Live on Fox and Fox Sports November 12th 2011. The first live free UFC fight on a major network television broadcast.
Heavyweight Championship bout: Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos
The two best heavyweight boxers we’ve ever seen in MMA. Don’t even say Ray Mercer or James Tony, those guys don’t box in MMA. They swing.
As good as Dos Santos boxing is, its probably better, Velasquez is going to take him down and nullify it.
I lean towards Velasquez in this one, but Dos Santos is only an uppercut away from ending it.
Preliminary card (Fox Deportes)
Lightweight bout: Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson
Ben Henderson, if you go back through MMA Betting Picks website…way back, he was one of my undiscovered rising stars back when he fought in the MFC and walked out with his glasses on. Its incredible that the guy can’t see well without them and he has hair in his way most of the time.
This fight literally is the battle of hair.
Between Guida’s locks and Henderson’s expect a lot of swinging and a hair a flying.
From a strict comparables, I think Henderson has this fight on reach, size, overall striking. Henderson’s length is going to give Guida problems all night and he will be scoring. Guida has to get this fight to the ground to win. I don’t see it happening.
Guida is a crowd favorite so expect the lines to be tighter than they should be. I like Henderson in this fight. I also like this one going beyond 2-2.5 rounds.
Featherweight bout: Dustin Poirier vs. Pablo Garza
Poirier
Preliminary card (Facebook and FoxSports.com)
Featherweight bout: Cub Swanson vs. Ricardo Lamas
Cub Swanson
Welterweight bout: DaMarques Johnson vs. Clay Harvison
DaMarques Johnson – more experience – more ways to win – longer reach.
Bantamweight bout: Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Darren Uyenoyama
Kid Yamamoto
Featherweight bout: Mackens Semerzier vs. Robert Peralta
lean towards Mackens
Bantamweight bout: Alex Caceres vs. Cole Escovedo
More than 2 rounds.
Middleweight bout: Mike Pierce vs. Paul Bradley
Mike Pierce is up there on my favorite fighters to watch and bet with. He is excellent everywhere on the ground, but his special skill is stifling the takedown then making the opponent pay for attempting it.
Depending on the odds, this is probably an excellent bet.
Light Heavyweight bout: Aaron Rosa vs. Matt Lucas
pass