UFC 128 goes down this Saturday. My brother posted his picks for the fights earlier today. My picks are basically the exact same except for the finishes. Oh well. I feel a little cocky about picking finishes since I told my brother on the phone days before and in the hours leading up to Anderson Silva's legendary push kick victory of Vitor Belfort that Silva would win within the first three minutes. It took just over three minutes. Hell yeah.
I had been writing my predictions for the UFC 128 main event in my head a little while ago and just read Jimmy's picks and saw he said the same shit I was going to say about Shogun Rua almost. Great minds think alike I guess. Either way, UFC 128 has a monster main event of light heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua against Jon "Bones" Jones. They could just chared 45 bucks for that fight and nothing else and I'd be pumped, but there are sadly other fights that must be witnessed. This card is noteworthy because for the first time what I feel like has been a long time I have little knowledge of most of the people involved. I feel like an amateur now. Whatever. Here are the picks:
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (27-8-2) vs. Brendan Schaub (7-1): Mirko Cro Cop used to be death. Pre-UFC Mirko laid all to waste. Every time I hear "Bloodline" by Slayer all I can picture is Mirko kicking people in the head and ending them. Cro Cop always used to say, "Right leg, hospital; left leg; cemetery." Sadly now he's been reduced to a mere mortal doomed to suffer embarassing losses and ruin his legacy, like when Junior Dos Santos kept punching Mirko in the face and Cro Cop quit because he couldn't see. Mirko's fight with Pat Barry was fun but not all that impressive. As my brother stated earlier, Schaub is the type of fighter who would be a dead man walking if he were fighting Cro Cop back in Pride. But instead Schaub looks like he's going to build a name for himself. The only thing I know about Schaub is he got laid out by Roy Nelson in the Ultimate Fighter finale. He's decent but you know something is wrong with the world when he poses a serious threat to the once unstoppable Mirko Cro Cop. I'm calling Schaub by third round knockout.
Dan Miller (13-4) vs. Nate "The Great" Marquardt (30-10-2): I have no idea who Dan Miller is really. Looking at his fights, I've seen him a few times but I don't remember him at all. I do know Nate Marquardt and I know I am not a fan. I was initially excited for this fight because it was to be Marquardt against Yoshihiro Akiyama (or Sexyama as he's known in some circles). I'm a fan of Sexyama and was hoping to see him take out Nate the Great. Instead I'm gonig to watch as Marquardt wins by boring decision.
Jim Miller (19-2) vs. Kamal Shalorus (7-0-2): Much like his brother Dan, I've seen Jim Miller fight a few times and still have no idea who he is. I also have no clue who Kamal Shalorus is. Two guys I've never heard of, fighting right before the co-main event. Needless to say I'm pumped for this fight and can't wait to see a victory for Kamal Shalorus by first round TKO.
Co-Main Event - Urijah Faber (24-4) vs. Eddie Wineland (18-6-1): I'm very excited for this fight since it will be my first time seeing Urijah Faber, the California Kid, going to work. People are saying this move down to 135 is a great move for him. He is a former champ at 145 and is looking to contend at 135 should he win on Saturday. I've never heard of Eddie Wineland. I don't expect him to win. I'm feeling Faber by third round submission.
Main Event - UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (19-4) vs. Jon "Bones" Jones (12-1): I am so excited for this. On one hand you have the most handsome man in all of MMA, Shogun Rua. I'm not even gay and I have a crush on this guy. He is handsome. The man used to be a model before he fought. He's the man. On the other hand you have Jon "Bones" Jones. The man the UFC is clearly hyping as the future of the sport. Jones is young (23), athletic, charismatic, big (6'5" with a UFC record 85" reach and walks around at 220 according to the research I did, otherwise known as reading my brother's picks) and has dismantled everybody he's fought. His only loss came when he devestated Matt Hamill with elbows that were illegal, but he was still crushing Hamill in that fight. Jones has brutal ground and pound. He's the fastest rising star in the business and guaranteed to go down as one of the all time greats. The only problem is he's yet to be truly tested. Jones has looked like a devestating striker and wrestler, but he's been fighting competition that isn't that great. He beat Stephan Bonnar and a man nicknamed The Janitor. Shogun has problems against wrestlers and is coming off a third knee surgery, but we can't forget who we're talking about here.
When the UFC brought Shogun in, he was hyped as the best light heavyweight in the world. Nagging knee injuries kept him from looking like the super killer, but after sealing Chuck Liddell's career up he was given a title shot against Lyoto Machida who was undefeated and is the most elusive fighter in the division. Machida won maybe the most controversial decision in the history of life as Shogun dominated him and picked him apart for five rounds. Rua looked the like the Shogun the UFC had been promising for so long. Then in the rematch he absolutely demolished Machida in the first round. Shogun's striking is legendary. Bones Jones has never faced somebody with such deadly strikes. Shogun is also only 28, which means in theory he's entering his athletic prime. Assuming he's fine after that knee surgery, a healthy Shogun means a deadly Shogun. I guess Shogun has jiu jitsu, and with Bones Jones throwing those elbows like a mad man on the ground that leaves him open to get put in something, but I don't see the fight going that way. People can climb on the Bones Jones train and I know there's a very good chance both my brother and I will look silly for prediciting Shogun to win, but I can't believe it going any other way. As my brother said, Bones Jones has turmoil within his camp and all this hype as well as having just fought six weeks ago to deal with. Shogun hasn't fought since May of last year and had knee surgery so that makes things hard for him as well, but I still think that the fight will be stopped due to a knockout in the second round for the winner (read this part in your best Bruce Buffer voice) and still UFC Light Heavyweight Champion of the World...Mauricio SHOGUN Rua!!!!
And that's all I have to say about that. Keep fighting.
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