Author: moneybags

UFC Fight Night Fight For The Troops 2

Televised Fight Card Lightweight bout: Evan Dunham vs Melvin Guillard Should be an awesome fight. Dunham has more weapons and Guillard has been susceptible to being subbed. It seems though he has improved this tremendously since being RNC’d by both Joe Stevenson and Rich Clementi. However, Nate Diaz did sub him more recently. However, Guillard […]

Televised Fight Card

Lightweight bout: Evan Dunham vs Melvin Guillard

Should be an awesome fight. Dunham has more weapons and Guillard has been susceptible to being subbed. It seems though he has improved this tremendously since being RNC’d by both Joe Stevenson and Rich Clementi. However, Nate Diaz did sub him more recently. However, Guillard has shown ability to defend and his power is tremendous. Dunham is someone though who has shown to absorb an amazing amount of punishment and still be able to finish a fight/comeback. I think he is going to need that because Melvin has an extremely dangerous attack.

My best estimate is that Guillard will avoid the submission and win this fight and beat up Dunham bad. It will be a good fight though. Guillard is +170 on Intertops

Heavyweight bout: Matt Mitrione vs Tim Hague

I don’t really have an opinion on this other than I like the improvement I’m seeing in Mitrione. I will go with him.

Featherweight bout: Mark Hominick vs George Roop

The question will be is Hominick going to be able to get inside and work his hands? The lanky George Roop has great kicks and submissions. The height and reach is going to be a problem for Hominick. While Hominick is a grizzled veteran, Roop is no newbie, but he has gotten so much better in his last few fights. Like I said, Roop is going to give Hominick problems for sure. If you like taking underdogs, Roop here is decent.

Heavyweight bout: Pat Barry vs Joey Beltran

Barry needs a win. Why not bring in another stand up slugger in the Mexicutioner, Beltran? Beltran is a tough sob, really tough. I’ve seen him get his ass worked and then comeback and win. Barry has the tools to destroy heavyweight’s lower limbs. He has had some problems though such as broken hands.
I want Pat Barry to win, so I’ll say it. He is favored, if this line goes to even I like it better.

Lightweight bout: Cole Miller vs Matt Wiman

If Wiman doesn’t catch Miller’s chin, then Wiman is not likely taking a decision in this imo. I lean toward Miller winning. Close fight though.

Preliminary card (Facebook.com live stream)

Lightweight bout: Cody McKenzie vs Yves Edwards

Cody McKenzie is like the early Matt Hughes of 2011. A one trick pony, but he does it REALLY well. McKenzie has won his last 10 fights via his modified guillotine choke; not including the fights he won on TUF show.

Yves however is a extremely grizzled veteran and a master of jiu-jitsu. I’m going to guess, that Yves will win this fight. If by some miracle Cody submits Edwards with his guillotine again, I will be utterly blown away. However, I would take Cody here if the odds were right.

Welterweight bout: DaMarques Johnson vs Mike Guymon

I want Guymon to win.

Preliminary card

Featherweight bout: Mike Brown vs Rani Yahya

If you never have seen Yahya his fighting style is best described as Monkey. He will crawl on the guy and you cannot shake him off. However, Brown brings good jiujitsu skills himself with excellent boxing. Something Yahya lacks bigtime. Yahya doesn’t have a standup attack other than smother.

No picks for the fights below

Lightweight bout: Waylon Lowe vs Willamy Freire

Welterweight bout: Charlie Brenneman vs Amilcar Alves

Bantamweight bout: Will Campuzano vs Chris Cariaso

UFC Fight Night Fight For The Troops 2

Televised Fight Card Lightweight bout: Evan Dunham vs Melvin Guillard Should be an awesome fight. Dunham has more weapons and Guillard has been susceptible to being subbed. It seems though he has improved this tremendously since being RNC’d by both Joe Stevenson and Rich Clementi. However, Nate Diaz did sub him more recently. However, Guillard […]

Televised Fight Card

Lightweight bout: Evan Dunham vs Melvin Guillard

Should be an awesome fight. Dunham has more weapons and Guillard has been susceptible to being subbed. It seems though he has improved this tremendously since being RNC’d by both Joe Stevenson and Rich Clementi. However, Nate Diaz did sub him more recently. However, Guillard has shown ability to defend and his power is tremendous. Dunham is someone though who has shown to absorb an amazing amount of punishment and still be able to finish a fight/comeback. I think he is going to need that because Melvin has an extremely dangerous attack.

My best estimate is that Guillard will avoid the submission and win this fight and beat up Dunham bad. It will be a good fight though. Guillard is +170 on Intertops

Heavyweight bout: Matt Mitrione vs Tim Hague

I don’t really have an opinion on this other than I like the improvement I’m seeing in Mitrione. I will go with him.

Featherweight bout: Mark Hominick vs George Roop

The question will be is Hominick going to be able to get inside and work his hands? The lanky George Roop has great kicks and submissions. The height and reach is going to be a problem for Hominick. While Hominick is a grizzled veteran, Roop is no newbie, but he has gotten so much better in his last few fights. Like I said, Roop is going to give Hominick problems for sure. If you like taking underdogs, Roop here is decent.

Heavyweight bout: Pat Barry vs Joey Beltran

Barry needs a win. Why not bring in another stand up slugger in the Mexicutioner, Beltran? Beltran is a tough sob, really tough. I’ve seen him get his ass worked and then comeback and win. Barry has the tools to destroy heavyweight’s lower limbs. He has had some problems though such as broken hands.
I want Pat Barry to win, so I’ll say it. He is favored, if this line goes to even I like it better.

Lightweight bout: Cole Miller vs Matt Wiman

If Wiman doesn’t catch Miller’s chin, then Wiman is not likely taking a decision in this imo. I lean toward Miller winning. Close fight though.

Preliminary card (Facebook.com live stream)

Lightweight bout: Cody McKenzie vs Yves Edwards

Cody McKenzie is like the early Matt Hughes of 2011. A one trick pony, but he does it REALLY well. McKenzie has won his last 10 fights via his modified guillotine choke; not including the fights he won on TUF show.

Yves however is a extremely grizzled veteran and a master of jiu-jitsu. I’m going to guess, that Yves will win this fight. If by some miracle Cody submits Edwards with his guillotine again, I will be utterly blown away. However, I would take Cody here if the odds were right.

Welterweight bout: DaMarques Johnson vs Mike Guymon

I want Guymon to win.

Preliminary card

Featherweight bout: Mike Brown vs Rani Yahya

If you never have seen Yahya his fighting style is best described as Monkey. He will crawl on the guy and you cannot shake him off. However, Brown brings good jiujitsu skills himself with excellent boxing. Something Yahya lacks bigtime. Yahya doesn’t have a standup attack other than smother.

No picks for the fights below

Lightweight bout: Waylon Lowe vs Willamy Freire

Welterweight bout: Charlie Brenneman vs Amilcar Alves

Bantamweight bout: Will Campuzano vs Chris Cariaso

UFC 125

UFC 125 is set for New Year’s Day, January 1st, 2011 at The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Main card Lightweight Championship bout: Frankie Edgar (current champion) vs Gray Maynard The fact that Frank Edgar outboxed and beat BJ Penn twice says a lot. I’ve always respected Edgar’s game way […]

UFC 125 is set for New Year’s Day, January 1st, 2011 at The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.

Main card

Lightweight Championship bout: Frankie Edgar (current champion) vs Gray Maynard

The fact that Frank Edgar outboxed and beat BJ Penn twice says a lot. I’ve always respected Edgar’s game way before he was a champion and that his wrestling translated extremely well to MMA very early in his career. Gray Maynard is not as good on the feet, but still very good. There are very few MMA fighters that have Edgar’s equal foot work.

One advantage Gray will certainly have is power. Maynard is big for the division, while Edgar doesn’t even cut weight. Its been said that Maynard’s wrestling is the best in his division. Edgar imo is on par in this department.

Gray Maynard has already beaten Frankie Edgar once before and its the only loss on his record. I think Gray Maynard is going to win…again.

Sports Betting at Sportsbook.com

Middleweight bout: Chris Leben vs Brian Stann

Chris Leben too much experience, too many ways to win. Stann can win if he overwhelms Leben early, but then again, Leben has that durability and zombie chin that will be difficult to finish.
I think Leben wins inside 3 rounds.

Light Heavyweight bout: Brandon Vera vs Thiago Silva

Interesting fight here. Could be excellent. I like Vera here due to being more well rounded overall. Not only that, but Silva usually wins in the first two rounds. Vera is very good at nullifying damage.
I like Vera for the win.

Welterweight bout: Nate Diaz vs Dong Hyun Kim

As much as I am a fan of the Diaz brothers I like watching the Stun Gun fight. I think the durability of Kim and his submission defense will be enough to take a decision from Nate. Kim is very durable fighter who is a good striker although he hasn’t been able to showcase against the excellent talent in the UFC.
I’m going with The Stun Gun, Dong Hyun Kim.

Lightweight bout: Clay Guida vs Takanori Gomi

Guida is favored here, at -165 on Bookmaker.com, but I think this fight can be Gomi’s. His wrestling his almost as good as Guida’s. The Fireball Kid will have a reach advantage and hits hard. Guida has been stunned before and his hair is not going to help, but get in the way of his vision against Gomi’s hooks.
I think Gomi has all the advantages to beat Guida in this one.

Sports Betting at Sportsbook.com

Preliminary card

Lightweight bout: Marcus Davis vs Jeremy Stephens

Awesome fight – could be fight of the night. Both fighters throw caution to the wind in order to put on a show and both fighters strengths are excellent stand up punchers. Davis does have a nasty low leg kick as well too.
Stephens will win.

Featherweight bout: Josh Grispi vs Dustin Poirier

Poirer is coming off a KO of Zach Micklewright and Grispi is still winning. I think Grispi is better overall.
I’m going with Grispi.

Middleweight bout: Phil Baroni vs Brad Tavares

Two stand up fighters. Should be exciting. Gotta go with the younger fighter here in Brad Tavares.

Featherweight bout: Mike Brown vs Diego Nunes

Mike Brown.

Welterweight bout: Daniel Roberts vs Greg Soto

Going with the Ninja, Daniel Roberts.

Lightweight bout: Jacob Volkmann vs Antonio McKee

A fight of two good wrestlers whose primary game is wrestling. Antonio who has been accused of being boring his entire career for basically dominating a fight, but getting a decision in the end. Never finishing a fight. However, in his last fight in the MFC he dominated with the takedown got top control then mount and KO’d the guy. He said if he didn’t finish the fight he would retire. McKee is up there in age. UFC fans are not going to know McKee, but this guy has fought in smaller shows for years now. I’m glad he’s finally getting a shot to fight in the UFC. McKee will be too much for Volkmann.

Sports Betting at Sportsbook.com

UFC 124 GSP vs Koscheck

Main card Welterweight Championship bout: Canada Georges St-Pierre (Current Champion) vs Josh Koscheck Striking advantage: St-Pierre Wrestling advantage: St-Pierre Submission advantage: St-Pierre KO Advantage: Even Mental advantage (from winning previously): St-Pierre Cardio advantage: Even MMA IQ: St-Pierre Fighting in Hometown: St-Pierre Experience: Even I don’t see how on paper Koscheck wins this fight the second […]

Main card

Welterweight Championship bout: Canada Georges St-Pierre (Current Champion) vs Josh Koscheck

Striking advantage: St-Pierre
Wrestling advantage: St-Pierre
Submission advantage: St-Pierre
KO Advantage: Even
Mental advantage (from winning previously): St-Pierre
Cardio advantage: Even
MMA IQ: St-Pierre
Fighting in Hometown: St-Pierre
Experience: Even

I don’t see how on paper Koscheck wins this fight the second time around. However, Koscheck is an extremely tough individual and always has the puncher’s chance. I’m going to skip that chance and take St-Pierre. GSP is a heavy favorite, but I still think he is going to win.

Heavyweight bout: Netherlands Stefan Struve vs Sean McCorkle

Two giants here. However, Struve has more experience and has shown to have a really tough chin. Couple that with his long jab and good Thai clinch work plus his excellent submission game. I give a heavy edge to Struve.

Lightweight bout: Jim Miller vs Charles Oliveira

I think Oliveira has the striking advantage here. I’m going with Chuck.

Lightweight bout: Joe Stevenson vs Mac Danzig

Not sure Mac Danzig brings enough to the table to beat Joe Stevenson. Should be an excellent fight though.

Welterweight bout: Thiago Alves vs John Howard

Thiago Alves against John Howard. Interesting matchup. Thiago provides a lot of standup weapons against Howard who is dangerous in the clinch and on top when on the mat.

I lean towards the favorite here, but I could see Howard getting takedowns and winning a decision just the same. Haven’t seen odds for this yet.

Preliminary card

Lightweight bout: Mark Bocek vs Dustin Hazelett

Going to be interesting fight against two jiu-jitsu aces. Hazelett likely to have a significant reach advantage. Bocek is a zombie who is hard to finish. Neither one is probably going to submit the other and neither one is going to KO the other. I lean towards Bocek because he never stops moving forward. That is enough to take a decision.

Middleweight bout: Jesse Bongfeldt vs Rafael Natal

Pass

Welterweight bout: Matt Riddle vs Sean Pierson

Unfamiliar with Pierson. Riddle has been impressive though.

Middleweight bout: Joe Doerksen vs Dan Miller

I don’t see anything Doerksen can do take Miller out here. Miller not be able to do anything to Doerksen either though. Depending on how bad odds are skewed, I like Miller. If they are outrageous its worthwhile to go the other way. Evenly matched fight, Miller has better cardio.

Welterweight bout: TJ Grant vs Ricardo Almeida

Another close match. The always gritty TJ Grant will put up a good fight against Ricardo Almeida who was choked out by Matt Hughes in 20 seconds, but he won’t finish Almeida and I lean towards Almeida getting the sub.

Lightweight bout: Pat Audinwood vs John Makdessi
Pass

Rick Story Is One Of The Best Unknown Guys Fighting

Rick Story just essentially handled Johnny Hendricks wrestling quite well. That was an amazing fight between two guys who canceled out a lot of their strengths. My read was that Story’s striking would be the difference. It was. I had Story winning that fight. The third round stalled a little bit, but that was attributed […]

Rick Story just essentially handled Johnny Hendricks wrestling quite well. That was an amazing fight between two guys who canceled out a lot of their strengths. My read was that Story’s striking would be the difference. It was.

I had Story winning that fight. The third round stalled a little bit, but that was attributed to Hendricks amazing front headlock control then followed up with on the cage work. Story was able to hold different switches and hand on wrist control to stall takedowns. Even when taken down, Hendricks was not able to fully control it. To be able to stifle a Hendricks takedown is a really impressive accomplishment imo.

This was a very good technical fight and shows Hendricks improvement over his last 5 fights have led to a more complete fighter, but it also shows how good Rick Story is right now.

GSP Koscheck TUF Finale

Main card Featherweight bout: Nam Phan vs Leonard Garcia I like Nam Phan in this one. I can imagine he is the underdog here. Phan’s striking variety is better, as well as his ground game. However, Garcia is tougher until proven otherwise on Phan’s part. Like I said, I think Phan’s striking ability is better […]

Main card

Featherweight bout: Nam Phan vs Leonard Garcia

I like Nam Phan in this one. I can imagine he is the underdog here. Phan’s striking variety is better, as well as his ground game. However, Garcia is tougher until proven otherwise on Phan’s part. Like I said, I think Phan’s striking ability is better overall, so he could win a decision on his feet.

Welterweight bout: Johny Hendricks vs Rick Story

Super tough guys here. Both are awesome in their own right and tend to have great fights. I like Rick Story here though.

Middleweight bout: Demian Maia vs Kendall Grove

I actually like Kendall Grove here. Grove is a big underdog and is fairly good with his own right with jiu jitsu. Is on Maia’s level? Definitely not. However, Grove is a dangerous striker. I got Grove here in the BIG underdog spot.

Light Heavyweight bout: Stephan Bonnar vs Igor Pokrajac

Stephan Bonnar here. I am not familiar with Pokrajac, but I feel this is a showcase.

Lightweight bout: Jonathan Brookins vs Michael Johnson

I think Jonathan Brookins will win this fight. His take down defense is good enough, his takedowns will likely be nullified by Johnson, but his standup is better than Johnson. Not only that, but Brookins cardio is good as well. Where it seems Johnson carries more muscle.

Preliminary card

Middleweight bout: Rich Attonito vs Dave Branch

Dave Branch here. Sick jiu-jitsu.

Featherweight bout: Fredson Paixão vs Pablo Garza

Pass

Catchweight (138 lb) bout: Will Campuzano vs Nick Pace

Pass

Lightweight bout: Sako Chivitchian vs Kyle Watson

I like Kyle Watson to either manage a decision or submit Sako.

Featherweight bout: Tyler Toner vs Ian Lovelan

Pass

Lightweight bout: Cody McKenzie vs Aaron Wilkinson

I’m a big fan of Cody McKenzie’s modified guillotine choke. Wilkinson is good on his feet and can easily win this one by staying away from the clinch and the ground. Despite that, I want McKenzie to slap that guillotine on in the big show.