MMA HQ - Mixed Martial Arts News and Analysis

The clothing company Affliction will put on their debut event as an MMA promotion this Saturday night in what is most likely one of the most anticipated MMA fight cards of all time. There are so many good fights and close fights on this card that I don’t even know how its possible to try and give predictions on most of the fights.

Fedor Emelianenko vs Tim Sylvia - How do you really begin to break down a fight like this? We have two of the top five heavyweights in the world fighting in one of the most intriguing MMA matchups in a very long time.

Love him or hate him, there is no denying that Tim Sylvia has earned his place as one of the top heavyweights in the game. His only losses have come at the hands of Antonio Nogueira, Randy Couture, Andrei Arlovski, and Frank Mir. As boring as Tim Sylvia may be to watch fight, he is an extremely tough matchup for any opponent. His reach and deceiving striking skills cause problems for opponents and Sylvia has enough experience to work his way out of most jams. Sylvia’s one downside is, of course, his ground game. While Tim has shown vast improvement in his ground defense recently, he still is susceptible to being submitted on the mat.

To put it simply, Fedor Emelianenko is simply the best fighter in the world today. I know there is plenty of discussion and argument if that is still the case, but until Fedor loses a fight or retires it is simply a matter of fact. Fedor is more or less undefeated in his career with a record of 27-1, with the sole loss coming by way of a technicality because of a cut in a Rings fight back in 2000. Fedor has fought the best in the world and come out on top every single time. You can knock Fedor’s recent competition and the fact that he hasn’t faced a decent heavyweight since he defeated Mark Hunt back in December of 2006, but you can’t knock the all-around game Fedor brings to the table. His explosiveness both in the striking game and on the mat are second to none and, as I said before, he simply is THE man to beat in the MMA world right now.

Do I think Tim Sylvia has a chance to defeat Fedor? Sure I do. Much stranger things have happened. Do I think Tim Sylvia will actually beat Fedor? Not a chance. Fedor is the best and until he loses, it’s simply stupid to pick against him. Winner: Fedor Emelianenko

Andrei Arlovski vs Ben Rothwell - Andrei Arlovski’s career has come across two unfortunately incidents in recent years. The first being his back-to-back losses to Tim Sylvia and the second being his contract dispute with the UFC. Arlovkski is now free from the UFC and the organization where he has spent the last 8 years of his career. Arlovski is a striker who also has an excellent wrestling background. While Ben Rothwell usually has a decent height advantage against his opponents, he won’t have that benefit against Arlovski who is a tall fighter at 6′4″ himself.

Ben Rothwell is a Miletich Systems fighter who really came of age in the International Fight League going undefeated and winning his last 13 fights overall. Rothwell doesn’t have much other than his standup game and will need to try desperate to keep the fight standing. I don’t see that being a problem as Arlovski feels most natural boxing and will most likely look to stand and strike as well. The problem for Arlovski might be in Rothwell’s fighting style as he is almost cut from the same mold at Tim Sylvia. Both are tall, slow, methodical fighters although Rothwell does have much more quickness and hand speed than Sylvia. I see Arlovski winning sometime late in the second or third rounds via TKO. Winner: Andrei Arlovski

Josh Barnett vs Pedro Rizzo - In my book, Josh Barnett is still one of the top 5 heavyweights in the game today, but his lack of activity has hurt him over the past few years. As inactive as Barnett has been recently, Pedro Rizzo has fought just as few fights. Rizzo will always have heavy hands and KO power and will want to stand and throw his punches as much as possible. Against a fighter like Josh Barnett that could prove to be a very difficult challenge as Barnett should easily be able to take Rizzo down to the mat and control him with his superior wrestling skills. We could be in for a pretty boring heavyweight matchup here as I anticipate Barnett outworking Rizzo on the ground to a decision victory on points. Winner: Josh Barnett

Matt Lindland vs Fabio Negao - I’m sorry to say I don’t know as much about Fabio Negao as I should. I’ve tried to dig up video of some of his fights, but haven’t seen as much as I would have liked. Negao is coming off a disappointing loss to Rousimar Palhares via a nice leglock sumbission. Negao is 3-3 in his last 6 fights with a victory over Roan Carneiro and a loss to Demian Maia. Negao does have KO power if he is able to keep the fight standing, but against Matt Lindland that is a tall task.

Matt Lindland hasn’t fought since his loss to Fedor Emelianenko in April of 2007 and it will be interesting to see if the layoff has affected him at all. Throughout his career, Lindland has fought 3-4 times a year and stayed pretty busy, but the now 15 month layoff may affect his timing and technique. We all know Lindland is going to look to take Negao to the mat and try to ground-and-pound him and possibly work a submission. Lucky for Lindland, Negao has proven he is susceptible to submissions as his defense is not the best. Not sure why, but I get the feeling this will be a back and forth match with Negao winning via decision. Winner: Fabio Negao

Renato Sobral vs Mike Whitehead - This fight between Babalu and Mike Whitehead is actually a tough fight to call. Most new MMA fans have a bad memory of Mike Whitehead from his time on The Ultimate Fighter, but Whitehead has won 15 of his last 16 fights including his last 12 in a row. Whitehead doesn’t have much power in the striking game, but neither does Sobral. Since joining the crew at Xtreme Couture, Whitehead has really improved his ground game, but unfortunately for him, the ground is Sobral’s specialty and where Renato will hold the edge in this fight.

Since his embarrassing showing against Chuck Liddell at UFC 62, Sobral has looked like a much different fighter than he did during his 10-fight winning streak from 2002-2006. The outcome of this fight really depends on which Babalu shows up to fight; if its the submission specialist Babalu, then he should be able to win the fight, if its the wild striker, out-of-his-element Babalu then the fight is Whitehead’s for the taking. Winner: Renato Sobral

Mike Pyle vs JJ Ambrose - Mike Pyle is a very solid fighter who has unfortunately had an up-and-down career the past few years and really hasn’t gotten any of the name recognition that he probably deserves. Pyle most recently bounced around between the IFL and EliteXC promotions before asking for his release from the EliteXC because he felt he wasn’t being promoted enough. Pyle’s strength is definitely his submission game where he finishes more than 80% of his fights.

JJ Ambrose is an up-and-coming fighter with an 8-1 record, but hasn’t really fought any decent mid-to-top level opponents. I don’t see Pyle having much trouble with Ambrose and look forward to a decent grappling match between the two of them. Winner: Mike Pyle

Aleksander Emelianenko vs Paul Buentello - Winner: Aleksander Emelianenko
Antonio Nogueira vs Edwin Dewees - Winner: Antonio Nogueira

Vitor Belfort vs Terry Martin - Winner: Terry Martin
Ray Lizama vs Justin Levens - Winner: Justin Levens
Savant Young vs Mark Hominick - Winner: Savant Young