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.
Anderson Silva vs. Nate Marquardt (Middle Weight Title Fight)
Who we want to win: Anderson Silva
Who we think will win: Anderson Silva
This is a very tough fight to call but I am going to give the edge to Anderson Silva. Nathan Marquardt is no stranger to pressure and high profile fights though. He is a 7 time Pancrase champion, but Anderson Silva has fought a guy just like Marquardt named Rich Franklin. Rich Franklin is enormous and incredibly strong but Anderson Silva took him down in under three minutes. I don’t believe that this is going to be the case with Marquardt but Anderson Silva has an amazing ability to pierce his opponent’s defense and pick them apart. Marquardt has said that he can beat Silva standing up, but I don’t see that happening. There are very few people that can match Silva’s striking and Marquardt is not one of those people. Marquardt’s best bet is to take Silva down and attempt to ground and pound him, but again Anderson Silva is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu so Marquardt has a lot to deal with on the ground as well. Marquardt is well rounded, but Anderson Silva is extremely well rounded, which is why he gets the edge. Here is a clip from the UFC on the fight.
UFC 73: Anderson Silva vs. Nathan Marquardt Fight Video
Sean Sherk vs. Hermes Franca (Light Weight Title Fight)
Who we want to win: Sean Sherk
Who we think will win: Hermes Franca
It may be a controversial to pick Hermes Franca in this fight, but I see Sherk getting caught. Hermes Franca could knock him out with his left hand coming in, or once Franca has been taken down, Franca could submit Sherk. There is no doubt in my mind that Sean Sherk could beat Hermes Franca, but I think Franca has more technical MMA skills than Sherk. Sean Sherk is ridiculously powerful at 155 and is a great wrestler. If he can utilize those skills to avoid Hermes punching power and submissions then he can take the victory. But if you look to Sherk’s only two losses against Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre you can see that he could have trouble with a fighter like Hermes Franca that packs the strengths of both those mentioned fighters into one. If this fight goes to decision then Franca is going to lose, he probably knows that since he has only won 1 out 5 decisions that he has had. But I don’t think it is going to go to a decision, I believe that Hermes Franca is going to finish the fight with a submission.
Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans
Who we want to win: Tito Ortiz
Who we think will win: Tito Ortiz
This is going to be a great fight. Rashad Evans is out to prove that he is legit and deserves to see a title shot, and Ortiz is out to prove that he has returned for real and is on his way back to dominating the 205 division. We want Ortiz to win because it will help keep his popularity up, which is great for the sport. Rashad Evans being undefeated can take a loss on his record and still make a strong comeback and get his title shot again, and Ortiz needs a solid victory over someone other than Ken Shamrock right now.
Despite my wants, I really do believe that Ortiz is going to win this fight. He is emotionally and mentally on fire, even despite his last fight being a loss to Chuck Liddell. Ortiz may have realized that he will never beat Chuck Liddell, but now that the Ice Man has been dethroned the fighting desire is also back in Ortiz. Rashad Evans has been counted out a lot and proved everyone wrong up to this point. If Rashad Evans is going to win this fight then he is going to need to finish. Tito is not easy to finish unless you are Chuck Liddell and that is a problem for Rashad, who has only recently learned how to finish. Although finishing Sean Salmon isn’t huge, Jason Lambert is, but it will be really interesting to see if he can bring his finishing game to the octagon. If he does he will have a title shot waiting, but his time isn’t now, Ortiz will beat Evans.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Heath Herring
Who we want to win: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Who we think will win: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
This fight is going to awesome only because Noguiera is fighting. He is an incredibly dominate fighter. He used to be the Pride Heavy Weight title holder and has only been soundly beaten by Fedor Emelianenko, which happens to everyone who fights Fedor. Noguiera has already beaten Herring and will do so again. He can punch hard and submit anyone. Herring is not a bad fighter despite how crappy he looked in his last fight, but he is not on the same level as Noguiera.
Alvin Robinson vs. Kenny Florian
Who we want to win: Alvin Robinson
Who we think will win: Kenny Florian
Alvin Robinson is going to have a tough time with this fight. He is making his debut against a very strong UFC veteran that has already fought for the light weight title. I really don’t like Kenny Florian after his fight against Sean Sherk where he held onto the fence everytime Sherk was going to slam him to the mat, hence the name Kenny “Let Go” Florian. Despite my dislike for Florian I believe he is a superior fighter and if all else fails he’ll resort to his cheap tactic of cutting his opponent with his bony elbows.
The first round starts and Gray is trying to take Nate down with his superior wrestling. Nate goes to the mat but almost catches Maynard in an arm lock. Gray narrowly escapes and then lands some major blows in transition opening up a cut on Diaz’s face. Both fighters are really active. Maynard keeps throwing huge bombs and Nate tries to use his excellent Jiu Jitsu to catch Maynard in a quick submission. The fight continues at a blazing pace with Maynard dropping bombs and Diaz almost catching Gray in submission after submission. The rounds comes to end and Diaz is bleeding badly.
Despite the heavy punches Nate took in the last round he came out looking the aggressor. Maynard returned with some heavy punches and locked up Diaz. Nate is dragged to the ground and Maynard almost slithers into a mount. Before he can sink in on top Diaz sneaks his knees up and rolls Maynard. Diaz gets on top and starts raining down punches. Gray covers a bit and attempts to get to his feet but Diaz capitalizes and gets Maynard into a guillotine to end the fight and take the win.
Who we want to win: Joe Lauzon Who we think we will win: Manny Gamburyan
Joe Lauzon has been the most impressive looking fighter during the show. His pace of fighting hasn’t slowed since his fight against Jens Pulver. Manny is a tough aggressive fighter, but is small. Matt Wiman didn’t take advantage of size in his fight against Gamburyan because he was too timid. Joe Lauzon will overpower Gamburyan and smother his fire.
Who we want to win: Undecided
Who we think we will win: Nate Diaz
I really like both of these fighters. I love Nick Diaz and think his brother is a smaller version. I love his fierce attitude and his confidence and his ability to back it all up. Gray is awesome but his last performance wasn’t very impressive. I think he can come back strong as long as he didn’t over train again. He has the ability to beat Diaz, it is just a matter of him coming into the fight with his strongest performance.
Who we want to win: Nate Diaz
Who we think will win: Nate Diaz
I am big fan of the Diaz brothers. I was disappointed to see Nick Diaz struggle a little bit in his last couple of fights in the UFC, but his huge win over Gomi in PRIDE was really awesome to see. The same attitude and fighting ability comes through with Nick’s younger brother, Nate Diaz. Cory Hill being such an inexperienced fighter is going to get overwhelmed by Diaz. I believe that Hill will get submitted in the second round.
Who we want to win: Matt Wiman
Who we think will win: Matt Wiman
As long as Matt Wiman can keep his head and stay focused he will be able to beat Manny. Wiman’s only fight in the UFC is a loss to Spencer Fisher. It was a very exciting fight and Matt Wiman was probably beating Fisher until he decided to put his hands up for the crowd. When he did that Spencer Fisher came in with a huge flying knee to Wiman’s forehead that put him to sleep. Spencer has good stand up and is a stronger fighter than Manny. Gamburyan is no slouch himself. He is small but tough and has good blood running through his veins seeing that Karo Parysian is his cousin. Manny could pull this fight off, but only if Wiman has a mental lapse like he did against Fisher.
There are a lot of people grumbling about the upcoming UFC pay-per-view event, UFC 72 Victory: Rich Franklin vs. Yushin Okami. Some could be upset because at one point this event was said to be free even though there was no official release stating that it would be free. Despite the validity of these claims rumors burn through the internet and eventually become a fact people base things on. So people shouldn’t get upset that this event isn’t free for two reasons. The first reason being that it was never officially intended to be free, and two, this is going to be a really good UFC you just have to know why these fights are going to be good.
The most obvious reason to watch UFC 72 is the main event Rich Frank vs. Yushin Okami. This was initially supposed to be a fight between Rich Franklin and Martin Kampmann, but Kampmann was injured in training. Okami cannot be considered a mere replacement for Kampmann because Okami actually has a longer win streak going and has just recently beaten the rising Mike Swick who had defeated the former number one contender David Loiseau before losing to Okami. Swick could have arguably been the next in line to fight Franklin for the title until Anderson Silva came in and mixed everything up.
Okami is on a huge winning streak and Franklin is returning to his old self as seen in his impressively dominating victory over a talented Jason McDonald. There are many questions still circling around Franklin ever since the beat down he received from Silva, and he needs this fight not only to become the number one contender again, but to prove to everyone and himself that he still has the champion inside of him. Okami needs this win just as badly to give his name some weight in the UFC community and get his title shot that he has been fighting for. There is a lot on the line for these two fighters, which always brings out the best and most exciting fights.
Forrest Griffin vs. Hector Ramirez is an interesting fight. This fight is definitely a follow up fight for Forrest Griffin to his disappointing loss to Keith Jardin to test him. He is an extremely popular fighter and has talent to back it up. I am equating this fight to the Keith Jardin/Houston Alexander fight. The match makers at the UFC wanted to see if Jardin was really as high of a caliber fighter as his win over Griffin said he was, or was it him just getting the better end of the “puncher’s chance”. We all saw what happened with Jardin, but will it be the same with Griffin? I don’t think so and I wouldn’t count Ramirez out either. He is said to have heavy hands and almost submitted James Irvin in his last fight. It is definitely a test for Griffin to see if he has the mental fortitude to return to the top contender status. I think he will and is going to put on a show to prove it, which is why this fight is going to be awesome.
There are also two fights that we are guaranteed to see. Jason McDonald vs. Rory Singer and Clay Guida vs. Tyson Griffin. Jason McDonald vs. Rory Singer is interesting for two reasons. The first reason is that Jason McDonald is known as the “TUF killer”. He ruined Ed Herman’s entry into the UFC as a contract holder and stomped out Chris Leben’s flame that he was trying to reignite. Rory Singer of course is also an Ultimate Fighter alum. So there is pressure to live up to McDonald’s nickname and pressure for Rory to break the streak. Secondly, both of these fighters’ last fights were losses to the main event fighters. This fight means a lot to these two fighters because it is going to be a ranking proving grounds.
The other fight that I mentioned, Clay Guida vs. Tyson Griffin, is going to be awesome based on the fact that they are two extremely explosive 155 pounders. This is easily the most exciting weight class. Clay Guida had an awesome debut at UFC 64: Unstoppable and Tyson Griffin has also had spectacular fights and is responsible for the WEC feather weight champion’s, Urijah Faber, only loss in 20 fights.
So that is why UFC 72 is worth the cash, if this hasn’t convinced you to watch, then tell me why.
