Unless you’re the casual MMA observer who probably thinks full guard is a deodorant, you know that Tuesday night will feature part two of the TUF quarter-finals. I went 1-1 for my part one quarter-final predictions, but I’m confident part two will be 2-0. So enough of the introduction formality, let’s get into these damn predictions.
Josh Samman vs. Jimmy Quinlan
Quinlan is one hell of a Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, but he forgets he’s in an MMA fight, and gets in a strict grappling mode. This nearly cost him a spot in the quarter-finals when he fought team Jones’ number one pick, Clint Hester. Ultimately, Quinlan was able to submit Hester, but Samman is more well rounded and athletic than Hester. Quinlan has less than one third the MMA experience of Samman, and if he drops his hands for even a second, he could be going to sleep just like Tor Troeng. With the exception of grappling, Samman has the superior attributes, and as long as he doesn’t get caught in a submission, he should come out on top.
Pick : Josh Samman
Bubba McDaniel vs. Uriah Hall
Unlike his first two fights, Bubba won’t have to worry about being taken down in this fight. Both Uriah and Bubba prefer to keep the fight standing, but I don’t see it going well for Bubba. Being one of the more experienced fighters in the competition, it was almost as if everyone expected Bubba to walk through his first opponent. As we know that didn’t happen, but got another chance in the wildcard fight against Kevin Casey. He was dominated in the first round, but came back in the second, causing Casey to quit. During his time on the show, it seems that Bubba has really been second guessing himself. Jon Jones even shed made comment to that, telling him he needs to start believing in his skills. Uriah is at least as skilled a striker as Bubba, if not more, and has had more success in the octagon without taking damage. There’s a great deal of hype behind this middleweight prospect, and I’m pick him to a least win a decision, if not KO this opponent.
Pick : Uriah Hall
I’d like to see both my picks get a win not only for the sake of my prediction percentage, but because a fight between Uriah Hall and Josh Samman would be an epic fight, and one I think most every MMA fan would like to see. The only thing that would make that fight better, is if it was the bout to determine the TUF winner. But I’m getting ahead of myself. We’ll come back to that fight if my predictions end up being correct.
-Ryan “Fight Freek” Poli
@FightFreek