weidman pull this off on short notice? Yea but its slim in my opinion. = Maia by unanimous decision.

Prelims

Evan Dunham vs. Nik Lentz: Dunham by unanimous decision.

Michael Johnson vs. Shane Roller: Roller by submission in round 2. My Pick for Submission of the Night!

Jon Olav Einemo vs. Mike Russow: Russow by split decision.

George Roop vs. Cub Swanson: Roop by split decision. My Pick for Fight of the Night!

Charles Oliveira vs. Eric Wisely: Oliveira by unanimous decision.

Joey Beltran vs. Lavar Johnson: Beltran by submission in round 3.

Chris Camozzi vs. Dustin Jacoby: Camozzi by unanimous decision.