Urijah Faber vs. Scott Jorgensen
Both fighters are strong wrestlers and share top level opponents, such as, Dominick Cruz, Renan Barao, and Eddie Wineland. When comparing their bouts with these fighters, win or lose, Faber has had a better performance. The biggest factor will be Faber’s speed. Not that Jorgensen is slow, but Faber has always been one of the quicker fighters in the cage, which has always aided in his success. However, conditioning may also be a factor. Again, not saying the Jorgensen shows up out of shape, but Faber is always ready to go five rounds, and maybe even more.
I’m interested to see how the striking game will play out, if that’s how the fight unfolds, but Jorgensen will have the advantage in knockout power; there’s no denying that. But as for technical skill, I believe Faber will have a slight edge. The wrestling is close to call, but Faber’s ability to be so nimble in the scrambles has me leaning towards him in that department as well.
So if I have it all tallied up correctly, Faber has to remain quick, nimble and avoid the power of Jorgensen to get the win. I don’t think he’ll have that tough of a time doing that, rewarding him with a unanimous decision.
Pick : Urijah Faber
Uriah Hall vs. Kelvin Gastelum
He might be the youngest competitor in TUF history and Chael Sonne’s last pick, but Kelvin Gastelum has proved himself to be one of the best fighters of this TUF season. With that being said, Uriah Hall has been called the most dangerous fighter in TUF history. Chris Weidman brought Hall in his training camp to prepare him for his upcoming title fight with Anderson Silva; what does that say about his skills? With such an advantage on the feet, it would be in Gastelum’s best interest to take Hall down, however, Dylan Andrews had the same game plan and was unsuccessful. This could very well be a repeat of Uriah Hall vs. Dylan Andrews, with Hall having more success no matter where the fight goes.
Pick : Uriah Hall
Miesha Tate vs. Cat Zingano
Both of these elite female athletes are well rounded and have a primary skill of wrestling, but from the footage on their fights, it looks like Zingano is just a bit better in all aspects of MMA. They’re both decorated wrestlers, but the Jiu-Jitsu advantage should lay with Zingano. Her husband, Mauricio Zingano, is a BJJ black belt and runs Zingano BJJ, so she’s closer to her BJJ coach than anyone. Even on the feet, Zingano possesses proficient Muay Thai striking, making her more than capable of handling herself against Tate.
In her fights with Marloes Coenen, Ronda Rousey, and Julie Kedzie; see has either lost, lost most of the fight, or was in extreme trouble. I don’t see Tate out working Zingano with her striking or wrestling, and as someone who teaches at a fitness boot camp, don’t hold your breathe on Zingano gassing out, allowing Tate to turn the tables.
Pick : Cat Zingano
Travis Browne vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
Browne’s only legitimate win was his knockout of Stefan Struve, all the others were “gimmie” fights, which is wasn’t exactly impressive. Nearly everyone had Browne beating Antonio Silva, and look how that fight turned out. Browne will have to get his head checked if he tries to take the fight to the ground, seeing Gonzaga is an elite BJJ practitioner. But even on the feet, Gonzaga has rocked skilled strikers like Ben Rothwell and Cro Cop. Not only does the Brazilian possess great grappling and solid striking, but he has one hell of a chin that will make matters worse for Browne.
I can’t criticize Brown for his cardio, seeing Gonzaga didn’t look all that well conditioned in his last fight, but he displayed good striking, power, and great takedowns/ Jiu-Jitsu. Gonzaga will look to utilize the same skills on Browne, and I’m betting he’ll be successful.
Pick : Gabriel Gonzaga
Cole Miller vs. Bart Palaszewski
Neither fighter has had much success in their last couple of bouts, but the reasons for Miller’s poor performances seem much more legitimate. Miller lost to Steven Siler in his featherweight debut, and as we all know, a fighter’s first fight at a lighter weight class can cause them to have a piss poor performance. TO his credit, Miller did win the first round against Siler, in fact,it was pretty obvious that he won that round. However, he did end up losing the next two. Let’s not forget that Steven Siler has proven himself to be a talented fighter in the UFC’s featherweight division, so where’s the shame?
Against Nam Phan, Miller made it a close fight that ended in a razor thin split decision in Phan’s favor. Nam Phan is very much like Diego Nunes in his striking, just more diverse with a better grappling game. Now if we all remember correctly, Nunes absolutely destroyed Palaszewski. So by comparison, Miller fared much better against a similar fighter that Palaszewski did, and it was only his second fight at a new weight class.
On the ground, Miller should mop the floor with Palaszewski. As a BJJ black belt with numerous submission wins, he’ll most likely look to take the fight to the canvas. Even on the feet, Miller held his own against solid strikers like Nam Phan and Ross Pearson, plus his natural reach advantage will only further assist him.
Bottom line, Palaszewski was dominated in his last two fights, while Miller has dropped two close decisions. Miller could potentially turn this into a fight much like Hatsu Hioko did in his fight with Palaszewski. If you don’t recall how that fight went, let’s just say it was more than slightly one sided.
Pick : Cole Miller
Sam Sicilia vs. Maximo Blanco
Blanco is coming off a loss to Marcus Brimage, who like Sicilia, is a pretty aggressive striker. When Blanco is pressured, he is more tentative in his attacks and will focus solely on his defense, rather than his offense. This is exactly what Sicilia wants to happen, as it will allow him to come forward and throw haymakers. This will be Sicilia’s second fight at featherweight, so he should be better conditioned for this fight. Sicilia fared well against Rony “Jason” until he was tagged with a critical punch that led to his knockout, but blanco isn’t nearly as aggressive as the TUF Brazil winner. I’m not putting my money on Blanco catching Sicilia in the midst of a slugfest, and therefore, find it much more likely that he is pressured by Sicilia for three rounds, or is even on the receiving end of a finishing blow.
Pick : Sam Sicilia
Justin Lawrence vs. Daniel Pineda
Lawrence is a fantastic striker, but the ground game is his kryptonite. Pineda is proficient in BJJ, and clearly isn’t the fighter you want to face when your ground game sucks. Lawrence will come out quite aggressively, but as long as Pineda can avoid getting run down in the first minute, he should be able to close the distance and lock up a submission. Seeing Pineda’s Muay Thai striking is up to par, he should have not issue weathering the early storm of Lawrence.
Pick : Daniel Pineda
– Quick Picks –
Gilbert Smith over Bubba McDaniel
Josh Samman over Kevin Casey
Luke Barnatt over Collin Hart
Jimmy Quinlan over Dylan Andrews
Bristol Marunde over Clint Hester
– Ryan “Fight Freek” Poli
@FightFreek