Saturday May 8th, Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada
First I got to say I like this card. Great matchups top to bottom.
Josh “Kos” Koscheck vs Paul “Semtex” Daley
You have two guys who can knock almost anyone out on their feet in the division. Koscheck is a Div 1 wrestler and Daley has shown to have problems against ground fighters. The difference is Koscheck doesn’t always wrestle and if he doesn’t against Paul Daley he is going to be in trouble. Daley has much much better standup technique and power. However, Koscheck is excellent at taking people down and maintaining top control. Remember the Koscheck/Lytle fight? Koscheck took Lytle down and split his head open with elbows. Lytle is a black belt in jiu jitsu and Koscheck ran through Lytle’s guard. Then you take the Paul Daley vs Jake Shields, and Shields literally owned Daley on the ground.
I’m going to give the benefit of the doubt that Koscheck will take Daley down at will and control the fight there.
Koscheck via decision
Betsson has Paul Daley @ 2.8 and Josh Koscheck @ 1.4
Bodog has Paul Daley @ +190 and Josh Koscheck @ -250
Intertops has Paul Daley @ +185 and Josh Koscheck @ -250
Matt Mitrione vs Kimbo Slice
You initially I’ve been thinking all along that Mitrione is winning this fight. Kimbo with his muscles are going to get tired and Mitrione has that age advantage in the cardio department. Not to mention size. Kimbo is giving up 50 lbs to Mitrione.
One thing for sure is Mitrione has a concrete beard from what we saw on the TUF show and in his fight with Marcus Jones.
Kimbo on the other hand does not. One of Kimbo’s issues is his cardio, and if he has filled that hole in his game then I think Kimbo will win this fight. His technique is better and he has shown to have improved his ground game. Naturally, since he trains with American Top Team.
Mitrione on the other hand has shown better boxing albeit against a giant robot in Jones.
This fight is a pickem. I want Kimbo to win, but Mitrione has craziness on his side, weight advantage, chin advantage. With the odds this close, I think Mitrione wins.
Alan Belcher vs Patrick Cote
As good as Belcher has been fighting, I think if Patrick Cote hasn’t lost too much due to ring rust and his knee injury, I think Patrick Cote wins. The strategy for Belcher could easily be to use his thai kicks and test that leg of Cote’s. The head movement of Belcher might be enough for Cote to find his button and take this fight to a decision. I can see a tko though just the same for Cote.
I like Cote to win.
Jeremy Stephens vs Sam Stout
Guaranteed to be an awesome fight. You have Stout who really has improved since his first loss to Spencer Fisher, however, Stout won the second fight rather definitively. Fisher happens to train with Stephens so Stephens will have an inside hand on how to handle Stout. Stout has the reach advantage, but definitely does not have the power advantage. The technique will goto Stout who has excellent combinations, a good jab, and great leg kicks. Stout’s ground game has also improved and we saw that in his fights with oe Lauzon and Matt Wiman.
Stout is favored here, but I like picking Stephens in the underdog position. Despite the better technique of Stout, I’m going with the power puncher Jeremy Stephens.