It’s that time again. Time for another great weekend. While most of America will be focused on this Sunday’s Super Bowl, the MMA community will be focused on Las Vegas this Saturday night for UFC 67, and the introduction of both Quinton Jackson and Mirko Filipovic to the US audience.
Main Card
Anderson Silva vs. Travis Lutter - Silva vs. Lutter is the sole title fight of the night, after the Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra fight was scratched several weeks ago. The popular opinion is that Lutter doesn’t stand a chance in this fight, and while I do think Anderson Silva will win, I don’t agree that Travis Lutter has not place fighting for the title. Travis Lutter is a submission specialist. That phrase “specialist” is thrown around rather loosely these days, but in this case, the term fits; Travis Lutter is one of the best submission fighters you will see in the UFC period. Then again, Anderson Silva is one of the best fighters you will see anywhere period. So while I do give Lutter credit and think he will put up a decent fight against Silva, I see Silva winning by TKO in the second round. Winner: Anderson Silva
Mirko Cro Cop Vs. Eddie Sanchez - Ummm… yeah. Not really sure what to say about this fight. I’m extremely excited to see Cro Cop in the UFC, as is everyone else. Not really sure any analysis is needed for this fight, however. Sanchez will do good to make it through the first round. If he does, he will have proved a lot to me about where he might end up as a fighter in the future. For those that thought Rashad Evans had a brutal highkick against Sean Salmon, well, you haven’t seen anything yet. Cro Cop by TKO in the first round. Winner: Mirko Cro Cop
Quinton Jackson Vs. Marvin Eastman - In what is surely another “setup” fight, we have the rematch of Quinton Jackson vs Marvin Eastman. This fight was originally supposed to take place in the WFA before they “collapsed” and when they UFC purchased Jackson’s contract they also agreed to carry over this fight as well. This fight really is not that appealing, but much like the Cro Cop fight, it will be exciting to see Jackson make his UFC debut. Forget the fact that Eastman defeated Rampage before; that was a totally different time. Jackson should win this fight without trouble. Winner: Quinton Jackson
Patrick Cote Vs. Scott Smith - This fight should be fairly entertaining as both fighters love to stand and strike. I don’t see this fight hitting the ground at all. Most UFC fans will remember Scott Smith’s dramatic “last breath” victory over Pete Sell at the TUF 4 finale, as well as Cote’s poor performance in the finals against Travis Lutter. Cote has never impressed me much, and I have a feeling that after this fight Cote is going to keep his streak going and be 0-5 in the UFC. Smith by KO in the 2nd. Winner: Scott Smith
John Halverson Vs. Roger Huerta - This is the “swing bout” of the night and features the UFC debut of John Halverson. Halverson has a good wrestling background and hast over 20 pro MMA fights, none against this level of competition however. Huerta is a very good fighter that I think will get more exposure here in the UFC’s lightweight division. If you’ve never seen Huerta fight before, pay attention. Winner: Roger Huerta
Under Card
Terry Martin Vs. Jorge Rivera - Not a very interesting matchup. I think Terry Martin is a good fighter and after some early losses in the UFC a year ago, I think he’ll stick around a while this time. Winner: Terry Martin
Frankie Edgar Vs. Tyson Griffin - This fight could go either way. Frankie Edgar is a good fighter, but I think Tyson will be too much for him to handle. Winner: Tyson Griffin
Sam Hoger Vs. Lyoto Machida - While Machida does have victories over some well-known fighters on his record, most of them were under unusual circumstances. Machida’s last fight against Vernon White in the UFC was pretty underwhelming and I think Hoger will be a tough matchup for him to handle. Winner: Sam Hoger
Diego Saraieva Vs. Dustin Hazelett - Welcome to the UFC, Diego (Saraieva, not Sanchez, I mean). Winner: Diego Saraieva
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FINALLY DR J… COOL STUFF DUDE
I AGREE WITH U 100 PERCENT ON THE MAIN CARD…. THE UNDERCARED THE ONLY PERSON I KNOW IS SAM AND HE SUCKS
@PATRICK,
haha. Hoger may be a punk, but he is a decent fighter.
I also think Silva - Lutter will be a good fight, im going out on a limb here, i think Lutter can win that fight, that is, if he can get the takedown. Lets see how much you want to be the champ Travis!
heh spent way too much talking bout rampage and crocop, not much left to say but.. finally its almost time heh.
It was an interesting choice picking Smith over Cote, and really, i think your right, if they slug it out, Smith should win. Hopefully Cote will come with a smarter gameplan and take the fight to the ground where he has a HUGE advantage over Smith. Just because Lutter beat Cote definatively on the ground, doesnt mean Cote doesnt have a good ground game. Im picking Cote on this one.
nothing much to add here, but I hope Lutter makes a hat out of Silva’s ***.
I was hoping they would have either the Edgar vs Griffin or Hoger vs Machida as the swing bout. Oh well seeing Crocop and Rampage make their debuts is worth the PPV price. Hopefully they don’t fall flat like Heath did in his fight. I don’t see that happening though, Sanchez more than likely will try to stand up with Mirko and become Salmon 2. Haven’t seen Marvin for quite a while so maybe he’s been improving but I think Rampage will have the experience advantage and should win with out to much trouble. Overall looks like a good card to kick off Superbowl weekend. It’s been rumored that the Shamrock vs Gracie Elite fight is still in doubt. Strikeforce has went to the courts to try to stop the fight from happening. They site a breach of contract with Frank because his next fight is supposed to be for their promotion. If the fight does get cancelled it will be the first black eye for the new Elite promotion in their first event. All the marketing has went into this one fight without much mention of the other fighters or matchups. I hope this fight happens just to see Frank fight and to see if they will implement the 15 second stand up rule that has been discussed. Guess only time will tell.
HEY DR J…. CAN U FIND OUT HOW MANY FIGHTS ARLOVSKI HAS ON HIS CONTRACT?
for some stupid reason and i know its stupid i think eddie sanchez is going to shock us i dont know why
haha oh man, imagine that? that would be serious stripes for eddie sanchez hehe.
machida deserves respect. as does griffin. but what are you gonna do? Someone is going to be left off this fight. Scott and Cote combined, I believe, offer more combined name recognition for current ufc fans and offer a more dynamic match up.
I suppose eddie sanchez has a fighters chance. a solid right hand can change a fight in a second. but watching his last fight, it did not seem like he had the striking precision in that hand that cro-crop has demonstrated in any of his limbs.
Silva, Lutter. Silva has some BJJ training, maybe even a lot, but he doesn’t fight with it. He is not an aggresive juijitsu guy. Agressive stikers against aggresive juijistu guys is a classic matchup. who is better at his respective practice? silva.
[...] MMA HQ: UFC 67 - All or Nothing Preview [...]
yes folks fight time again! ufc 67 i’m sure you all agree with when i say it not the greatest card of all time but there is a “big” feeling around this card (duh cro cop & rampage) i am a really big fan of anderson silva and have been for a real long time so i’m always happy to see him go. i hope cote gets out of this rut he’s in he is a tough Canadian kid who i would like to see do well. there is quite a few of the cote boys that grew up in the same neighborhood i did and i tell you i’ve never met a cote that wasnt tough as hell. as for elite xc i hope they do there show with no problems because they are hyping it big time on the fight network because they are showing it live and i’m sure there is gonna be some pissed off people if they screw it up.
Considering my Bears are in the super bowl (Bears-28 Colts-24), I must admit I’m looking forward to football more than MMA. This is also the first time I’m buying a UFC PPV just to see one fighter…Cro Cop. The rest of the card…blah.