Well, its that time once again. Another UFC event is coming this Saturday and its time for me to do some analysis and predictions for UFC 62: Liddell vs. Sobral.
Chuck Liddell vs. Renato Sobral We all know who Chuck Liddell is by now; the face of the UFC as an organization. Liddell: the excellent striker with the best takedown defence in the game. I really don’t think I need to dive into Liddell’s past at all: his name speaks for it self. Most people don’t even know who Renato Sobral is. Don’t get me wrong, almost everyone has heard of “Babalu” but those same people have probably never heard the name Renato Sobral. Well, come Saturday night, I think they will remember him. Forget the 10 fight winning streak; forget the excellent wresting and submission fighting; forget the KO kick to the face from their last fight. I think the simple fact is: Chuck Liddell’s time has come. Yes, Chuck has great takedown defense to counter Babalu’s great wrestling. But the last time Chuck fought a great wrestler/submission fighter he didn’t KO them in the first round. It was a fight against Jeremy Horn that went into the 4th round and had to be stopped because of Chuck’s love of eye-gouging. Don’t get me wrong, I love Chuck Liddell; but I love Sobral more and so will you…Winner: Renato Sobral
Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan BonnarIf you read MMAHQ.com often, you probably saw my article on this rematch back when it was announced. Just to reiterate briefly; I don’t think this fight should even be happening right now. I understand it is an excellent business move and people have been waiting to see this rematch since the TUF 1 finale. I think it will be an exciting fight to watch again, but I dont give Stephan much of a chance this time around, and judging from our poll, neither do any of you. Both these fighters seem to be headed in a different direction with their MMA skills and careers and I look for Forrest to dominate this time around and don’t expect the fight to be nearly as entertaining as the last one. That is, if this fight even happens. The rumor floating around is that Bonnar is sick or injured. I’m sure the UFC will force him to fight no matter what, since they’ve already had about 10 fighters drop off this UFC 62 card. Winner: Forrest Griffin
Cheick Kongo vs Christian Wellisch Cheick Kongo will make his second appearance in the UFC after defeating Gilbert Aldana by TKO at the last UFC. Kongo is a big standup fighter and the UFC is hoping he will bring some new life to their anemic heavyweight division. Christian Wellisch is making his first UFC appearance and fights out of the American Kickboxing Academy. I don’t think Wellisch can hang on the feet with Kongo so he will need to try to take Kongo down and use his wrestling and BJJ skills. Winner: Cheick Kongo
Jamie Varner vs Hermes Franca I just love to see Hermes Franca fight, and I’m glad he is getting moved to the main card so we can see him on this PPV. Franca is making another UFC appearance after submitting Joe Jordan at UFC 61. If you’ve never seen Franca fight, you are in for a treat. I feel that he can be one of the best lightweights in any organization. Spencer Fisher was initially scheduled to fight against Varner, but Franca is taking the opportunity to step in and grab another victory in the UFC. Jamie Varner is making his first UFC appearance, and its unfortunate for him that it has to be against Franca. (Not that I think he’d fare much better against Fisher.) Winner: Hermes Franca
Nick Diaz vs Josh NeerAhh, where to begin with this fight. Up until last week this was going to be a Josh Neer vs. Thiago Alves fight. Then Alves has to pull out and Diaz gets his chance at UFC redemption. Diaz has lost his last 3 fights in the UFC against Karo Parisyan, Diego Sanchez, and Sean Sherk. Josh Neer lost a unanimous deicision to Josh Burkman at UFC 61 after winning against Joe Stevenson and Melvin Guillard at consective UFC fight nights. “The Dentist” Neer was very close to losing against Melvin, and should have lost to an apathetic Stevenson after his leg was snapped. But this kid is tough and will keep fighting until he is forced to stop. Nick Diaz needs to come back and show what kind of fighter he truly is. Is he the same cocky fighter who KO’d Robbie Lawler or is he now a cry-baby fighter who didn’t put up much of a fight against Sean Sherk. I look for Diaz to come out strong. Look for some fireworks because this very well could be the fight of the night. Winner: Nick Diaz
Rob MacDonald vs Eric Shafer - Winner: Rob MacDonald
Cory Walmsley vs David Heath - Winner: Cory Walmsley
Wes Combs vs Wilson Gouveia - Winner: Wilson Gouveia
Yushin Okami vs Alan Belcher - Winner: Yushin Okami
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OMG you went there. Chuck in no way gouged Horn’s eye. But now I hope Chuck does poke out both of Babalu’s eyes just so everyone can ***** Sunday morning and make excuses as to why Chuck won again.
You always fall right into my traps, Jason. I knew someone would pick up on the eye-gouging comment.
Of course, I know Chuck is a great fighter and beats his opponents with his great standup. However, he does seem to poke a lot of eyes…