UFC 77: Hostile Territory – Prefight Picks

Posted on October 20th, 2007

Anderson Silva vs. Rich Franklin (Middle Weight Title Fight)

Who we want win: Anderson Silva
Who we think will win: Anderson Silva

We really like Rich Franklin but he is scared. Ever since his loss to Anderson Silva he hasn’t had the same air of confidence. I remember watching Rich Franklin and not having an ounce of doubt in his ability to win. That same feeling hasn’t been present since Rich Franklin v. Anderson Silva I. Rich is an incredibly strong, powerful fighter, but I don’t think he has an answer for Anderson Silva’s speed and pin point accuracy. Anderson Silva has proved himself in every area of MMA in each fight he has had in the UFC. He broke the iron chin of Chris Leben, he over powered the commanding former champ Franklin, he submitted the submission expert Lutter and over-whelmed the dominator in Nathan Marquardt. He finishes his fight and can end it with one strike. I have seen two of Silva’s losses in other organizations, one was a DQ the other was a freakish scissor kick submission at the end of a fight. The stars are going to have to align for Silva to lose.

Brandon Vera vs. Tim Sylvia

Who we want win: Brandon Vera
Who we think will win: Brandon Vera

Brandon Vera is going to chop down Tim Sylvia like a tree. Tim Sylvia is tall and huge and Brandon Vera has kicks that break legs. Vera will stand outside and throw leg kick after leg kick that Sylvia can’t check because he is slow and too tall to reach down and grab Vera’s legs. Once Vera has made him immobile let the Brandon Vera beat down begin. Tim Sylvia says Vera hasn’t been tested, but Sylvia hasn’t passed any of tests that have been put in front of him. The only reason he stayed around was because he was good at stalling for 5 excruciatingly boring rounds every fight to keep the belt around his waist. He is on par with Arlovski, who dominated the Heavy Weight division when it was weak. Sylvia can barely get past Arlovski, and can beat a guy that is three feet shorter than him, but when faced with a real challenge (Frank Mir? Randy Couture?) he gets dominated. Brandon Vera is legit and is going to pick apart Sylvia.

Unfortunately the only other guaranteed to be broadcast fights aren’t going to make much impact on the contender race. Here is a quick synopsis of those fights.

Eric Schafer vs. Stephan Bonnar

Who we want to win: Stephan Bonnar
Who we think will win: Stephan Bonnar

Schafer’s last fight was against Michael Bisping. Bisping and Bonnar have very similar styles. Bonnar can go the distance in a stand up war and if Schafer wasn’t able to go a round with Bisping he won’t go a fight with Bonnar as long as Stephan shows up to fight.

Alan Belcher vs. Kalib Starnes

Who we want to win: N/A
Who we think will win: Kalib Starnes

Both of these fighters have lost to Yushin Okami. So that should give you some idea of where they are on the contender list. These guys are fighting for about fifth in line for the title. I think Starnes is the greater fighter but neither fighter has posted a win streak of longer than one fight so it is still undecided whether they will ever be a true force in the UFC.

Watch UFC 77: Hostile Territory, Saturday October 20th 7pm PST.