Main Card
Frank Mir vs Brock Lesnar - I’ve already covered my feelings on this fight a few weeks ago when I listed the reasons why Frank Mir will beat Brock Lesnar. Brock Lesnar is in over his head this early in his MMA career. I don’t care how great of a collegiate wrestler he was 10 years ago. I don’t care how big his muscles are or how many figure-four underwear locks he has put his “opponents” in during his wrestling career. NONE of that matter when it comes to MMA.
I’m sick of hearing about “what would happen if you take one of the greatest professional wrestlers and put him in the octagon.” I’m pretty certain there is no such thing as a “great professional wrestler.” What makes you great in the “pro” wrestling is your charisma and whether or not the company wants to make a star out of you. When the whole “fight” is scripted, no one is truly better than anyone else.
This is only Lesnar’s second fight and he simply isn’t ready to face someone like Frank Mir. He’s barely ready to face someone like Wes Sims. Frank Mir has better talent, skills and vastly more useful experience. Yes, I said Frank Mir has better talent. Mir is in shape and extremely focused and motivated for this fight and I think he’ll win via submission in the first or second round. Winner: Frank Mir
Tim Sylvia vs Antonio Nogueira - Tim Sylvia gets yet another title shot at the UFC heavyweight belt, while Antonio Nogueira gets another shot at a belt. this time outside of Japan. I’m kind of up in the air for this fight, mostly because of the type of performance Big Nog delivered in his last fight against Heath Herring. Nogueira is one of the great heavyweights in the game, but his only fight in 2007 was less then stellar and he will need to be on point against Tim Sylvia.
Tim Sylvia knows how to win in the UFC, whether fans like his style and attitude or not. Tim standup game is better than Nogueira’s and his takedown defense is surprisingly strong for someone of his size and lankiness. I think Sylvia will be able to keep Nog at a distance and pepper him with those annoying but effective jabs, especially with Nog’s questionable eyesight. My hope is that Nog can take Sylvia down and work a quick submission on one of his long appendages. Nogueira does have solid stand up skills and can stand and trade with Sylvia if he comes to fight. If Nog shows up the same way he did against Herring, then we will be seeing big Tim with the belt one more time. If Nog shows up as the same fighter that has made him the #2 heavyweight in the world for the past 2 years, then he should defeat Tim no question. The belt is Nog’s for the taking.
Winner: Antonio Nogueira
Tyson Griffin vs Gleison Tibau - Tyson Griffin gets what can be seen as an “easier” fight this time around after having all out battles in his last three matches. After struggling through the likes of Frank Edgar, Clay Guida and Thiago Tavares, Griffin still needs to be ready for a tough opponent in Tibau, although not as difficult as they have been. Griffin’s hands are better and his ground game is better, which means Griffin should notch another victory. Winner: Tyson Griffin
Alan Belcher Rob Yundt vs Ricardo Almeida - This is an excellent matchup that I don’t think is getting enough recognition. Ricardo Almeida is an excellent grappler and former King of Pancrase Middleweight Champion. The only problem is Almeida hasn’t fought since May of 2004 where he defeated Ryo Chonan via decision at Bushido 3. Alan Belcher continues to try and live up to his nickname of “The Talent” and will have his hands full with Almeida. Belcher hasn’t fared that well against “tougher” opponents such as Yushin Okami, Jorge Rivera and Kendall Grove so it will be interesting to see how he does in this fight. I like Belcher’s future in the UFC, but I think this fight comes down to how well prepared Almeida is and how the layoff affects him.
*Update* - Rob Yundt has replaced Alan Belcher at the last minute after this preview was written. Apparently Belcher has pulled a David Terrel and withdrawn from the fight due to a “severe case of bronchitis.” This makes the victory for Almedia that much easier.
Winner: Ricardo Almeida
Terry Martin vs Marvin Eastman - Not sure why Marvin Eastman continues to get fights in the UFC. My guess is that it’s probably a combination of the fact that the middleweight division is pretty anemic right now and the fact that Marvin signed on as Quinton Jackson’s first opponent in the UFC. Whatever the reason, I expect another standard performance from Eastman; he’ll throw a few strong punches, and maybe even try a takedown before getting clocked on his chin and put to sleep sometime in the second round. Martin wins this fight easily without breaking a sweat. Winner: Terry Martin
Undercard
Keita Nakamura vs Rob Emerson - Winner: Rob Emerson
Nathan Marquardt vs Jeremy Horn - Winner: Nathan Marquardt
Chris Lytle vs Kyle Bradley - Winner: Chris Lytle
David Heath vs Tim Boetsch - Winner: David Heath
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I think Frank will win this match also. If they want to build Brock into a superstar like it seems they do they should have started him off slower. All the hype around him will back fire if Mir subs him out easily. He needs to fight a Jake O’Brien or something to get some experience. I think the UFC kinda threw him in over his head also. I know a lot of people are Horn fans but I’m taking Marquardt in this one too. He hasn’t been facing top level talent for a while and I don’t see him coming in and winning that easily. Everyone know I don’t like Tim so that’s an easy choice for me. I hope Nog snaps his arm again. I can’t stomach the thought of Tim being champ again. Lets hope Nog performes up to his abilities.
go frank….. i hope frank pulls that submission…. please nog win… i dont want to think about how tim sylvia bumpin uglyies butt *** naked with some ***** in the sack lol
Well, I bet $55 REAL dollars on Tim Sylvia, so I’m pretty much rooting for him for a change.
As far as the Mir/Lesnar fight goes…there are many very good points made here. I, for one, think that Mir’s striking NOT his grappling or submission game is going to be the difference in this fight. Lesnar is much stronger than Mir and Mir knows that. If the fight goes to the ground, there’s a good chance Lesnar will be the one on top and his “ground & pound” can easily open up a nasty cut or make a mess of Mir’s face, which we have seen many times by much weaker fighters than Lesnar.
Also, Lesnar’s sheer size might easily overwhelm Mir’s conditioning, especially if it goes into the later rounds. Brock has always been an elite athlete and I’m sure he is taking his conditioning to the highest level possible.
The only way I see Lesnar losing this fight is mentally. Everyone assumes that the pressures of being in the Octagon can be too scary for a first-timer. But, let’s not forget that Lesnar career was built around performing ion front of thousands of screaming, insane, arena fans and million at home.
Im with Lesnar, it has nothing to do with pro wrestling or that crap, simply, hes a big solid wrestler and hes for real about mma. If this was some one fight stunt i would feel differently, but the guy is serious about transforming himself into a fighter. Its not the old days where Royce could submit a guy twice his size with little resistance. A few basic principals added to Brocks wrestling game can make it very tough for Mir to submit him, like stalemate positions that will take a toll on both their conditioning.
I dont care how good you are off your back, you dont want a guy like Lesnar on top of you man.. its DANGEROUS!
Im also going for Nog and i think he will submit Tim in the 2nd round.
Most people are against Horn, but im gonna stick with Horn on this one. Hes a gamer man! one tough SOB and hes got the skills to shut Nate down on the ground. This could be the fight of the night, yet its not on the main card. Instead we get to see Martin vs Eastman… yay…
I have Horn picked as well? Care to elaborate on picking Marquardt? Should I be changing my pick? Personally I see this as a bad style match up for Nathan. I think Horn will be able to take any punishment on the feet long enough to bring to the ground where he systematically dismantle Marquardt….but maybe I’m wrong. For our team scores sake you might try to convince me otherwise..lol
Well Max, they have Horn as the underdog here, probably because of inactivity in the UFC and Marquardt was on a pretty big streak until he got stopped by Anderson. Jeremy only had 2 weeks to train for this fight and some people think Nate will have the edge on the ground aswell as on the feet. Im not one of those people though hehe, im with Horn guys, hes just a tough SOB with some big fights under his belt.
Horn rules boys! he is a great fighter who has fought just about every other great fighter out there, and most of them could not stop him. what do Nogueira, Couture, Arona, Babalu, and Anderson Silva have in common? none of them could put Horn away. Horn holds wins over some big names too like Liddell, Loiseau, Yvel, Lister, and even the guy whos gonna fight for the LHW title Forrset Griffin. i think Horn should be the first active fighter to get into the hall of fame, dont ever count out Horn.
I’m going with Nate he’s our home town boy and I think he has an advantage in cardio. He’s been training for a fight for months and Horn only has a couple of weeks. Nate like Horn is very hard to finish. Anderson was able to but he finishes everyone the guys an animal. I think the conditioning will be the deciding factor in this fight. If it doesn’t go to a decision I will be surprised. Iknow Horn has a huge heart and can take a beating but I think Nate will be able to out work him to earn a decision win.
haha Anderson did finish Marquardt and he does finish most of his fights… but he didnt finish Jeremy. i watched an interview with both Marquardt and Horn last night and Nate said he can knock Horn out, i hope for his sake hes just saying that and really thinking like that. Marquardt is NOT very likely to KO Horn, Chuck Liddell couldnt do it and im sure he hits harder then Nate. all in all it should be a good fight and im really glad to see Horn back in the octagon.
Ok…I’m changing my pick to Frank Mir in this fight.
Just keep in mind, Brock Lesnar is a bigger & stronger version of Josh Koscheck. Keep in mind, Dana says (and I’m a huge Dana nuthugger) “Stylistically, this is a great match up”. I feel the opposite, I think this could have the making to be a boring fight, but we’ll see.
I know for a fact that I’ve followed Brock much closer over the years than most people who visit this blog. I’m a college wrestling junkee, pro wrestling junkee and mma junkee. When I worked for one of the “big” wrestling news sites, I witnessed Brock training in person when I conducted an interview with him. That was a few years ago while he was still in the WWE but I can only imagine how well he’s training at the moment, as he wasn’t all that motivated in his WWE days and I feel Brock is very motivated now. I’m predicting Brock wins. I will say this, I wasn’t impressed with his striking in his All Access special. Hopefully he can bring it Saturday night because he won’t be able to just “smother” Mir.
I will give Mir credit, the guy finally looks to be in shape, which is great because he’s focused again. I loved Mir prior to the accident. Since his return, he hasn’t seemed real motivated until now.
I think the fight I’m most looking forward to is Horn vs Marquardt. I would be $45 just to see this fight. I’ve been back and forth and I gotta go with Horn. I just think he’ll catch Nate in a submission.
As for Nog and Sylvia…Nog wins. Take the damn “interim” tag away and just call him the Heavyweight Champion. I love Nog and he’s a champion I can be proud of as a MMA fan.
Also, If you watch the weigh ins, I believe Nate vs Jeremy will be on the main card, not under card.