First of all I can’t believe some of the fights on the card that are no going to be televised. Some of the people fighting in the under card are very good with explosive fighting and entertaining personalities. I hope some of the fights are fast so we can see some of the other fights on the card for August 25th.
Randy Couture Vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
(Randy Couture def. Gabriel Gonzaga via TKO (strikes) in Round 3)
RESULTS: Randy dominated Gonzago start to finish with his patented drain them against the cage technique. Gonzaga at one point asked Herb Dean to stop the match because he couldn’t see with the blood in his eyes. Herb was like, “I cant stop the fight”. He was bloody because on one of the takedowns Randy’s head popped him in the nose and as Randy said, ” I heard a crunch”. It looks like Randy’s new strength coach might get a pat on the back when Randy gets back into the gym because he exhibited alot of overpowering strength over Gonzaga. This was a perfect example of someone breaking the other persons will to get the TKO.
Who knows on this one. Some of the match ups this day are so good it is hard to tell. Both of these guys are great on the ground and standing up. Gonzaga showed a big improvement standing up against Cro-cop. We didn’t get to see a lot of Gonzaga’s clinch skills in the Cro-cop fight so it will be hard to tell if Randy will be able to use this to his advantage. The one thing that will be a big factor in this fight will be the five rounds at five minutes a piece. Randy is a veteran to these, but Gonzaga hasn’t even had one fight go this long in his MMA career. I think Gonzaga will come out fast and try to finish the fight while Randy will have a “drain em” strategy and end up getting a TKO on him in the later rounds. I am going with experience over youth on this one.
Roger Huerta Vs. Alberto Crane
(Roger Huerta def. Alberto Crane via TKO (strikes) in Round 3)
RESULTS: I really thought Crane would pull this off with a surprise submission. He got Huerta in a lot of bad spots, but forgot that he was wearing punching gloves instead of a GI. Huerta also became the first UFC fighter to use the big screen to punch his opponent. He was looking up at the big screen while Crane had his back and Huerta would strike with his elbows on whichever side Cranes head was on. I have a new respect for Huerta’s ground game and think he should be the next in line for the title shot. If Sherk gets his belt taken I hear BJ Penn and Joe Stevensen will fight for it. The winner of that should fight Huerta.
Huerta is at it again with another no name MMA fighter with an undefeated record. I am sure he won’t take his opponent lightly like he did with his last fight. Huerta came out on his last fight during the first round and was dominated by Doug Evans. It doesn’t sound like Crane’s striking is in the top ten, but his jiu jitsu is stellar. He has been there and done that in the grappling world and his MMA record says he might have a knack for this as well. Huerta seems to have a few holes in his clinching, but he reminds me of a MMA transmission. Every time he needs to do something in another direction BOOM there he goes with lots of energy. I am gonna go out on a limb and say this will be the upset of the night. I am going with Crane getting a submission in the second round.
Josh Koscheck Vs. Georges St-Pierre
(Georges St. Pierre def. Josh Koscheck via Unanimous Decision after 3 Rounds)
RESULTS: Whoaaa, Pierre dominated Koscheck. Pierre took Koshcheck down at will. Koscheck had nothing to threaten Pierre with at all. I though Koscheck had more power than that. Maybe he should go back to weight lifting a bit instead of relying only on training as he says. I am glad to see Pierre back to himself. I knew he was the great fighter that he displayed Saturday night. Side note: Sanchez was watching the fight like a hawk.
I just love the welterweight class. With as many fighters the welterweight class has you think they would have had at least two fights on this card. Anyways the only one they have makes up for it. These two fighters are gonna go go go I think. This will be a really good three round war. Both of these guys fight on another level and three rounds just isn’t enough for them to burn up the energy they bring in to the ring. I think this will be a fast paced fight. Pierre will be a little cautious at first since he is coming off a devastating loss, but Kos won’t let it go slow for two long. I am really interested in seeing how Kos will do against a fighter like Pierre. I don’t think he has ever faced a guy quite like Pierre’s style. Koscheck will probably as always be more dominant on the ground, but hopefully Pierre will keep distance and sprawl on him and keep the fight up and fast. I think if Kos can overwhelm Pierre he could pull off something, but in the back of my mind I keep thinking Pierre is coming into this thing with nothing to lose. Fighting a guy with nothing to lose is purty dangerous. I will have to go with Pierre out performing Josh in the stand up with a barrage of leg kicks and punches and wearing him down to get a win decision in the end.
Kurt Pellegrino Vs. Joe Stevenson
(Joe Stevenson def. Kurt Pellegrino via Unanimous Decision)
RESULTS: I really though Joe would catch Kurt in something. It was weird it was like Joe had a game plan and he was only gonna stick to it. Kurt was clearly tired by the middle of the second round, but Joe just didn’t seem to want to finish it when he could have.
This will be a great ground fight between two great BJJ guys. I am sure the crowd will probably boo a little bit not fully comprehending the fighting style. Kurt has been around and won some good fights, but let’s face it Joe “Daddy” Stevenson is one bad mamma jamma. I think Kurt will last a little while with a few stall stay alive tactics, but Joe will burn through them and get a submission in maybe the second or third round.
Patrick Cote Vs. Kendall Grove
(Patrick Cote def. Kendall Grove via TKO (strikes) at 4:45 of Round 1)
RESULTS: This one played out pretty much like I thought it would. Cote has some heavy hands and all he had to land one. Grove probally needed a loss to get him to come up with new training stuff. He is still young and is on his way up. Cote got saved by this one because he was one his way out if he didnt win this one.
Grove is on a roll these days training harder and trying to stay away from the temptations in life. He is winning some good fights as of late. Cote has been too so both of these guys are cruising though some good wins on the big UFC stage so they seem to be in the same fight mentally. Physically Cote has been banging with some good stand up while staying balanced with some submissions. Kendall is a wiry tall dude with a similar arsenal. Kendall is still learning a lot of new stuff which can be dangerous because you don’t know what to expect sometimes. Some fighters can study a veteran and know what to expect, but who knows what new moves Kendall will have up his sleeve this night. I think Cote might have a chance getting a TKO on Kendall, but Kendall is coming with something new every fight. Unless Cote gases out I think he will push the pace and TKO Kendall in the third.
Ryan Jensen Vs. Thales Leites
(Thales Leites def. Ryan Jensen via Submission (armbar) at 3:47 of Round 1)
RESULTS: This was pretty cool for a BJJ match. Leites will go for the first submission he can get. He threatened Jensen with a Kimura, but when Jensen did a forward flip to get out of it he landed square in an arm bar.
Leites still has a lot to learn, but I think he is slowly working his way up the ladder. Jensen is also a submission master so I am sure this will be a boring fight to the fans and just be a chess match the whole three rounds. Probably be a decision going to Leites as the winner.
Renato Sobral Vs. David Heath
(Renato “Babalu” Sobral def. David Heath via Submission (anaconda choke) at 3:30 of Round 2)
(For all you PPV that were wondering where all that blood came from on the canvas, click HERE for this fight)
RESULTS: Babalu dominated the whole fight pretty much and elbowed Heath into a bloody pulp. Then when he let Heath up he sunk in a choke, but when Steve (REF) told him to let go after Heath tapped Babalu keep it on until Heath went to sleep. “I just thought that I needed to teach him respect after he showed me so much disrespect, I think that you can be fearless and tough and still maintain sportsmanship. He needed to be taught a lesson.” The athlectic commssion is considering holding his win amount (Half) for the fight. I think they should regulate it how they deem necessary that is why they are in charge of it. Alot of people are giving Sobral flack for this, but I think Heath should have relized who he was talking to during the weigh ins when he started acting like a smart ass. I guess Sobral did not stray to far from UFC 74 theme respect because he imposed it on Heath and hopefully he will get it from at lest one guy. Side Note: Was it just me or did Sobral seem really lean? Maybe a new Middleweight?
Maybe this one should be called Mr. Bubble Gum Versus David the “Dan Henderson look alike” Heath. All kidding aside I am really happy to see Sobral fight again. He is one of those guys that walks into the ring and makes you feel bad for the other guy just because of the look on Sobral’s face. He looks like he just killed your dog and he is coming for you next. Sobral has fought the baddest guys in the MMA world. Even though Sobral is coming off a loss I don’t give Heath really a chance on this one. This fight should not be an under card fight. Maybe they are doing this because they expect it to be a thirty second block for later. I am going with Sobral winning in a horrific fashion over whats his name.
Frank Mir Vs. Antoni Hardonk
(Frank Mir def. Antoni Hardonk via Submission (armbar) at 1:17 of Round 1)
RESULTS: Still haven’t found the tape on this, but I was sure Frankie would tag him quick. Frank was funny in his post fight interview. He sounded more like an announcer commenting on someone elses fight.
Yet another fight that deserves to be a main card. I know Mir has been out of the win column and people doubt he will ever get back to his winning ways, but he is looking good these days. He looks to be in good shape and I think he will probably blow this guy out with the technical grappling he does. Hardonk will use some of his strength early on to stay out of trouble, but in the end Mir will land one of his, “What the hell was that” submission moves and leave the crowd in awe. He is back; I really think so this time. I am going with Mir winning via Submission in the second or third.
Clay Guida Vs. Marcus Aurelio
(Clay Guida def. Marcus Aurelio via Split Decision)
RESULTS: Didn’t get to see this one either. Another undercard fight that should have been on the main card. Maybe the UFC is getting so many good fighters? Lets hope that is the case.
Guida is coming off a controversial loss to Tyson Griffin. A lot of people thought he should have won it. I think this will be a great fight between a never say die Guida and a Pride Veteran Aurelio. Both of these guys can go the distance in a hard and fast fashion. I want to say that we will see another PRIDE fighter will come in and whoop on the UFC guy, but I think it is Guida’s time. He really wants this win and the growing fan base thinks he deserves it. I am going with Guida escaping a couple of submission attempts by Aurelio, but in the end winning the decision on takedowns and points.
These are the current odds for the fights (The minus number means the favored to win guy)
Randy Couture +105 vs. Gabriel Gonzaga -135
Georges St. Pierre -220 vs. Josh Koscheck +180
Kendall Grove -260 vs. Patrick Cote +200
Renato Sobral -210 vs. David Heath +170
Clay Guida -130 vs. Marcus Aurelio EVEN
Frank Mir -170 vs. Antoni Hardonk +140
Thales Leites -270 vs. Ryan Jensen +210
Joe Stevenson -295 vs. Kurt Pellegrino +235
Roger Huerta -450 vs. Alberto Crane +300
