Wanderlei Silva vs. Brian Stann
The Axe Murderer needs to take this fight into deep water, but Stann is know for quick fights. Wandy’s chin has been in question for awhile, and it doesn’t help that he is facing someone so heavily handed. Silva has the cardio to go a full five rounds, but on the flip side, five rounds is more than enough time for Stann to land that finishing blow. Chances are the two will stand toe to toe, so between Stann’s solid chin and Wandy‘s wide punches, this is a match that Stann should come out the victor.
Pick : Brian Stann
Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve
Struve has an unusual ability to come back to win the fight after taking a brutal beating. His striking and Jiu-Jitsu makes him the more diverse fighter of the two, but he has a tendency to let powerful strikers bully him. Junior dos Santos, Roy Nelson and Stipe Miocic were all able to get inside Struve’s long reach and land damaging shots to the head and body. Although he came back and pounded out Miocic in the second round, Struve won’t finish Hunt so easily. Not too many fighters have a chin anywhere close as good as Hunt. As he proved in his bout with Cheick Kongo, when he hurts his opponent, he doesn’t let them recover. As a tall, lanky fighter, Struve won’t possess the physical strength to stop Hunt’s onslaught. His last resort will be his Jiu-Jitsu, but Hunt has been submitted by fighters like Fedor Emelianenko, Josh Barnett, Alistair Overeem, and Gegard Mousasi. He was submitted by Sean McCorkle, but McCorkle is an enormous heavyweight with one of the best guards for his weight class. Bottom line, Struve doesn’t have what it takes on the feet or on the ground to stop or out score Hunt. Hunt will bully him early and get the finish in the same fashion he finished Kongo.
Pick : Mark Hunt
Takanori Gomi vs. Diego Sanchez
Sanchez has been sidelined due to injury, so there’s no telling how his training has been going. I’d like to think a fighter with Sanchez’s aggression and pace will get right back on the horse, and fight just like he always has in the past, but no one can say for sure. Gomi has been on the downside of his career, and has shown little success in the octagon, but fighting in front of the Japanese crowd might light a fire under his ass. Even if it does, unless if the Dream’s ring rust is the worst we’ve ever seen, he should over power Gomi. He will have the better strinking and grappling, and be the more aggressive fighter.
Pick : Diego Sanchez
Hector Lombard vs. Yushin Okami
Okami showed good ground control in his fight with Alan Belcher, but he left openings for Belcher to counter. Luckily for him, Belcher was unable to capitalize with his striking or submission attempts. Against a powerful fighter like Lombard, Okami won’t be so lucky. Not only will Okami have a difficult time taking the Judo black belt down, but he’ll have to worry about defending the takedown as well. As proficient a wrestler as Tim Boetsch is, Lombard make taking him down look easy. These potential problems may cause Okami to be frantic, which will allow Lombard to open up with a flurry of punches, and we’ve seen the damage he can do when he fought Rousimar Palhares.
Pick : Hector Lombard
Mizuto Hirota vs. Rani Yahya
Hirota isn’t beating Yahya on the ground, period. He showed some solid boxing in his fight with Pat Healy, but Hirota won’t prevent Yahya from taking him down. Josh Grispi tried keeping the fight on the feet when he fought Yahya, and was successful for about a minute. If Hirota had exceptional footwork, boxing skills, or wrestling; then maybe he could prevent the takedown, but that’s not the case.
Pick : Rani Yahya
Dong Hyun Kim vs. Siyar Bahadurzada
I was dead wrong when I thought Paulo Thiago would be able to get Bahadurzada to the ground and control him. Like Thiago, Kim is primarily a grappler, and one who is most effective while in top position. Bahadurzada has knocked out his last five opponents, and since Kim isn’t exactly a threat on the feet, he will most likely face the same. Get ready for a déjà vu of when Kim fought Carlos Condit.
Pick : Siyar Bahadurzada
Quick Picks
Riki Fukuda < Brad Tavares
Takeya Mizugaki > Bryan Caraway
Cristiano Marcello > Kazuki Tokudome
Alex Caceres < Kyung Ho Kang
Marcelo Guimaraes > Hyun Gyu Lim
– Ryan “Fight Freek” Poli
@FightFreek