The UFC is known to hype every fight up as the most important fight of the ever. Of course that’s what any good sports company does to sell tickets, pay per views, merchandise, etc. Sometimes the hype isn’t warranted (Cro Cop vs. Mir) but other times, like this Saturday, it is an event so momentous that all who care about the sport must take notice. For the first time in 13 years, the Ultimate Fighting Championship comes to Rio for UFC 134. It promises to be an exciting card, mainly because the main event features the greatest of all time and current UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva taking on the last man to defeat him, Yushin Okami. With the exception of one of the preliminary bouts, every fight features at least one Brazilian fighter. Personally I’m pretty excited for this card, and as the title of the post states, I’ve made some predictions. So here we go.
Luiz Cane (11-3, 1NC) vs. Stanislav Nedkov (11-0): Nedkov will be making his UFC debut and I feel a little bad he’s got to go up against a Brazilian in the first major UFC event the country is having. That will put a lot of pressure on him I feel. Meanwhile, I don’t remember seeing Luiz Cane since Rogerio Nogueira finished him two years ago. This is not a fight I’m pretty excited for. I predict Cane by decision.
Ross Pearson (12-4) vs. Edson Barboza (8-0): I would like Barboza a lot more if it were spelled Barbosa like the awesome former Phoenix Sun. As for Ross Pearson, my brother said it best when he said any man named Ross has to make his nickname “The Boss.” Pearson did not adhere to this rule and instead went with “The Real Deal.” Lame nickname and the fact I hate British people except for the most beautiful woman in the world Emily Blunt and the Rolling Stones makes me not want to pick him, as well as the fact British fighters scrap but never seem to win a lot. Barboza is the only man I’ve ever seen with not just one, but TWO wins by TKO due to leg kicks. I’m expecting a Barboza second round TKO.
Brendan Schaub (8-1) vs. Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira (32-6-1, 1NC): Big Nog, one of the probably three greatest heavyweights to ever fight, looks to come back after taking more than a year off to fight in his native Brazil for the first time. Nogueira went from never being finished in his epic career in Japan over the course of 9 years, to coming to the UFC and getting knocked out by Frank Mir in 2008, then again by Cain Velasquez in 2009. Big Nog used to have terrific boxing and is most likely the greatest submission specialist in heavyweight history. He has more wins by submission (20) than anybody else I’ve named on this card so far has fights. However he fought sick and injured his last few fights and hasn’t looked like the man he was in Pride FC. Whereas he used to be able to take horrific beatings for 20 minutes and then slap on a submission and win, he now can hardly take a punch. Meanwhile Brendan Schaub looks to finish off the Pride legacy by knocking out Nogueira like he did with Pride legend Mirko Cro Cop just a couple months ago. Big Nog has promised a submission victory for his hometown fans, but I don’t see him having enough left in the tank to deliver. As much as it breaks my heart, I say Schaub by first round knockout.
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (19-5) vs. Forrest Griffin (18-6): A rematch of one of the biggest upsets in UFC history. Four years ago, Shogun came to the UFC ranked as the best light heavyweight in the world. However, when he made his UFC debut against Griffin he looked completely unconditioned and Forrest caught him with a choke in the closing seconds of the fight to win. Shogun’s had knee troubles and some conditioning issues, as evidenced in his mauling at the hands of Bones Jones earlier this year, so I don’t know if he’ll be able to last much more than a round with the larger Griffin on him. If he is actually healthy and in good condition he could easily take Griffin, but with such a spotty UFC run I don’t know if Shogun is going to be the man he was in Pride. Forrest also worries me since he seems to look at fighting as work and not something he loves doing anymore so who knows what his mindset is. Forrest is coming off a win against Rich Franklin in February and hasn’t had to recover from anything like what Shogun is going through. I think Forrest will win by decision.
Main Event – UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva (30-4) vs. Yushin Okami (26-5): This is one of the most important fights of Silva’s career. It was just a year ago that Chael Sonnen nearly won a decision over Silva only to be choked out in the final minutes of the fight. With people thinking Silva was now beatable, he went against Vitor Belfort and finished him with a devastating kick in the first round. Now Silva goes against the last man to defeat him. Before both men were in the UFC they faced off in a promotion called Rumble on the Rock. Okami won by disqualification when Silva threw an illegal kick. Okami was given the option to continue but instead took the DQ, which has prompted Silva to call him a coward for the last five years. Yes, that fight was 2006. Since then Silva has reeled off 14 straight wins and cemented himself as the best to ever throw on a pair of gloves.
Okami’s stand up has improved and he has good wrestling, but he also has losses to Chael Sonnen and Rich Franklin, fighters who suffered humiliating defeats at the hands of Silva. Silva played dead for four and a half rounds against Sonnen, only to come alive and submit him in the closing moments just because Sonnen had offended him in the pre-fight trash talk and Silva wanted to embarrass him. Silva’s had five years to work up any ill will he can for this fight against Okami. The Michael Jordan of MMA steps into the Octagon against the last man to defeat him and does it in front of a massive hometown crowd. Silva is 36 and slowing down, but as he showed to anybody who had their doubts in the Belfort fight he is still the king of MMA. Silva wins by second round TKO.
That’s all I got.
No comments:
Post a Comment