Tag: Uncategorized

Raphael Assuncao   vs.  Vaughan Lee

I’ve always talked about Lee’s underrated Jiu-Jitsu, but it’s no match for the Jiu-jitsu of Assuncao. Lee has showcased his hands in the octagon, but again, the newly showcased striking of Assuncao shocked everyone when it was used to chop down Mike Easton. This is the perfect opportunity for Lee to jump ranks, but I don’t see the fight playing out in his favor regardless of where the fight goes.

Pick : Raphael Assuncao

 

 
Rony Jason   vs.  Mike Wilkinson

Why isn’t this TUF winner fighting a more worthy TUF fighter? How is Wilkinson supposed to draw attention to this bout when the Brazilian outworked “Pepey” Castro and knocked out Sam Sacilia? A bout with Norman Parke would’ve made sense, but Wilkinson will be lucky to see the final bell.

Pick : Rony Jason

 

Erick Silva   vs.  Jason High

Silva was looking to break into the UFC’s top ten list, and it took an elite fighter like Jon Fitch to derail his win streak. High is no where near the level of Jon Fitch, and probably not even as skilled as Charlie Brenneman. High will be looking to make a statement, but he will come up short.

Pick : Erick Silva

 

Daniel Sarafian   vs.  Eddie Mendez

Sarafian is well rounded and aggressive, which is a deadly combo for any opponent. I was surprised that C.B. Dolloway’s chin withstood and avoid getting knocked out, but that’s pretty rare. I don’t think Mendez will be so lucky, and Sarafian will be looking to test his opponents chin.

Pick : Daniel Sarafian

 

Thiago Silva   vs.  Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante

This fight could go either way on paper, but when it comes to raw talent, I have to go with Feijao. Anyone who can finish King Mo and stalemate Dan Henderson in a grappling fight, should have the edge in this fight. While raw power and striking skill is also up for debate, but I would give a slight edge to Feijao as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if either of the two go the win, but the big question is… Who’s going to fail their drug test?

Pick : Feijao Cavalcante

 

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira   vs.  Fabricio Werdum

I’m not sold on the hype surrounding Werdum. I keep hearing about his ever improving striking, but after seeing Big Nog’s striking against Brendan Schaub, Frank Mir, and Dave Herman, I think he’ll rock Werdum just as Fedor Emelianenko did. And speaking of Fedor, he could come out of retirement tomorrow and beat Werdum in a rematch. People wouldn’t be talking about how Werdum is one of the greatest Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in the world if it hadn’t been for his lucky triangle. I’ll be more than fair to Werdum by saying the ground game is a wash, but as for the striking, I’m siding with the fighter who has been out striking the strikers.

Pick : Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

 

TUF Brazil Semi Final Winner Predictions

Viscardi Andrade defeats William Macario

Santiago Ponzinibbio defeats Leonardo Santos

 

– I predict that Santiago Ponziibbio will win in the finals regardless of his opponent, if he is defeated by Leonarod Santos, I will pick Santos to win.

 

 

 

 

* Quick Picks *

 

Godofredo Pepey defeats Felipe Arantes

Ronny Markes defeats Derek Brunson

Ildemar Alcantara defeats Leandro Silva

Rodrigo Damm defeats Mizuto Hirota

Karlos Vemola defeats Caio Magalhaes

Antonio Braga Neto defeats Anthony Smith

 

 

– Ryan “Fight Freek” Poli

@FightFreek

 

 

 

As if the UFC’s lightweight rankings haven’t changed enough in shuch a short time, there’s been another drastic change with TJ Grant’s KO victor over Gray Maynard. Dana White hasn’t always came through with his promises for title shots, but it’s still offical that he will be fighting next for the lightweight title against current champ, Benson Henderson. If you were to go back six months, the UFC’s lightweight rankings wouldn’t look anything like they do now, but with victoies from Anthony Pettis, Josh Thomson, Pat Healy, and TJ Grant, here are the official MMAFix.com lightweight rankings…

1.) Benson Henderson
2.) Gilbert Melendez
3.) TJ Grant
4.) Anthony Pettis
5.) Josh Thomson
6.) Pat Healy
7.) Gray Maynard
8.) Nate Date
9.) Michael Chandler
10.) Eddie Alverez
11.) Donald Cerrone

– Ryan “Fight Freek” Poli

@FightFreek

– Justin Lawrence vs. Daniel Pineda

Well this fight didn’t take long. Pineda got the takedown quickly, and held Lawrence, despite his best efforts to get back to his feet. Pineda moved to side control for a kimura attempt and cranks. Lawrence seems to resist for a moment, but then it’s over. Pineda wins by Kimura.

– Sam Sicilia vs. Maximo Blanco

(Round 1) : Blanco comes in for a takedown and gets in. Sacilia quick to get back to his feet, but Blanco controls him on the ground. Sicilia squating against the cage, uses a kimura attempt to get to stand back up and avoid the takedown. The fight is now turning into a striking battle that sees Sicilia land some solid strikes, but Blanco landing constistanly with his jab. MMAFix gives round one to Blanco.

(Round 2) Sicilia goes to work quickly and drops Blanco with punches, Blanco recovers quickly, but it’s Sicilia holds Blanco against the cage. Kim Windslow warns Blanco multiple times to not grab the fence, and they separte with Sicilia lighting Blanco up with punches. Blanco fires back and backs Sicilia against the cage. Both fighters are throwing wild strikes, and when Sicilia starts to land the crisper punches, Blanco moves in for a takedown, that puts in in the mount position. Sicilia risks giving up his back to escape, and it pays off. Round ends with another stand up flurry. MMAFix sees round 2 for Sicilia.

(Round 3) Starts with a bang, but with Blanco as the aggressor with a flying knee, followed up by punches. Sicilia throws back, but gets taken down. Sicilia back to his feet, but Blanco is extremely hard to read. Blanco throwing spinning back kicks, Axe kicks and spinning back fists; he’s giving it all. Sicilia goes for a takedown, but Blanco stuffs it. It’s a race to the finish with Blanco getting the better of the strikes. MMAFix.com sees the 3rd round for Blanco, and the fight 29-28. Judges seem to agree.

– Cole Miller vs. Bat Palaszewski

(Round 1) Bit of a feeling out process with both fighters throwing jabs. Miller throws a head kick followed by a combo, but Palaszewski comes back with a combo of his own. they’re trading combos back and forth and Miller lands a nice leg kick. Palaszewski comes forward with a plethora of strikes, and is really backing Miller up. Miller switches it up with a takedown and scrambles to the back while Palaszewski looks to stand up. Miller looks for a neck crank, but is able to slide it under the chin to get the tap.

During the first two episodes of TUF Brazil season two, I decided to expand outside the realm of making predictions, and put my self in the shoes of the coaches as I watched the elimination fights. I made notes for each bout winner, and did my best to rank them in the order I would pick them for my team. I was pleased to learn that both Minotauro Nogueria and Fabricio Werdum shared much of my thought process.

My top four picks were in the top five picks almost in perfect order, but here’s where both coaches leave me scratching my head. My fifth pick, Thiago “Marreta”, was the very last pick. Seriously? The fighter who showcased Edson Barboza like striking and proficient ground defense was the very last pick of this TUF season. I can understand if the coaches had their eyes on superior grapplers such as Yan Cabral and Thiago Alves (not the UFC’s pitbull), but Marcio “Pedra” Santos, a striking novice? Tell me he wouldn’t get picked apart by Marreta. What about Viscardi Andrade? He was the eighth overall pick, but he’s a heavy handed puncher, and necessarily a great striker. In fact, had it not been for a lucky placed punch, he might not even be part of this competition. Bottom line, Andrade striking is inferior to Marreta‘s, and he possesses weak grappling skills.

I could make many of the same argument as to why picking William “Patolino” Macario and Leonard Santos before Marreta was a questionable decision, but the most confusing pick was Cleiton Durarte. Like Marreta, Duarte’s striking is similar to Edson Barboza’s, however, they differ in their grappling skills. Anytime Marreta was taken down, he showed proficient defense for his opponent’s Jiu-Jitsu and ground & pound attempts. In the third round, he even swept his opponent from off his back to take the top position, and rain down punches. Cleiton Duarte on the other hand, less than a decent grappler. Again, he does possess good striking, but his ground game is probably worse than Viscardi Andrade’s. He gave up the takedown often, and for this reason, he almost lost his fight. I don’t want to discredit him too much, after all, Duarte was my tenth overall pick. However, the ground game is clearly his Achilles heel. For this reason, I can’t fathom why Werdum and Nogueria didn’t pick Cleiton Duarte last if it was the grappling factor that deterred them from picking so many more Jiu-Jitsu savvy fighters before Marreta.

Obviously I can understand the coaches having different opinions on the fighters who are strictly grapplers, seeing that not too many people on earth know grappling better than these two coaches. But just for kicks, here’s a comparison between my picking order, and the order that the fighters were actually picked.

 

MY ORDER                            ACTUAL ORDER
1.) Pedro Irie                          1.) Luiz Besouro
2.) Luiz Besouro                    2.) Pedro Irie
3.) Santiago Ponzinibbi       3.) Santiago Ponzinibbi
4.) Neilson Gomes              4.) Yan Cabral
5.) Thiago Marreta                5.) Neilson Gomes
6.) Juliano Wandalen          6.) Thiago Alves
7.) David Vieira                     7.) Leonard Santos
8.) Yan Cabral                      8.) Viscardi Andrade
9.) Thiago Alves                   9.) David Vieira
10.) Cleiton Duarte            10.) Marcio Santos
11.) William Patoli              11.) William Patolino
12.) Leonard Santos         12.) Juliano Wandalen
13.) Viscardi Andrade       13.) Cleiton Duarte
14.) Marcio Santos            14.) Thiago Marreta

 

– Ryan “Fight Freek” Poli

@FightFreek

UFC Welterweight Bout:  Carlos Condit vs. Johny Hendricks

Odds:  ( +115 Condit / -145 Hendricks )

Betting Pick:  Condit

Bet on this fight at Bovada

In the semi-main event of UFC 158, former UFC Interim Welterweight champion “The Natural Born Killer” Carlos Condit faces surging prospect Johny Hendricks. Condit is firmly cemented as one of the top Welterweight contenders in the company, but Hendricks has been blazing his way through the ranks with solid wrestling and heavy-handed boxing. A win for Hendricks here puts him firmly in the title shot picture, so there is a lot on the line for both guys in this contest.

Johny Hendricks is one of the UFC’s most exciting up-and-coming Welterweight stars. He burst onto the UFC scene by destroying Ultimate Fighter winner Amir Sadollah with strikes and has continued to move up through the ranks, with his only setback being a unanimous decision loss to skilled wrestler Rick Story. Since the Story fight, though, Hendricks has continued to grow by leaps and bounds as a fighter. He is a solid wrestler with a passable ground game, but his real strength is his devastating punching power. Hendricks is a tough guy who is hard to control, has a great chin, and every punch he throws has fight-ending potential.

“The Natural Born Killer” Carlos Condit is one of the most versatile and effective Welterweights in the UFC. While he failed in his bid to dethrone Welterweight kingpin Georges St. Pierre, he is nevertheless one of the division’s most prolific competitors. Condit is a natural finisher who can end fights standing and on the ground. Of his 28 career wins, only two came by way of decision, with 13 each coming by knockout and submission. Condit is not just effective in every aspect of the fight game, he is dangerous.

This is a very tough fight to call. Both of these guys have the potential to finish the other, but I think the edge ultimately goes to Condit just because he is more experienced and has a more complete fighting style. Hendricks may enjoy an edge in punching power, but Condit is more than capable of winning by knockout as well. When you add in Condit’s superior grappling and the fact that, like all Greg Jackson fighters, he tends to fight very smart and cautiously, I think he is going to prove too tough a challenge for the up and comer. Hendricks will be one of the key figures in the UFC Welterweight division for years to come, but right now I think Condit is just a little too experienced and a little too versatile. Condit by unanimous decision.

Prediction:  Carlos Condit by Unanimous Decision.

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