I-T’S A-L-M-O-S-T T-H-A-T T-I-M-E.
But not yet. We still have one very long day to wait for UFC 73: “Stacked” this weekend.
Me and our loyal contributor, Jesse Holland, are looking for things to keep us occupied and our minds off the anticipation, so we decided we are going to try and sound smart once again.
Sometimes it works and other times … not so much.
Yep, back by unpopular demand we’re once again off to provide UFCmania readers with two unique perspectives on the main card fights.
Below, you’ll see that we both took one fighter in each bout to support. It’s important to note that while we may be lauding a certain fighter, he isn’t necessarily the guy who we think is going to win.
Basically, we never want this to come out sounding repetitive — I do that enough day in and day out. At the end of each analysis, therefore, you will see our picks.
Here we go:
Anderson “The Spider” Silva (18-4) vs. Nate Marquardt (25-6-2)
UFCmania: It’s hard to go against a man who has finished his first and last three opponents inside the Octagon in convincing fashion. And Anderson Silva did just that against some worthy opposition en route to the 185-pound crown. His stint at the top, however, is going to be short-lived. That’s because Nate Marquardt is a calculated, conditioned and well-rounded fighter. Some might call him boring, I call him smart. He’s also built like a brick shithouse, meaning he will give Silva problems wherever this fight ends up. “Nate the Great” will close the distance on “The Spider” and nullify his devastating strikes. Look for him to control the pace of this bout from bell-to-bell and go for takedowns early and often. Leading up to this fight Marquardt has said numerous times he’s the more effective striker. If he’s watched any tape, I don’t honestly think he believes that. Nate is smart and will control Silva on the ground for the better part of this fight and hold on — literally — for the decision.
Jesse Holland: Nate Marquardt might be the King of Pancrase, but against the likes of Anderson Silva he’s merely a pawn. Of Silva’s last six wins, five have been by KO/TKO. And not just the “Oh he left his chin out and got caught” type of knockouts, but the kind of deadly strikes that will make an opponent fear for his safety. He made Chris Leben recoil like a crash test dummy, and his disposal of Rich Franklin was perhaps the worst nose injury this side of Richard Kiel. Silva was taken down at will against Travis Lutter, but I’m willing to give him a pass on that for winning on his back (and because of his reported knee injuries). He’s only lost twice in the last four years, and one of those was a DQ against Yushin Okami for an illegal kick. The other, well let’s just say that Chonan’s flying heel hook was the kind of submission you’ll see about as often as the reversal of the sun’s magnetic poles. Marquardt may be able to avoid Silva’s best-in-the-business Thai clinch, but even if he gets it to the ground he’s dead on arrival.
Final predictions:
UFCmania — Marquardt via decision
Holland — Silva via knockout
Sean “The Muscle Shark” Sherk (31-2-1) vs. Hermes Franca (18-5)
UFCmania: I watched “UFC All Access” with Sean Sherk the other night with mouth agape. This dude is a machine — he eats, breathes and craps mixed martial arts (MMA). He’s also incredibly strong and a compact build for the lightweight division. Hermes Franca is a game fighter himself, stopping his last eight opponents early. He’s been the bug for the last year without a doubt, but this Saturday he’s destined for the windshield. Talk all you want about ring rust when it comes to Sherk; however, his cardio is off the charts. He’s going to takedown Franca at will and lay on top of him until Hermes is out of gas. From there, it’s only a matter of time before Sherk ends this fight with strikes from mount. Splat.
Jesse Holland: Hermes Franca is a star on the rise. He’s won eight straight fights and holds a special place in my heart for his first round KO of bloated TUF reject Gabe Ruediger last year at WEC 19. Of those eight fights, none have gone the distance. He stopped Spencer Fisher with strikes at Fight Night 8, and tapped TUF 5 winner Nate Diaz with an armbar at WEC 24. Simply put, he can do it all. That’s usually not a problem for the muscular and talented Sherk, but Hermes is too strong to be pushed around the way Florian was. Franca does have a tendency to leave his chin out a little too long, but don’t expect a fighter with Sherk’s wrestling to try and capitalize on that. Hermes is going to be on the defensive for most of the fight and we’ll see how rusty Sherk is after a nine-month layoff. Even a rusty Sherk is better than most, but in this age of upsets (and triangle-chokes), a little rust is all it takes.
Final predictions:
UFCmania — Sherk via technical knockout
Holland — Sherk via technical knockout
Tito “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Ortiz (15-5) vs. “Sugar” Rashad Evans (10-0)
UFCmania: Perhaps this will one day comeback to haunt me, but I’m not buying into all the Rashad Evans hype … yet. He’s a great fighter who improves with each fight. Yet, I don’t think he’s ready for the level of intensity and competition that Ortiz is going to bring on “7/7/07.” Tito knows this is a make or break fight — one that will prove all the “doubters” and “haters” wrong. Did anyone see the prefight press conference yesterday? Tito was composed, focused and relatively tight-lipped during the session. Evans, on the other hand, came off like an overconfident bafoon. Not too mention, Ortiz looked MUCH bigger than Evans during the staredown. Do these factors mean anything in a fight? I have no idea. But it reinforced a feeling I’ve had since this bout was announced: Tito is too much for “Sugar.” I don’t see any gravedigging in my crystal ball (Evans seems to posses a tremendous threshold for punishment) but I do see Ortiz taking this fight convincingly thanks to some relentless ground and pound. There, I said it. Crucify me.
Jesse Holland: Tito Ortiz is finished. Tito Ortiz is back. Either one of those statements will be true after Saturday night but I believe it’s the former, not the latter. A dominant win puts him in the respectable company of good fighters who just can’t beat Chuck. A loss will expose him as a B-level fighter who’s good at talking shit and beating up Ken Shamrock. This pressure, coupled with the much-improved talent of Rashad Evans, will be his undoing. Rashad is a skilled and explosive wrestler who will easily neutralize the Ortiz ground game, and his strikes have KO power as we saw against Lambert and his Mirko-esque decapitation of Sean Salmon. I continue to see Rashad improve and make adjustments in his fight strategy. I have not seen that in Ortiz. If Tito’s ego doesn’t allow him to accept the fact that this is not the same Evans that snoozed his way through the ranks of TUF 2, he’s going to be in for a very long night.
Final predictions:
UFCmania — Ortiz via unanimous decision
Holland — Evans via unanimous decision
Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira (29-4-1) vs. Heath “Texas Crazy Horse” Herring (12-5)
UFCmania: Heath Herring is a one-dimensional fighter who likes to scrap. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is a versatile fighter who can scrap and submit dudes perhaps better than anyone. I’m not even going to pretend that I think Herring has a chance here. His performance against Jake O’Brien is seared into my memory. “Minotauro” would have finished Herring in that fight in seconds. Put simply, Herring will have to rely on a knockout during this showdown — something he couldn’t even do against Brad Imes. “Big Nog” has the best chin I have EVER seen hands down. Not to mention, he’s been run over by a truck and has lived to tell about it. Nogueira is a phenomenal talent and is way too good for Herring. As if the last TWO times these two met didn’t already prove that point.
Jesse Holland: As an MMA fan I’m a little disappointed that Nogueira’s first UFC match is against an opponent he’s already defeated twice. Imagine if Chuck Liddell signed with Bodog and his first fight was against Renato Sobral. Heath Herring is a good striker with decent submission skills and to his credit he’s also been around the block. Normally that would be enough to make things interesting but he’s facing a man who may have been regarded as one of the greatest heavyweights the sport has ever seen if not for a certain Russian Cyborg. Minotauro’s jiu-jitsu is on a level most heavyweights, heck even most fighters in general will never achieve. Look at some of the most popular UFC fighters. Guys from every division like Couture, Arlovski, Liddell, Ortiz, Franklin, Silva, St. Pierre, Hughes, Sherk and Penn. Out of their combined 196 wins only nine of them have come by armbar. Nogueira has ten all by himself. He can also take a tremendous amount of punishment as we saw against Sapp and Emelianenko so you can forget about any kind of fluke KO. What else is there to say? Herring’s only hope is that Nogueira trips on his way to the cage and breaks his arm.
Final predictions:
UFCmania — Nogueira via submission
Holland — Nogueira via submission
What do you think? Now it’s your turn … let us have it in the comments section and provide your picks for UFC 73.
For the complete UFC 73 fight card click here.
51 Comments »
Can you please tell me what time weigh-ins are. I am going but do not know the time.
Search option, ever heard of it?
JK
To read about the UFC 73 weigh in details click here.
EVANS WILL NOT WIN… And yes i did just use all caps
By the way, you guys know your MMA, haha. I agree with both of your analysis on the fighters. For some odd reason, the idea of Marquardt putting Silva in an armbar keeps popping into my head.
As for the LW bout, thats the one I especially want to see on this card. Sherk is in phenomenal shape, and will not let go of that gold without a dog fight. But yet Hermes Franca has fought 8 times in the last 10 months (at least to my knowledge, someone confirm that) and has to much heart to put on a lackluster performance. I see it going into the second round, with an explosion of attempts and a 5 star performance for both fighters. I see Hermes Franca, by either TKO or submission (RNC).
I feel the same way with you Jesse. In my opinion, I wanted to see Brandon Vera against Big Nog, better match up and its a new challenge for both fighters. But however in this case I’m going to have to go with Nogueira by submission or TKO, however I am not forgetting the Punchers Chance, in which Herring may be relying on.
I think Mania has all the right pics and all the right reasons why they will win.
i got
marquardt via split descision
sherk via unanimous decision
ortiz via unanimous decision
Nogueira via submision in round 2
i know im wrong about either the sherk or the ortiz fight being a decision i just dont know wich one yet
Silva via KO
Ortiz via TKO
Franca via submission
Robinson via TKO
Nogueira via decision
MARQUART - sunmission 2nd
ORTIZ - TKO 2nd
SHERK - TKO 2nd
NOG - submission 1st
alvin robinson by brutal TKO anyway he wants it
Nogueira is going to rip both of Herrings Arms off and ear slap him into submission. Silva/”the great” is going to be interesting to say the least. Could be fast paced or a blanket party. Sherk/Franca could be a war. I’d have to agree with Hooland that Tito is worthless and the only thing he has over Rashad is his head is bigger. He has beaten Shamrock 3 times but thats really it. In his last 10 fights the only ones he won were either against a 40 year old man or by Decision. He lost that Griffin fight in my opinion. He fought one other really notable fighter that he won, Vitor Belfort but he sucks these days.
[quote comment=”98617″]Nogueira is going to rip both of Herrings Arms off and ear slap him into submission. Silva/”the great” is going to be interesting to say the least. Could be fast paced or a blanket party. Sherk/Franca could be a war. I’d have to agree with Hooland that Tito is worthless and the only thing he has over Rashad is his head is bigger. He has beaten Shamrock 3 times but thats really it. In his last 10 fights the only ones he won were either against a 40 year old man or by Decision. He lost that Griffin fight in my opinion. He fought one other really notable fighter that he won, Vitor Belfort but he sucks these days.[/quote]
Who is Hooland?
After Tito’s fight with Forrest, it is obvious he is prone to let his conditioning laps. Granted he had a hurt knee, but he faded hard in the second round. I thing Rashad will be more difficult to dominate in the 1st round and if Tito fades, it will go to Rashad in a 29/28 decision.
What happened to the previous UFCs. I know they make more money having more PPV’s more often, but it seems like things are getting spread a little too thin. They are calling this Saturday night “Stacked”, but if it is anything like the past three, it should be called “Wacked”. The upside is that more of us are beginning to follow WEC. Faber is an animal.
One other thing. I’m glad I haven’t seen Joe Riggs fight recently. To have to hear the commentary about his knock out power and Rogan’s bias towards his winning the fight during the the first round only to again see him get submitted was getting old.
i think you guys are underestimating anderson silva, i think in a healthy state he should roll over marquardt, or however it’s spelled. i mean, nate is an un-proven fighter, in that he hasn’t fought tough competition in the ufc, but in his past 4 fights (all in the ufc) he only finished 1 fight, and the 3 others went to decision.
in my opinion, if nate marquardt can’t finish fighters of that quality, then anderson silva is gonna destroy him,
silva has also won his last 4 fights, finishing all of them only one of them going past round 1. and the quality of fights he demolished was much higher. and about silva’s BJJ, he has a black belt from the nog brothers… and trains with them. i have a feeling he’ll be prepared for any sort of BJJ that nate will bring.
and to add on, anderson silva beat jeremy horn in 2004.
sherk by decision hermes will get elbowed but will survive
we all know what will happen with minatouro and heath (armbar) nuff said
silva will be taken down and loose by decision maybe even submitted
ortiz and evans will be the most intresting bout i think tito will WILL himself to victory he has good striking defence and will eventually close the gap clich take down evans and hurt him to a decision victory
silva, ko 1st-3rd round.
ortiz, decision.
sherk, decision.
nog, submission. i’m watching herring though idc if that makes me sound stupid in your eyes but he has a chance.
i’ve never seen robinson i know he’s good i’ve read some stuff about him but it’s hard to say he’ll beat florian. kenflo look amazing in his last performance.
Anderson Silva vs. Nate Marquardt-Silva 1st rd (t)ko
Sean Sherk vs. Hermes Franca-sherk ud
Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans-Evans 2nd rd (t)ko
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Heath Herring-Nogueira via tripple decker pecker wreacker 1st rd
Kenny Florian vs. Alvin Robinson-Robinson 2nd rd stoppage
Chris Lytle vs. Jason Gilliam-Lytle 1st rd ko
Frank Edgar vs. Mark Bocek-Edger ud
Stephan Bonnar vs. Mike Nickels-Nickels ud
Jorge Gurgel vs. Diego Saraiva-Gurgel ud
If Tito cannot take his opponent down he loses,
and I don’t think he is gonna take rashad down.
This will be a wrestling bout.
Lutter was weak as a dead rat, and he dominated silva, Marquardt will take him down at will, and if he wasn’t submitted by dean lister he isn’t gonna be submitted by the spider.
In a rematch I think rich franlin would win as well..
Sherk over franca -(standing ko)
Silva over Nate- ko
Tito over Evans- elbows from top-(donesn’t prove anything though, hes still scum)
Nog over Herring-arm bar
[quote comment=”98687″]Anderson Silva vs. Nate Marquardt-Silva 1st rd (t)ko
Sean Sherk vs. Hermes Franca-sherk ud
Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans-Evans 2nd rd (t)ko
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Heath Herring-Nogueira via tripple decker pecker wreacker 1st rd
Kenny Florian vs. Alvin Robinson-Robinson 2nd rd stoppage
Chris Lytle vs. Jason Gilliam-Lytle 1st rd ko
Frank Edgar vs. Mark Bocek-Edger ud
Stephan Bonnar vs. Mike Nickels-Nickels ud
Jorge Gurgel vs. Diego Saraiva-Gurgel ud[/quote]
i can understand most of ur picks pretty good ones to but nickles over bonnar???????
I bring a perfeKt 0-6 record into ‘73. Here are my picks. If I do remain mostly ‘beaten’ after Saturday (opposite of unbeaten) I hope at least Silva comes through:
Anderson Silva vs. Nate Marquardt - Silva (T)KO
Sean Sherk vs. Hermes Franca - Franca (T)KO
Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans - Tito Dec.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Heath Herring - Nog Sub.
Kenny Florian vs. Alvin Robinson - Ken Flo Sub.
Chris Lytle vs. Jason Gilliam - don’t know Gilliam
Frank Edgar vs. Mark Bocek - Edger (T)KO
Stephan Bonnar vs. Mike Nickels - Boner Dec.
Jorge Gurgel vs. Diego Saraiva - don’t know either.
Just for the record I must say the UFC blows c0ck. For the past 6 PPV’s that they have had, this “televised” portion of the fight card which is usally 5 fights max are only shown. Isn’t anyone interested in seeing Jorge Gurgel fight? Lol ok I know that everyone is saying who the hell cares. Its the mere point that the UFC has gotten an inflated ego over the last half year and thinks it doesnt have to show all 9 fights like they didi with UFC 66.
Anyone predictions are as follow :
(Untelevised)
Chris Lytle via TKO Round 3 over Jason Gilliam
Framk Edgar via submission Round 2 over Mark Bocek
Stephen “Steroids” Bonnar via KO Round 1 over Mike “I paid for this horrific tattoo work” Nickels
Diego Saraiva via unanimous decision over Jorge Gurgel
(Televised portion of card”
Kenny Florian via TKO Round 1 over Alvin Robinson
Antonio Nogueira via submission Round 2 over Heath “fatboy” Herring
Tito Ortiz via TKO Round 3 over Rashad Evans
Sean Shrek via unanimous decision over Hermes Franca
Nate Marquardt via KO Round 3 over Anderson Silva
Happy watching all, we’ll see how great of analysts we all are
GUYS PLEASE DONT FORGETT FRANCA SUBMISION GAME I KNOW SHERK IS A MACHINNE BUT I ALSO SAW THE ALL ACCES SHOW AND I DONT NOW ABOUT HIS SUBMISION DEFENSE. BOTH FIGTHERS ARE GREAT I THINK FRANCA IS GOING TO COME UP WITH A SUBMISION OPN THE 2ND ROUND
[quote comment=”98826″]GUYS PLEASE DONT FORGETT FRANCA SUBMISION GAME I KNOW SHERK IS A MACHINNE BUT I ALSO SAW THE ALL ACCES SHOW AND I DONT NOW ABOUT HIS SUBMISION DEFENSE. BOTH FIGTHERS ARE GREAT I THINK FRANCA IS GOING TO COME UP WITH A SUBMISION OPN THE 2ND ROUND[/quote]
Sherk’s submission defense is very good. Hes also extremely hard to submit simply because he has short limbs. Remember he beat Kenflo easily, and hes great at submissions too.
[quote comment=”98853″][quote comment=”98826″]GUYS PLEASE DONT FORGETT FRANCA SUBMISION GAME I KNOW SHERK IS A MACHINNE BUT I ALSO SAW THE ALL ACCES SHOW AND I DONT NOW ABOUT HIS SUBMISION DEFENSE. BOTH FIGTHERS ARE GREAT I THINK FRANCA IS GOING TO COME UP WITH A SUBMISION OPN THE 2ND ROUND[/quote]
Sherk’s submission defense is very good. Hes also extremely hard to submit simply because he has short limbs. Remember he beat Kenflo easily, and hes great at submissions too.[/quote]
Sherk blanketed KenFlo for 5 rounds, never came close to finishing him and nearly had the fight stopped because of all the blood he lost. I don’t think I would call that an easy win.
Marquardt via submission round 3
Sherk via tko round 2
Ortiz via tko round 3
Nogueira via submision in round 1
Florian via submission in round 3
Bonner via ko round 1
Grugel via unanimous decision
Edgar via tko round 2
Lytle via unanimous decision
good predicitions……i think franca can pull it off. i have to admitt, though after seeing that all access, im a little scared of sherk. but, i think sherk will get a little to confident in the later rounds and stand for to long and will get caught with franca’s signature from the ass bomb. tito’s too big and too strong for rashad….g’n'p all night. nate and silva is, i think the toughest fight to call. i mean look how easy lutter took down silva and had him mounted. if nate mounts silva its over.
should be agood night either way.
Good write up.
As much as I hate to admit it, I think Ortiz will win, via split decision.
I had noticed before, that Tito is HUGE compared to Rashad. 6′ 3″ vs. 5′11″ is a big difference. Tito will beat him up like a younger brother.
Here is what Tito’s shirt will say..
“Rashad, you are still about 2 years younger than me in the fight game, bro.”
Or, more likely,
“I made Rashad my nappy-headed ho”
The probability of the second one is actually likely in my estimation, which could potentially be the worst thing for the UFC.
Look for Rashad to try and KO Tito standing up, its his only chance.
I feel like the only one cheering for MARQUART in Minnesota, none of my buddies think he is going to win….I hope Nate proves them all wrong!
But I have been saying for months now that Marquart will be the next champ…
O, I also think KFlo is going to get his ass beat!
That UFC poll of Evans-Ortiz is very close. 2,000 responding- I don’t think those numbers are cooked. Although… how many people access this board? I see a lot of the same names over and over. I would guess 150 regulars and their sentiment seems to be 80% - 90% for Ortiz.
UFCMania, any comments?
PW,
ragnarr’s got it right. Sherk had Florian running. Remember the “I like to run head long into the post” Florian. He was actually running away from Sherk. There is absolutely no way Sherk is going to lose this match. The only one in this division who will be a test for Sherk is Penn.
[quote comment=”98879″]That UFC poll of Evans-Ortiz is very close. 2,000 responding- I don’t think those numbers are cooked. Although… how many people access this board? I see a lot of the same names over and over. I would guess 150 regulars and their sentiment seems to be 80% - 90% for Ortiz.
UFCMania, any comments?[/quote]
Those votes are all unique — can’t vote twice. And it is by far the tightest poll I have ever conducted here. It’s only been up for a few days, too.
Thousands and thousands visit this site each day, but a relatively small percentage of that number actually comment. We have a lot of regulars and folks who stop in around fight time. I don’t know about the 150 number — it’s way higher than that. But there are a lot of pro-Rashad comments.
tito looked like he was all business at the press conference, he looks determined to not lose this fight, when they stared each other down tito stared hard and rashad did some clownish little stance and put his hands in tito’s face, its gonna be a good fight, i can’t wait for the weigh ins…
my picks…
silva vs. marquardt: silva unanimous decision
sherk vs. franca: sherk unanimous decision
tito vs. rashad: tito unanimous decision
big nog vs. herring: big nog 2nd rd. armbar (sub of the night)
florian vs. robinson: florian unanimous decision (fight of the night)
bonnar vs. nickels: bonnar 2nd rd. (T)KO (KO of the night)
edgar vs. bocek: bocek 2nd rd. rear naked choke
lytle vs. gilliam: lytle 1st rd. (T)KO
saravia vs. gurgel: gurgel 2nd rd. triangle choke
Silva over Marquardt in a TKO
Franca over Sherk in a TKO
Ortiz over Evans in a unanimous decision
Noguiera over Herring in a submission
Robinson over Florian in a TKO
Nickels over Bonnar in a submission
Lytle over Gilliam in a KO
Gurgel over Saravia in a split decision
Edgar over Bocek in a TKO
The white guys are going to win this one, my prediction of the 3 main events, just a gut feeling.
silva (T)KO
Sherk UD
Evans SD
Minotauro Sub
Robinson Sub
Bonnar Sub
Edgar KO
Gurgel UD
If you don’t think Silva worked on his take down defense, you’re nuts. He was a little banged up in the fight against lutter (i know lutter was badly tired and mentally weak from the weight cut), you’re gonna see a different dude in silva (Sprawl and Brawl). Sherk is too strong for franca. Evans is a bad match-up for tito. And im sick of hearing about the size advantage tito has on rashad. You forget that rashad was dropping heavyweights before fighting at LH.
this is a pretty tough card to predict, so its more of a “guess” than normal..
Silva/Marquedt Heart says Silva head says Marquedt..I can see Marquedt getting the decision after controlling Silva on the ground for the most part..but the fight being 5 rounds, thats atleast 5 chances for Silva to get off first in the standup and land something…i dont see a submission happening really, and i dont see marquest ground and pounding Silva (he can take a shot)..so i guess on this one I agree with both Mania and Jesse
Sherk/Hermes Sherk, TKO in 4th or 5th…if you watch any of Hermes fights against good competition, he usually blows his wad early and by the 3rd round is realying on his heavy right hand..Sherk can withstand everything in the early rounds, and his conditioning will help him get good position late to where the ref stops the fight
Tito/Rashad…Tito dec.. believe of not Tito has a good chin, he has never been completely “out”..I dont think Rashad is the man to do it..Ground war, boring to some, Tito will have better position most of the fight and pull off the W
Nog/Herring…Nog by submission…although if there is going to be a devistating upset on this card, Herring getting a KO would be the most unlikely, but jaws would drop and its 2007 still
KenFlo for the W, I think Alvins wrestling is better, but I dont see him submitting Kenny, I see Kenny winning either by sub, or Dec, should be a good fight..
Bonnar by whatever he wants
Silva tko 3
Sherk tko 4
Rashad dec
Nog sub 2
Florian sub 3
Lytle tko 1
Bonnar tko 2
Frank E dec
Gurgel tko 3
Sidenote: I was 100% correct on the TV5 finale winners although that was an easier card to predict.
[quote comment=”98933″]silva (T)KO
Sherk UD
Evans SD
Minotauro Sub
Robinson Sub
Bonnar Sub
Edgar KO
Gurgel UD
If you don’t think Silva worked on his take down defense, you’re nuts. He was a little banged up in the fight against lutter (i know lutter was badly tired and mentally weak from the weight cut), you’re gonna see a different dude in silva (Sprawl and Brawl). Sherk is too strong for franca. Evans is a bad match-up for tito. And im sick of hearing about the size advantage tito has on rashad. You forget that rashad was dropping heavyweights before fighting at LH.[/quote]
rashad never fought a fighter like tito in heavy weight. thats why the size is a big deal. jardine, whitehead, imes, all were happy to stand and trade with him. tito will take him down, and because of the size difference, tito will destroy him with elbows from inside the guard all night. there is nothing rashad will be able to do……but tap.
[quote comment=”98861″][quote comment=”98853″][quote comment=”98826″]GUYS PLEASE DONT FORGETT FRANCA SUBMISION GAME I KNOW SHERK IS A MACHINNE BUT I ALSO SAW THE ALL ACCES SHOW AND I DONT NOW ABOUT HIS SUBMISION DEFENSE. BOTH FIGTHERS ARE GREAT I THINK FRANCA IS GOING TO COME UP WITH A SUBMISION OPN THE 2ND ROUND[/quote]
Sherk’s submission defense is very good. Hes also extremely hard to submit simply because he has short limbs. Remember he beat Kenflo easily, and hes great at submissions too.[/quote]
Sherk blanketed KenFlo for 5 rounds, never came close to finishing him and nearly had the fight stopped because of all the blood he lost. I don’t think I would call that an easy win.[/quote]
As I remember it, there was not one point in that fight where Sherk was in danger or being dominated by Kenflo. Yeah he had a nasty cut that was bleeding a lot but they wont stop a fight for that unless its impairing his vision. There is no way you can loose a life threatening amount of blood from a superficial cut on the head.
Don’t get me wrong though, Im not looking past Franca. Hes going to be tougher than Florian because he can knock Sherk out with a crazy ass hail mary punch. Sherks striking is very underrated, he actually very good, but he lacks knockout power which Franca has.
This is a hard card to predict, no doubt I will be wrong on some of these
Silva (TKO/KO)
Sherk (UD)
Ortiz (Stoppage GnP)
Noguiera (submission) Duh!
Bonnar (UD)
Florian (Submission)
Not sure about the others, don’t know the fighters well enough.
[quote comment=”98882″]PW,
ragnarr’s got it right. Sherk had Florian running. Remember the “I like to run head long into the post” Florian. He was actually running away from Sherk. There is absolutely no way Sherk is going to lose this match. The only one in this division who will be a test for Sherk is Penn.[/quote]
I agree, mostly. Franca can still win by knockout, he has some crazy punches.
Penn is a genetic freak with his flexibility and natural skill. For many fights he has relied just on that and racked up an 11-3 record. Now that hes learned to add some conditioning and training to his arsenal, I think he will plow through the LW or WW divisions. He would destroy Sherk.
This is assuming that he keeps doing what hes doing with his conditioning.
Silva via submission (1st or 2nd)
Ortiz via unam. dec.
Franca via sub. (3rd or 4th) or split dec.
Nog via sub. (1st or 2nd)
EVERYONE READ THIS AND PLACE YOUR BETS. I HAVE THE NEWSPAPER FROM THIS UPCOMING SUNDAY - BACK TO THE FUTURE STYLE.
Silva 1st KO
Sherk 3rd (T)KO
Ortiz 3rd Decision
Nog 2nd Kimora
Florian 1st RNC
Evans by either KO Or TKO
Silva by either KO Or TKO
Nog by submission
Florian by stoppage
Bonnar by decision
Lytle by decision
Gurgel by submission
Edgar by TKO
I have not yet decided on the Franca-Sherk fight
Evans is improving everytime he goes. Silva will learn from his mistakes so he has been working on take down defense and his ground game. Why has Herring fought so much since he has been here he has not been impressive.
Marquardt via submission round 3
Sherk via tko round 2
Ortiz via tko round 3
Nogueira via submision in round 1
Florian via submission in round 3
Bonner via ko round 1
Grugel via unanimous decision
Edgar via tko round 2
Lytle via unanimous decision
Silva via Submission, Round 3
Sherk via TKO round 2
Ortiz via decision
Nogueira via Submission, round 2
Rest of the fights are irrelevant.
[quote comment=”98725″][quote comment=”98687″]Anderson Silva vs. Nate Marquardt-Silva 1st rd (t)ko
Sean Sherk vs. Hermes Franca-sherk ud
Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans-Evans 2nd rd (t)ko
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Heath Herring-Nogueira via tripple decker pecker wreacker 1st rd
Kenny Florian vs. Alvin Robinson-Robinson 2nd rd stoppage
Chris Lytle vs. Jason Gilliam-Lytle 1st rd ko
Frank Edgar vs. Mark Bocek-Edger ud
Stephan Bonnar vs. Mike Nickels-Nickels ud
Jorge Gurgel vs. Diego Saraiva-Gurgel ud[/quote]
i can understand most of ur picks pretty good ones to but nickles over bonnar???????[/quote]
I dont either! the way i see it Bonner is going to come in overconfident, i think it will bite him in the ass or he will make quick embarrassing work out of Nickles. But there’s got to be one upset, im going with this one, not saying im wright, Based on both fighters last performance i give them 50-50
Okay Gentleman, look back on this thread and you will see I was 100% correct again. Not one of my choices lost. That’s 2 cards in a row. Bring on UFC 74. My secret is that I am not burdened with the wagering aspect. I don’t gamble. I concentrate strictly on the skills of the fighters.