Tag: paul taylor

UFC 126 Undercard Predictions

Preliminary card Welterweight bout: Mike Pierce vs Kenny Robertson Mike Pierce is one of the most underknown and underappreciated welterweights. I’ve got Pierce winning this. Light Heavyweight bout: Kyle Kingsbury vs Ricardo Romero For whatever reason, Romero seems to pull out the victories at the end of the day. I lean towards Romero here in […]

Preliminary card

Welterweight bout: Mike Pierce vs Kenny Robertson

Mike Pierce is one of the most underknown and underappreciated welterweights. I’ve got Pierce winning this.

Light Heavyweight bout: Kyle Kingsbury vs Ricardo Romero

For whatever reason, Romero seems to pull out the victories at the end of the day. I lean towards Romero here in the underdog position.

Lightweight bout: Paul Taylor vs Gabe Ruediger

Taylor should eat Ruediger up as Ruediger is rather poor on his feet, but good on the ground and Taylor is excellent on the feet and mediocre on the ground. Taylor should win this fight via decision.

Preliminary card (Facebook Stream)

Bantamweight bout: Norifumi Yamamoto vs Demetrious Johnson

Kid Yamamoto against a guy I don’t know. I go with Yamamoto everytime.

Preliminary card (Spike TV)

Featherweight bout: Chad Mendes vs Michihiro Omigawa

I know Mendes is likely to win, but you can’t write off Omigawa so easily either. Mendes is -357 to Omigawa at Intertops. With crazy skewed odds I’ll go with Omigawa.

Lightweight bout: Donald Cerrone vs Paul Kelly

This is going to be a great fight. Kelly is tough as nails, Cerrone is as well. I don’t think Cerrone has faced someone as strong as Kelly yet. I think Kelly wears em down and takes the decision.

Main card

Bantamweight bout: Miguel Torres vs Antonio Banuelos

Miguell Torres is likely to win, but I’m avoiding this due to the odds being out of bounds.

Light Heavyweight bout: Jon Jones vs Ryan Bader

This is my favorite fight on the card. I got Jon Jones winning this fight. Intertops has it -357 for Jones and +240 for Bader.

Welterweight bout: Jake Ellenberger vs Carlos Eduardo Rocha

One of the best fighters to bet on is Ellenberger. However, this fight is tricky. Rocha is a absolute jiu-jitsu ace and has a ton of leg related sub victories. I’m passing here as I think Rocha could pull off an insane upset. However, the oddsmakers look like they are thinking like me and Ellenberger is not such a large favorite in this one.

The Cut List: Who Desperately Needs a Win at UFC 126?

Filed under: UFCAs former WEC fighters make their way into the UFC, it’s make-or-break time for some of the men who have just barely been clinging to roster spots.

If you’re a UFC lightweight with more losses than wins lately, you have to be looking …

Filed under:

Paul KellyAs former WEC fighters make their way into the UFC, it’s make-or-break time for some of the men who have just barely been clinging to roster spots.

If you’re a UFC lightweight with more losses than wins lately, you have to be looking over your shoulder and wondering how long you’ll have a job now that there’s suddenly a talent surplus in your division. If fighting in the UFC were like an office job, this is the point where you’d look up one morning and see a bunch of new hires standing around with cardboard boxes full of their stuff, sizing up your cubicle with their eyes.

Join me below as we take a look at the UFC 126 lineup and ask which fighters could find themselves out of work unless they can keep their place at the table with a victory on Saturday night.

UFC 121 Predictions

Brock Lesnar (current champion) vs Cain Velasquez In the Heavyweight Championship bout, we have the humongous Brock Lesnar taking on the always conditioned and great stand up boxer/wrestler Cain Velasquez. I’ve wanted Lesnar to lose almost every match. However, it hasn’t happened. The guy has gotten excellent at what he is good at. This is […]

Brock Lesnar (current champion) vs Cain Velasquez

In the Heavyweight Championship bout, we have the humongous Brock Lesnar taking on the always conditioned and great stand up boxer/wrestler Cain Velasquez. I’ve wanted Lesnar to lose almost every match. However, it hasn’t happened. The guy has gotten excellent at what he is good at. This is no different than anyone in the early days of mixed martial arts, where they won based on their main skillset. Matt Hughes, Royce Gracie, Dan Severn, Mark Coleman, now Brock Lesnar. Velasquez is a far different fighter with extremely well rounded skills. Velasquez is going to be giving up a lot of weight to Lesnar, and it will be interesting to see how Velasquez carries that burden.

If Velasquez gets Lesnar in the same position Carwin got Lesnar in round 1 of their fight, I think Velasquez will do better at taking advantage of the situation. Not only that, Cain is maybe less powerful than Carwin, but much faster, 10x better footwork, and his wrestling is top notch as well.

If Lesnar can’t work his gameplan, I think Velasquez will win via decision. If Lesnar can work his gameplan, which he has been able to do in all his winning fights, Velasquez could get KO’d rather quickly. Velasquez was stunned badly against Cheick Kongo, but nobody else has been able to strike with him. If Lesnar gets on top, I think its over. He has one of the most vicious and relentless top games in MMA.

Cain at +145 and Lesnar favored at -175

I want to pick Cain here as I’ve been impressed with his last string of fights. I’m going to go against what I want to happen, and go with Lesnar. He is too much of a wall and I don’t know if Cain’s firepower is enough to chop the mountain down inside 5 rounds.

PPV card

Welterweight bout: Jake Shields vs. Martin Kampmann

I’m going with Jake Shields because he somehow manages to avoid getting destroyed on the feet and has a devastating ground attack that smothers people into submission.

Welterweight bout: Diego Sanchez vs. Paulo Thiago

Looking for Diego to bounce back here and avoid getting KO’d or submitted, by the always tough Thiago.

Light Heavyweight bout: Tito Ortiz vs. Matt Hamill

Perfect opponent for Tito Ortiz. However, I worry Hamill is the one more pumped up for this fight. I have no clue if Tito is pumped up or not, I just know Hamill has to be going against a legend and his former coach.

Hamill is a great opponent for Ortiz. He isn’t very good off his back which lends to Ortiz getting back to his old punishment from inside the guard. Ortiz also has an underrated ground game. Remember him catching Machida in a triangle?

I like Ortiz to get a win inside the Octagon and we never hear the end of it.

Heavyweight bout: Brendan Schaub vs. Gabriel Gonzaga

I think Gonzaga gets back on the winning side in this match up.

Preliminary card (Spike TV)

Middleweight bout: Court McGee vs. Ryan Jensen

Ryan Jensen. Super tough, highly experienced.

Middleweight bout: Patrick Côté vs. Tom Lawlor

Coteeeeee, Cote Cote Cote.

Preliminary card

Welterweight bout: Mike Guymon vs. Daniel Roberts

Pass

Lightweight bout: Sam Stout vs. Paul Taylor

Sam Stout is more highly skilled and possesses better standup in terms of combos and is probably more powerful in both the hands and legs than Paul Taylor (however, Taylor is VERY good on the feet). Should get replayed on the PPV if time allows as this fight is going to be good.

Middleweight bout: Chris Camozzi vs. Dong Yi Yang

Pass

Heavyweight bout: Jon Madsen vs. Gilbert Yvel

Madsen is likely going to take Yvel down and do the wrestler GnP thing on Yvel. However, this is one spot where Yvel could get highlight reel KO as Madsen is on the shorter side which plays into Yvel’s dangerous high kicks.