Tag: UFC 146

UFC 146: Predictions You Can Take to the Bank

UFC 146 limps its way to viewers on Saturday, as the card has undergone a number of changes due to injuries and other circumstances.Originally headlined by Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem, Frank Mir has stepped in for Overeem due to a pre-fight …

UFC 146 limps its way to viewers on Saturday, as the card has undergone a number of changes due to injuries and other circumstances.

Originally headlined by Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem, Frank Mir has stepped in for Overeem due to a pre-fight drug test failure. This was the first of many changes to the card.

With a card full of heavyweights, this event will either be a huge success or a massive failure. Here are some predictions that are all-but-sure to happen.

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UFC 146: Fight Card, PPV Info, Predictions and More for Dos Santos vs. Mir

With the UFC taking a different path with its latest pay-per-view, UFC 146 will feature a main card consisting of only heavyweights. This is the first time this has happened in the long history of the company. For the fans that don’t know what th…

With the UFC taking a different path with its latest pay-per-view, UFC 146 will feature a main card consisting of only heavyweights. This is the first time this has happened in the long history of the company.

For the fans that don’t know what this means, there will be plenty of mouth breathing and knockouts to go around.

You can bet on that!

 

Where: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada

When: Saturday, May 26, 2012, at 10 p.m. ET

Watch: Facebook undercard fights at 7:00 p.m. ET, preliminary fights at 8:00 p.m. ET on FX, main card fights at 10 p.m. ET on pay-per-view; online pay-per-view streaming (must pay $44.99) at UFC.tv, Yahoo! Sports, UStream, Android or iPhone.

 

Fight Card

Main Event: UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos vs. Frank Mir

 

Main Card (pay-per-view)

265 lbs.: Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva

265 lbs.: Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman

265 lbs.: Shane del Rosario vs. Stipe Miocic

265 lbs.: Lavar Johnson vs. Stefan Struve

 

Preliminary Card (FX Channel)

145 lbs.: Diego Brandao vs. Darren Elkins

155 lbs.: Edson Barboza vs. Jamie Varner

185 lbs.: Jason Miller vs. C.B. Dollaway

170 lbs.: Dan Hardy vs. Duane Ludwig

 

Preliminary Card (Facebook)

155 lbs.: Paul Sass vs. Jacob Volkmann

205 lbs.: Glover Teixeira vs. Kyle Kingsbury

145 lbs.: Mike Brown vs. Daniel Pineda

 

Junior dos Santos’ Keys to Victory

If Junior dos Santos walks out of UFC 146 as the heavyweight champion of the world, it will be because he used his superior striking to put a world of hurt on Frank Mir. As good as Mir’s defense is, dos Santos is a brutal striker who will pick Mir apart.

If Mir tries to stand and exchange shots with dos Santos, there is a chance this fight doesn’t make it out of the first round. Just ask Cain Velasquez.

 

Frank Mir’s Keys to Victory

There is no doubt that Frank Mir knows the striking ability of dos Santos and will try to avoid it like the plague. To do so, he will have to utilize his superior takedown skill and power to take away the power in the heavyweight champion’s hands.

Mir has to fight the perfect fight if he wants to win, but years of doing this at the highest level will not shake the man’s confidence. This will be an all-out war if this brawl goes to the ground like Mir wants.

 

What They Are Saying

UFC president Dana White is excited about Saturday night:

TUF competitor Cristiano Marcello will be live with the members of the show at UFC 146:

Nationally syndicated radio show Ring Rust Radio breaks down what to expect Saturday night:

 

Undercard Fight to Watch: Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman

This may be personal bias, but there is no better fighter to watch than Roy Nelson. He will never flash stellar technique or outperform his opponent, but his chin is made of stone and the man can throw bombs.

If I were Dave Herman, I would be preparing to get knocked out clean by the much tougher man.

 

Main Event Prediction: Junior dos Santos by second-round TKO

While we love Roy Nelson because of his brute force, Junior dos Santos is by far the most talented all-around heavyweight I can remember. There is no weakness in his game, and he can adapt to any style thrown his way.

As good as Frank Mir is, his inability to get over the hump with the top fighters in the sport will have him TKO’d by dos Santos in the second round.

 

Check back for more on Mixed Martial Arts as it comes, and check out Bleacher Report’s UFC Page to get your fill of all things UFC/MMA. For more on MMA/UFC, check out Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot topics.

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UFC 146: Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva Head-to-Toe Breakdown

This Saturday, at UFC 146, the main card will feature strictly heavyweights.From Junior dos Santos vs. Frank Mir to Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman, Lavar Johnson vs. Stefan Struve to Stipe Miocic vs. Shane Del Rosario, the UFC’s most evolved division will …

This Saturday, at UFC 146, the main card will feature strictly heavyweights.

From Junior dos Santos vs. Frank Mir to Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman, Lavar Johnson vs. Stefan Struve to Stipe Miocic vs. Shane Del Rosario, the UFC’s most evolved division will once again undergo changes.

However, through all those fights, including the championship bout, Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio “Big Foot” Silva could steal the show.

Not only does it mark the arrival of Silva to the UFC, but it serves as the return of Velasquez since losing his title to dos Santos at UFC on FOX 1.

Here’s how they stake up in this UFC 146 head-to-toe breakdown.

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UFC 146: Predicting Knockout, Submission and Fight of the Night

It’s fight week for the UFC, and with a five-fight main card packed with heavyweights, fans are expecting it to be one of the best shows of the year. In the main event, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir gets another chance at the title when he …

It’s fight week for the UFC, and with a five-fight main card packed with heavyweights, fans are expecting it to be one of the best shows of the year.

In the main event, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir gets another chance at the title when he takes on reigning champion Junior dos Santos.

Santos, a Brazilian power-puncher, won the title last November and has gone unbeaten throughout his UFC career.

Mir, who is stepping up as a late replacement for Alistair Overeem, is coming off three wins, including a brutal and impressive finish of Santos’ mentor, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

In the co-main event, Cain Velasquez and Antonio Silva will square off in a duel between two fighters looking to prove they still belong at the top of the division.

Other main card bouts include Shane del Rosario vs. Stipe Miocic, Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman and Lavar Johnson vs. Stefan Struve.

These are my predictions for submission, knockout and fight of the night.

 

Knockout of the Night: Junior dos Santos

With 10 heavyweights on the card, it’s hard to think none of them will end by knockout. If JDS is to get past Mir, there is no question how the victory will come. Of his eight UFC victories, five have come by knockout, including those over Velasquez, Struve and Fabricio Werdum.

Of Mir’s five losses, all have come by knockout. He was even dropped by Nogueira in their second fight before showing better recovery than he has in the past to get the victory.

Many consider Mir to have a weak chin, but this is the heavyweight division, and he usually doesn’t get knocked out with the first punch. It often takes a barrage of punches to put him away for good. Just look at the amount of damage done to him in his losses.

This is a bad style matchup for Mir, and it will show early with a KO win for dos Santos.

 

Submission of the Night: Diego Brandao

Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and Ultimate Fighter winner Diego Brandao is no stranger to getting post-fight bonuses, and his latest victory over Dennis Bermudez earned him two awards, including fight of the night and submission of the night.

His opponent, Darren Elkins, is 3-1 in the UFC with his only loss having come by an armbar submission in 41 seconds.

Training out of Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Brandao will have the gameplan to get the job done the best way possible in this fight.

Elkins looked good in his last fight, but his win over Michihiro Omigawa was considered a robbery by many, and his other bout versus Duane Ludwig ended when Ludwig injured his ankle.

As long as he can get it to the mat, Brandao should be able to get the ninth submission win of his career.

 

Fight of the Night: Edson Barboza vs. Jamie Varner

Can Edson Barboza make it four fight of the night bonuses in a row?

Despite a late change in opponents, former WEC Champion Jamie Varner is a solid test for Barboza, who is considered by many to be one of the best rising contenders in the lightweight division.

With his brutal kicks, Barboza is able to wear his opponents down and take over late in his fights. It payed off his last fight where he knocked Terry Etim out with a spinning heel kick in the third round.

Varner is 1-1 in the UFC from two bouts in 2006-2007. Since then, he has put on some of the more entertaining fights. Even in defeat, his two fights against Donald Cerrone and Benson Henderson were fun to watch.

Barboza is undefeated and Varner has never been knocked out, so this is one of the better candidates for a fight that goes the distance or long enough to have some exciting shifts in momentum.

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Why Wrestling May No Longer Be the Best Base for MMA

As this sport has grown over the last few decades we’ve seen different styles emerge as dominant while others become more commonly known by the average competitor.   When the UFC was in its early days, the man with gall enough to rush and brawl us…

As this sport has grown over the last few decades we’ve seen different styles emerge as dominant while others become more commonly known by the average competitor.  

When the UFC was in its early days, the man with gall enough to rush and brawl usually won.  Intimidation and fearlessness were the primary weapons of those that were successful. The sport lacked technique. 

In 1993 Royce Gracie changed that.  He began his career in the promotion with 11 straight wins all by submission. The submissions he used were new to the sport so his opponents had no idea how to defend them. He introduced Brazilian jiu-jitsu to the world of MMA and revolutionized it in doing so. 

Now jiu-jitsu is practically necessary for success in the UFC. If one isn’t adept in the style, at least the ability to defend it or prevent it from being used is vital. 

A very similar scenario is playing out in the sport with wrestling.  While it isn’t a new style to the American public it’s become a style that some perceive as a necessary skill set in the cage. In today’s environment the best striker in the world is nothing without adequate takedown defense. 

But will this trend of wrestling dominance continue? 

Judging by the flexible nature of the sport—most likely not.  Similar to how fighters now specifically train in jiu-jitsu to avoid being submitted by an expert, young fighters from all styles will recognize the importance of learning or at least defending against wrestling techniques.  

Any style that emerges as a prominent weapon will single itself out as a necessary skill to either be learned or intelligently defended. 

This is the same concept that makes reigning as champion almost impossible to sustain for long periods of time. Once one is the best, the entire division is figuring out how to beat the new champ.

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UFC 146: A Less Exciting Card Without Overeem, Hunt

There are very few cards that have suffered the kind of beating that has come upon UFC 146. The all-heavyweight main card, meant to draw in casual fans and rack up buys for the UFC, has turned into one giant headache for the promotion. Here is a remind…

There are very few cards that have suffered the kind of beating that has come upon UFC 146. The all-heavyweight main card, meant to draw in casual fans and rack up buys for the UFC, has turned into one giant headache for the promotion.

Here is a reminder of what the original card looked like:

Junior dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem

Cain Velasquez vs. Frank Mir

Roy Nelson vs. Antonio Silva

Shane Del Rosario vs. Gabriel Gonzaga

Stefan Struve vs. Mark Hunt

When this first got announced it was easy to get excited. Dos Santos vs. Overeem was downright tantalizing with the two champions set to unify the UFC and Strikeforce heavyweight belts. Velasquez vs. Mir was a comparably exciting co-main event set to either cement the resurgence of Frank Mir or open the door for Cain Velasquez to retake his belt.

Past that, all the bouts had some level of intrigue. Nelson vs. Silva was going to show just how good either of these heavyweights were, with Silva showing he belongs in the top echelon of the UFC’s heavyweight division or Nelson proving he deserves a spot in the UFC. Meanwhile Del Rosario vs. Gonzaga and Struve vs. Hunt pitted young up-and-comers against wily veterans trying to work their way back into the public eye.

Obviously things did not stay that way. Alistair Overeem’s much-publicized failed drug test (which he claims was due to his use of a doctor-prescribed anti-inflamatory) got him booted off the card. Mir replaced Overeem for the title fight. Silva replaced Mir in the co-main event. Gonzaga replaced Silva, and was scheduled to face Roy Nelson. Stipe Miocic then stepped onto the card to fight Shane del Rosario in place of Gonzaga.

That still had the makings of a decent card. Unfortunately a couple more changes had to come down. Gonzaga threw out his back during training and was replaced by heavyweight journeyman Dave Herman. Then to make sure every bout from the original card had been sabotaged, Mark Hunt had to pull out of his fight with Stefan Struve and was replaced by Lavar Johnson.

The card is currently: 

Junior dos Santos vs. Frank Mir

Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva

Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman

Shane del Rosario vs. Stipe Miocic

Stefan Struve vs. Lavar Johnson

Ouch.

Dos Santos vs. Mir is interesting only insofar as it is a heavyweight title fight, and lacks the appeal (and will probably also lack the excitement) of the original fight with Overeem. Velasquez vs. Silva is likely to be fun (what heavyweight fight between two guys with hands made of dynamite is not?) but the UFC was wanting to build Antonio Silva up against Roy Nelson.

Cain Velasquez, however, is no stepping stone, and should be heavily favored going into the event.

Nelson vs. Herman lacks the appeal of either of the fights Nelson had scheduled. Though “Big Country” fans should be happy about the changes, as Herman is an easier opponent than either Silva or Gonzaga (Nelson, who is 1-3 in his last four fights, is likely to be cut if he drops this bout).

Del Rosario vs. Miocic lacks any sort of name-brand recognition as both fighters are about a year removed from fighting on Strikeforce: Challengers cards on Showtime. The bout is still interesting, though, as both fighters are undefeated and have combined for only one decision. However there is no getting around the fact that either fighter is unknown to a huge majority of MMA fans.

Struve vs. Hunt actually ends up being the second biggest loss for the card. After events began pointing to Overeem being forced off the card, a huge rallying cry came up with fans calling for Hunt to replace him in the title fight. The movement failed but still put the spotlight on Hunt who, unfortunately, will not be able to take advantage of his renewed fame.

As for the actual fight, Struve often ends up in interesting technical battles due to his opponents needing to compensate for his freakish height (checking in at 6’11”). He remains one of the most under-appreciated fighters in the UFC with a 7-3 record in the promotion in just three years, but he has a tough fight in Lavar Johnson who is looking for his third knockout victory of 2012.

This combines for an injury-riddled card that does not live up to its original booking. While it is not bad, again it was supposed to be amazing. The untouched lineup of fights would have ended up one of the biggest spectacles in MMA this year (its only real competition being UFC 148). The product fans are looking at, though, does not qualify as such.

Still, there is enough to get excited about to keep most UFC fans interested. We have, after all, seen worse bunches put forth exciting fights, top-to-bottom. It is easy, though, to wonder “What if…?”

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