There is going to be no rest for the weary MMA fan over the next few weeks as the UFC bounces right back into action this Wednesday night with another UFC Fight Night Live card.
The UFC returns to its home in Las Vegas as UFN 12 will feature the debut of Mike Swick at middleweight and the first fight for TUF 5 winner Nathan Diaz. While this fight card might not feature any “big name” fighters; it does feature some very good, evenly matched bouts that will be hard to predict.
Josh Burkman vs. Mike Swick – The main event of the evening should be an excellent, fast paced fight. Mike Swick has finally dropped down to middleweight after being under-sized at light heavyweight for several fights and losing his first UFC fight against Yushin Okami at UFC 69. Having nearly a year off from competition, Swick should have had ample time to prepare and adjust to the new weight limit. Assuming Swick hasn’t lost any of his striking power (which he shouldn’t have considered he really didn’t drop much weight at all) he should hold the edge on the feet.
While Swick likes to be known for his “Swick-otine” submission, I’ve got to give the edge in wrestling and submission game to Burkman. The “People’s Warrior” last fought at UFC 77 where he defeated Forrest Petz via decision. Burkman always shows up in excellent shape and will be ready to go a full five rounds. My guess is that Burkman looks to take the fight to the mat as often as he can and avoid getting caught up in Swick’s striking game. If Swick can avoid getting submitted and find a way out from Burkman’s takedowns, I think he should win this fight on points. Winner: Mike Swick
Drew McFedries vs. Patrick Cote – After losing his first four UFC fights, Patrick Cote has reeled off two wins in a row, most recently defeating Kendall Grove via strikes at UFC 74 last August. Cote will have his hands full with McFedries, but the fight should stay on the feet where Cote would like. Drew McFedries possesses some fast, heavy hands that quickly ended his fights against Alessio Sakara and Jordan Radev. McFedries lone loss came against Martin Kampmann at UFC 68; a fight Drew was easily winning until he was taken down and caught in a sloppy submission. McFedries should be able to overpower and overwhelm Cote on the feet, and as long as his stamina is good, I see him winning via decision. Winner: Drew McFedries
Nate Diaz vs. Alvin Robinson – Nate Diaz makes his first UFC appearance since winning season five of The Ultimate Fighter. Alvin Robinson will provide a good first test for Diaz and will be able to match jiu-jitsu skills on the ground. Robinson was defeated badly in his UFC debut against Kenny Florian but rebounded nicely at UFC 77 where he beat Jorge Gurgel by decision. Diaz should hold the edge in the striking game and ultimately that should win him the fight. Both guys should be able to stalemate and negate the others jiu-jitsu game, leaving the fight to be won on the feet. Winner: Nate Diaz
Thiago Tavares vs. Michihiro Omigawa – Omigawa lost his UFC debut at UFC 76 to Matt Wiman by decision and my guess is he will start out 0-2 in the Octagon. Thiago Tavares is coming off a very tough decision loss to Tyson Griffin at UFC 76 and is looking to secure a quick submission victory over Omigawa. Tavares has a bright career ahead of him in the lightweight division and should defeat Omigawa rather easily. Winner: Thiago Tavares
Kurt Pellegrino vs. Alberto Crane – Winner: Kurt Pellegrino
Gray Maynard vs. Dennis Siver – Winner: Gray Maynard
Cole Miller vs. Jeremy Stephens – Winner: Jeremy Stephens
Corey Hill vs. Joe Veres – Winner: Corey Hill
Matt Wiman vs. Justin Buchholz – Winner: Matt Wiman








mike swick at welterweight doc
doc
also nate diaz has fought since after winning tuf 5 lol…. is that even you writing this doc??
thanks for the head’s up Patrick. dont know where my head was when I was writing this, but apparently it wasn’t on MMA.
I’m writing about 8 different posts at the moment and managed to screw this one up royally.
i like how when you make a mistake you just strike it out and put the fix beside lol it give the nighthawks like me a chance to still get to check it out and get a laugh too lol.
lol cool
I could see Swick knocking Josh out in this fight, Swick packs alot of power at WW and i think thats definately where he belongs.
I hope Drew knocks out Cote man, that guy hits like a mack truck and Cote is pretty sloppy man lets face it. Just one clean shot and that fight is over, this should be the fight of the night cuz both these guys love to scrap!
One of the few cards me and Dr.J have the exact same picks!
well our camp is gonna have ether a really good night or a really bad night because most of my picks are the same too, except one or maybe two (i found another mistake: the winner of Cole Miller vs Jeremy Stephens) im not sure what i wanna put money on yet but i always pick an underdog on the card to win and my pick for this one is Buchholz over Wiman.
It took a while for me to pick Stephens over Cole, but I think he will win. Cole definitely has a good submission game, but Stephens is tenacious and I think he’ll catch Cole with some shots and win the fight.
oh.. i didnt notice you picked stephens Doc, im going with Cole. Ya i see the mistae RJ was pointing out, doc you have the winner listed as “Cole Jeremy Stephens” hehe..
I think I’m taking Alvin Robinson over Diaz. The guys seems a lot stronger than Nate and I’ve been watching him fight for a couple of years now and he’s ever improving. Hee in Colorado he was the Ring of fire champion for quite a while before the UFC finally picked him up. Not a great card but can’t complain about free MMA. Tickets go on sale tomarrow for the UFC here in Denver and I can’t be more pumped. I thought they would do the Pepsi center but they decided to have it at Broomfield event center. Pepsi center holds almost 20,000 and would have been more expensive. Broomfield is where Ring of Fire holds their events and it only holds about 6,500. It’s a new facility having been open about 2 years so it’s pretty nice place. I’m going to have to get tickets as soon as they go on sale because this place will sell out fast. It will be cool to see the UFC in such a small arena there is not a bad seat in the place. Tickets are pretty cheap also which is a bonus. Hopefully I can get some good seats and pictures to share here after. Just received my WEC tickets this weekend also. I was able to get 5 rows off the floor midcage. I should be able to get some good pics there also. This year starting off right being able to attend a couple events and not really have to travel.
Ordered my tickets for the UFN here in Denver today. I was able to get really good seat for this one also. I still can’t believe they are doing Broomfield instead of Pepsi center but better for me. Hope I can get some good pics to share with everyone.
so its fight night again.. I think Cote vs Mcfedries is gonna be the fight of the night, otherwise it will be the main event, but still some nice fights tonight! Cant complain about a free fight card, about 3 more hours, anyone watching it besides me?
i will be watching it for sure. normally i would have to record the UFNs because i should be at work tonight but i took the night off. the only sh*t about tonights card is that im probably gonna have to watch my boy Pat get KOed, i have a hard time picking against some fighters (friends, acquaintance, and favorites) but i think Drew McFedries is gonna do big things in the middle weight div. and be a threat to the title someday. oh well i gotta keep it real, McFedries by KO late round one or early round two.
good stuff RJ, we dont have to worry about spoilers since it on TV for everyone to watch, so ill be online for the play by play comments hehe.
bv i am what are your picks????
Mike Swick
Drew McFedries
Nate Diaz
Thiago Tavares
Kurt Pellegrino
Gray Maynard
Cole Miller
Joe Veres
Matt Wiman
my picks are:
Swick
McFedries
Diaz
Pellegrino
Tavares
Maynard
Buchholz
Hill
Miller
my picks for tonight.. all our picks are pretty similar, lets see if there are some surprises tonight..
Mike Swick
Drew McFedries
Nate Diaz
Thiago Tavares
Kurt Pellegrino
Gray Maynard
Cole Miller
Corey Hill
Matt Wiman
All the favorites lol, i just dont see anything in the underdogs tonight to really pick one.. whatever happens, i hope its exciting!
I’ve gotten them all right so far boys.
I told you Stephens would beat Cole Miller
@Doc
what??? did you watch the prelims???
I’ve got a buddy out there at the show that’s been filling me in after each fight.
what happened with Corey?
Said he looked pretty good. Was able to avoid the takedown pretty well and used his reach to land some nice shots. Fight ended in the 2nd round by KO
dam.. i picked 1st round KO
Is anyone else wondering why Thiago isnt working his GnP?? he seems so determined to submit Omigawa.. end result boring fight..
Ya Rambo is just like mma, the philosophy of ripping a guys sack off like a paper towel…
dam, Mcfedries looked cocky in there.. seemed to me like he was playing possum a bit considering he threw maybe 2 punches the entire fight.. bad tactic to use, maybe it works in sparring, or even a boxing match, but not in mma. You hesitate for that long and let Cote set up his shots like that, your asking for trouble..
Rookie move Drew.. should have put the pressure on Cote, overwhelm him..
I had Swick winning too, they were tied going into the 3rd and i guess Josh was tired because his striking stopped and Swick pulled ahead.
not bad fight night, not great.. but cant complain.
dam you guys said you were gonna be on tonight lol.. sht im watching pros vs joes too, how bout Angle? pulling a Chuck and poking that dude in the eye lol.
bv
i watched it too… angle was actin like such a bad ***
Talking about Angle, after all the big talk, he wasnt very impressive in the ring. He could barely even takedown the JOES who he outweighs by who knows how much. Imagine he was against Skilled fighters, that would knock his wrestling game down even further.
Hes lucky he wasnt stupid enough to come to mma, now im beginning to rethink picking Lesnar over Mir next week. Not changing my pick though.. wouldnt wanyt to pull a Gatties hehe
ok fights tonight rockin….***…diaz kickin *** my boy we even got to see nick word…..patrick….we have the same name…..word….he looked so good…crisp go cote….swick looked good…anyone agree he looked a lil to thin…. kinda looks like me…..damm…nice fights…. peace boys im drunk…where the *** is richard???…im jackin it peace….
Hey guys.. has Richard been pullin back on posting too lately?
kansas I can’t bust ur nuts dude….good post….I gotta bust richards balls….richard where the *** u at…u pullin a dennis *****…where u at richard…?? ur girl kick u out??? where the hell are you my dawg??
lol i think we have coined a new term around here.
Denis: Denis can have a few different meanings like an over aggressive fanboy can be A Denis “OK Denis we know Chuck Liddells balls are very tasty and thats why hes gonna kill his next foe you told us 500 times” or someone disappears without warning they are pulling a “Denis” with this new found word the possibilities are endless lol.
lol rj pretty funny
It’s funny how Dennis has been gone for over half a year and people still talk about him. I guess the guy wore on us.