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UFC is planning
to finish 2007 with a BANG! UFC 79 looks to be one of the most exciting
cards of the year, and is less than a week away.
The main event was originally slated to be Matt Hughes vs Matt Serra,
the coaches from TUF 6, for Serra's welterweight title. As everyone now
knows, Matt Serra herniated a disc in his back and was forced to pull
from the fight. Fortunately, Georges St. Pierre is always training, was
in shape and ready to take the fight against Hughes for the interim UFC
welterweight title. Also, the card includes Wanderlei Silva's re-debut
in the UFC against Chuck Liddell and Rameau Sokoudjou making his UFC debut
against Lyoto Machida in what could have serious title ramifications.
The Undercard:
Mark Bocek
vs. Doug Evans: Both fighters are talented wrestlers. For each fighter,
this is their second UFC fight. Both fighters are coming off losses, Bocek
to Frank Edgar and Evans to Huerta. This fight will not stay on
the feet long. I think that Evans is the more talented wrestler and will
force Bocek to fight off his back which is not a comfortable position
for any wrestler. I think this fight will go the distance with Evans taking
a unanimous decision.
Roan
Carneiro vs. Tony DeSouza: We haven't seen either of these fighters
in the Octagon in a while. Once again both fighters are coming off of
losses. Carneiro was able to take one of UFC's top welterweights, Jon
Fitch to a decision while DeSouza was on the wrong end of a KO to another
top welterweight in Thiago Alves. DeSouza has been in Hawaii training
with BJ Penn and Renato Verissimo. Carneiro trains at BTT.
I think that Carneiro will not be able to submit DeSouza forcing this
fight to go the distance with DeSouza taking the win.
Jordan Radev vs. Dean Lister: Radev, a Bulgarian wrestler, suffered
a devastating KO in his first UFC against Drew McFedries. Dean Lister
is a world-class grappler. Just a side note here, Dean Lister is opening
a new gym here in San Diego on January 2nd you can check it out at The
Throwdown. I think that this fight will go a little bit longer than
Radev's first UFC fight, but I see Lister finishing this fight by submission.
Nate Mohr vs. Manny Gamburyan: Karo
Parisyan's cousin is appearing in his first fights since losing in the
finals of TUF 5against
Nate Diaz, . In that fight, Gamburyan unfortunately suffered a dislocated
shoulder. Nate Mohr's talent is in his hands but all four of his
losses have come via submission. Look for Manny to get a nice judo throw
and finish this fight on the ground by submission.
Luis Cane vs. James Irvin: Cane is making his UFC debut with a
perfect MMA record, he's talented Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner.
James Irvin is making his return to the UFC since blowing his knee out
against Thiago Silva. Both fighters are aggressive. The stand-up edge
goes to Cane with his Muay Thai. On the ground, the advantage again goes
to Cane. I think that this fight gets stopped with Irvin suffering a TKO.
The
Maincard: This
is where it gets good...
Soa
Palelei vs. Eddie Sanchez: Soa "The Hulk" Palelei is a Team Quest
member fighting out of Temecula, CA. Palelei is big even by heavyweight
standards, standing at 6'4 and weighing at the maximum 265 lbs for the
heavyweight weight-class. His only loss came when he made his debut on
the big stage at Pride 28 against Mu Bae Choi. Palelei's strength are
his striking and his power. Training at Team Quest with Dan Henderson,
The Hulk is likely to be well rounded.
Eddie Sanchez, in my opinion, had a gimme win in his last fight against
Colin Robinson. Before that fight, Sanchez was sacrificed as Cro
Cop's first victim in what has turned out to be a disappointing UFC plan.
Sanchez is also from Temecula, CA but trains at North County Fight Club
in San Diego. Eddie has a strong right hand and a strong head.
Two aggressive strikers, both looking to throw a fight-ending right. I
think for the first few minutes of the first round, both of these fighters
are going feel each other out wanting to win with a KO. After the feeling
out process, I look for Palelei to take Sanchez down and finish the fight
with a TKO.
Rich Clementi vs. Melvin Guillard: Some bad blood between the two
Louisiana natives. But hey, what a surprise it is
Melvin Guillard after all. Remember his last fight when he accused Joe
Stevenson of using HGH only to be defeated in 27 seconds and test positive
for cocaine?
Both of these fighters have a ton of experience. Clementi has a
37-12-1 record while Guillard holds a 39-7-3 record. Guillard is an explosive
striker while Clementi looks more for his well-roundedness to win his
fights.
I see Melvin Guillard throwing his name into the 155 lbs. mix after knocking
Clementi out. Rich Clementi is going to try and push the fight thinking
Guillard will crumble, but will get caught with The Young Assassins hands.
Lyoto Machida vs. Rameau Sokoudjou: This fight might have some
serious title implications. Machida is undefeated in 11 MMA fights including
wins over BJ Penn, Stephan Bonnar, and Rich Franklin. Machida is a very
smart fighter, but in his three fights in the UFC, he has been unable
to finish a single fight.
Sokoudjou is a world champion judoka but after seeing his last two fights,
you wouldn't believe it. In Pride, Sokoudjou was a huge underdog when
he was brought in to fight Antonio Rogerio Noguiera. The surprise ending
to that fight came at just 23 seconds of the first round when Sokoudjou
knocked Noguiera out. Then, Noguiera's teammate and fellow Brazilian stepped
up to get redemption for him. Arona's attempt was thwarted at 1:59
of the first round when he suffered the same fate as his teammate. Training
out of Temecula with Team Quest, Sokoudjou has great teammates including
Dan Henderson.
In this fight, I think that we are going to see Sokoudjou pushed to use
his other talents besides striking. I think that Machida will do
what he does best by negating his opponent's strengths, forcing this fight
to go to decision with Machida winning and getting into title contention.
If Sokoudjou wins, he ought to consider a nickname change from The African
Assassin to The Brazilian Killa.
Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell: This
match would have been so much more relevant about a year and a half ago.
At that point, both of these fighters were at the top of the heap in the
light heavyweight division. Wanderlei held the Pride middleweight title
and Chuck was the UFC light heavyweight champ. Now, both of these fighters
are coming off of consecutive losses and are looking to grab onto what
is left of their careers.
Wanderlei is making his re-debut in the UFC. His last fight in the UFC
was in 2000 when he dropped a unanimous decision to Tito Ortiz for the
title. He moved to Pride and made a name for himself and for Chute Boxe.
Now that he is returning, Wanderlei has move to the US and has left Chute
Boxe to train with Xtreme Couture.
This fight is going to be fought mostly on the feet. Wanderlei is an aggressive
Muay Thai striker while Chuck tends to be more of a counter-puncher. I
see Wanderlei pushing into Chuck with his aggressive striking and Chuck
backing off and catching Wanderlei with his patented looping right and
scoring the KO. Wanderlei needs to get in close and clinch with Chuck
and throw knees, but I just don't see that happening.
Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre: The rubber match. You can see
my thoughts about this fight here.
GSP has shown some of the greatest takedown defense in MMA. He has stopped
Sean Sherk's and Josh Kosheck's takedowns. Koscheck's takedowns are some
of the best in the game. He shoots through his opponents and drives them
back, GSP defended them with ease. Matt Hughes has different takedowns.
He shoots in, secures a single or double leg, then picks his opponents
up. That kind of takedown is much harder to defend. St. Pierre took this
fight on short notice, but has said that he was already training. Hughes
has to take GSP down to win this fight. Will GSP be able to defend
Hughes takedowns?
Hughes tried to show his improved stand-up in his last fight with GSP.
I don't truly believe that. I think he was waiting for the hole to try
a takedown and it never came. He tried once but was unsuccessful. Hughes
has said in interviews that he has gone back to his roots for this fight,
wrestling and hard work. After watching the videos that were made available
of Hughes UFC 79 training, I don't believe that either. Water basketball
anyone???
Also
of note, is that only one fighter holds 2 wins over Hughes. Dennis Hallman
has not only defeated Hughes twice, but has done it in a combined time
of 37 seconds! Will GSP be the second person to hold 2 wins over Hughes?
If St. Pierre has truly changed his mental game, he will win this fight.
He may take Hughes down and make him work off his back much like he did
to Koscheck. I think a better plan is what I outlined in my other article.
I am still taking GSP, but I can't decide if he will finish the fight
or take it all the way to a decision.
Did you know, that Matt Hughes and Chuck Liddell both hold the record
for number of wins in the UFC? Hughes and Liddell stand at 15 wins, both
are shooting for win number 16 to finish out 2007. Will either one of
them get it?
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