I'll be honest, the fights that I expected to be bad weren't, and the two men I expected to go to war bored me to sleep.
In spite of the Eastman Martin snoozefest, UFC 81 was a great fight card. Frank Mir beat Brock Lesnar with a kneebar in the first round and Anotion Rodrigo Nogueira became UFC heavyweight champion when he choked out Tim Sylvia in the third.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu reigned supreme at the top of the card and brought some sparks of hope back the UFC heavyweight division. We can only hope that solid matchups will happen in the near future, though they seem to be absent from many of the upcoming cards, much as they were before this event.
Personally, I'm excited for the next few events, much more so than I was for this one, and this one surpassed expectations. Hopefully the ones approaching will do the same.
Showing posts with label UFC 81. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UFC 81. Show all posts
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Friday, February 1, 2008
UFC 81: Predictions
I'm actually a little excited for this card, as a whole. There are some fights that I expect to be duds, but there are some that I am very excited to see. My overall view of the fight card:
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Tim Sylvia
I'm going to be more or less an outcast on this one, because I'm thinking Big Tim will pull this out. I've given my reasons throughout the prefight buildup, but to recap, I just don't see Big Nog as being able to take this fight to the ground, and I definitely don't see him pulling this one out on the feet. It probably won't be exciting, but it will be long.
My Pick: Tim Sylvia by Unanimous Decision.
Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir
After watching Lesnar's training on UFC All Access, I've changed my pick a little. Originally I had thought that Mir would finish this fight early by outclassing Mir on the ground, but now I think it will take him a little more time, and I'm a little more skeptical. I think Lesnar could pull this out, as he's more or less untested, but I'm going to go with the safe bet and give it to Frank Mir.
My Pick: Frank Mir by Armbar in the second round
Jeremy Horn vs. Nate Marquardt
This may be the most promising fight on the card and while I think that Nate has the skills to win this fight standing up, I don't think he'll be able to handle Horn's experience and versatility. I also think that Horn is a very underrated fighter as a middleweight because he competes up in weight class so much, and so I'm going to give this one to the man from Utah.
My Pick: Jeremy Horn by submission in the third round
The rest are all up in the air, and my reasons for them are based mostly on skill set. I will say that they aren't of a whole lot of interest to me, and I'm a little surprised that some of them ended so high up on the card. I'll give my picks and hopefully they'll speak for themselves.
Ricardo Almieda defeats Rob Yundt by submission off of his back in the first round.
Gleison Tibau pulls out an exciting unanimous decision over Tyson Griffin.
Chris Lytle demolishes Kyle Bradley, hitting him hard on the feet early in the first but finishing him with a submission later in the round.
Marvin Eastman stops Terry Martin late in the third round with a big knee after what proves to be the most exciting fight of the night. Both take serious punishment.
David Heath beats Tim Boetsch in a boring decision that consists mostly of Heath laying on top of his opponent.
Keita Nakamura gets his first UFC win, stopping Rob Emerson with a submission in the second after trading with him in a back and forth first round. Nakamura will probably pull guard to get to the ground, but may get a solid takedown or even land a substantial strike.
This will be an interesting event. I'm not really excited about the heavyweight matchups on this card, except for the prospect of a good fight from Lesnar and Mir, which may or may not happen. I do think that Eastman and Martin will have the fight of the night, and that's a matchup that could go either way, because Martin has serious power and Eastman is a monster. Both have fought at 205 and both hit like trucks.
Hope this event doesn't end up being a dud, but even if it does head in that direction, there are a few fights on the card that will be interesting, and the prospect of a new heavyweight champion keeps the outlook better than it was for that division (though that may not be saying a whole lot).
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Tim Sylvia
I'm going to be more or less an outcast on this one, because I'm thinking Big Tim will pull this out. I've given my reasons throughout the prefight buildup, but to recap, I just don't see Big Nog as being able to take this fight to the ground, and I definitely don't see him pulling this one out on the feet. It probably won't be exciting, but it will be long.
My Pick: Tim Sylvia by Unanimous Decision.
Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir
After watching Lesnar's training on UFC All Access, I've changed my pick a little. Originally I had thought that Mir would finish this fight early by outclassing Mir on the ground, but now I think it will take him a little more time, and I'm a little more skeptical. I think Lesnar could pull this out, as he's more or less untested, but I'm going to go with the safe bet and give it to Frank Mir.
My Pick: Frank Mir by Armbar in the second round
Jeremy Horn vs. Nate Marquardt
This may be the most promising fight on the card and while I think that Nate has the skills to win this fight standing up, I don't think he'll be able to handle Horn's experience and versatility. I also think that Horn is a very underrated fighter as a middleweight because he competes up in weight class so much, and so I'm going to give this one to the man from Utah.
My Pick: Jeremy Horn by submission in the third round
The rest are all up in the air, and my reasons for them are based mostly on skill set. I will say that they aren't of a whole lot of interest to me, and I'm a little surprised that some of them ended so high up on the card. I'll give my picks and hopefully they'll speak for themselves.
Ricardo Almieda defeats Rob Yundt by submission off of his back in the first round.
Gleison Tibau pulls out an exciting unanimous decision over Tyson Griffin.
Chris Lytle demolishes Kyle Bradley, hitting him hard on the feet early in the first but finishing him with a submission later in the round.
Marvin Eastman stops Terry Martin late in the third round with a big knee after what proves to be the most exciting fight of the night. Both take serious punishment.
David Heath beats Tim Boetsch in a boring decision that consists mostly of Heath laying on top of his opponent.
Keita Nakamura gets his first UFC win, stopping Rob Emerson with a submission in the second after trading with him in a back and forth first round. Nakamura will probably pull guard to get to the ground, but may get a solid takedown or even land a substantial strike.
This will be an interesting event. I'm not really excited about the heavyweight matchups on this card, except for the prospect of a good fight from Lesnar and Mir, which may or may not happen. I do think that Eastman and Martin will have the fight of the night, and that's a matchup that could go either way, because Martin has serious power and Eastman is a monster. Both have fought at 205 and both hit like trucks.
Hope this event doesn't end up being a dud, but even if it does head in that direction, there are a few fights on the card that will be interesting, and the prospect of a new heavyweight champion keeps the outlook better than it was for that division (though that may not be saying a whole lot).
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Big News in the UFC
There have been two major announcements made in the last 24 hours. First, the UFC announced the first bout for former NCAA champion, WWE superstar and professional football player, Brock Lesnar. His opponent at UFC 81 will be former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir, one of the top submission fighters in the UFC heavyweight division.
The second is the announcement of the return of the UFC's most contreversial title: the UFC lightweight title, when B.J. Penn will face Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 to determine the title holder. The UFC title has yet to be passed through the defeat of a champion, as the first champion, Jens Pulver, left due to a contract dispute, and the latest champion, Sean Sherk, was stripped of his title after testing positive for steroids.
Both of these matchups bring up an important factor in fights, it called "outs." Outs are the way in which a fighter can win a fight, and make looking at odds alot easier.
Lets look at the outs for the Lesnar vs. Mir matchup on groundhog day:
Mir (10-3-0) is a well known submission fighter. He has alot of experience in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has beaten larger fighters, like Tim Sylvia, by submission. Mir is expected to look for his chokes and joint locks. If Mir finishes, chance are it will be on the ground.
Lesnar (1-0-0) is a wrestler, trained in folkstyle and very athletic. He has two major outs. Lesnar will get into top position against Mir, that's pretty much certain. The question is whether Lesnar will be able to finish and win by groudnpound TKO, or whether he will maintain top position for three rounds and win a decision.
So Mir has one out, Lesnar has two. Having more ways to win is the best way to set yourself up for one.
There are always four major outs: TKO on the ground, KO standing up, submission or decision. Looking at things in terms of those outs, there's one that's missing. Who wins standing up.
Purely on the basis of Lesnar's recent transition and Mir's experience, I'd have to give Mir the edge, but only slightly.
So, with Lesnar's two outs, I'd give him the fight. Personally, I'll be rooting for Mir, as he's been injured recently and had a great first round kimura finish of Anthony Hardonk. Still, Lesnar's athleticism and matchup superiority, I think that Lesnar has an edge in this fight.
I'll go into the B.J. Penn vs. Stevenson matchup later, but that's just an outline of the concept of outs and a look at the outs for the Lesnar/Mir fight.
The second is the announcement of the return of the UFC's most contreversial title: the UFC lightweight title, when B.J. Penn will face Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 to determine the title holder. The UFC title has yet to be passed through the defeat of a champion, as the first champion, Jens Pulver, left due to a contract dispute, and the latest champion, Sean Sherk, was stripped of his title after testing positive for steroids.
Both of these matchups bring up an important factor in fights, it called "outs." Outs are the way in which a fighter can win a fight, and make looking at odds alot easier.
Lets look at the outs for the Lesnar vs. Mir matchup on groundhog day:
Mir (10-3-0) is a well known submission fighter. He has alot of experience in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has beaten larger fighters, like Tim Sylvia, by submission. Mir is expected to look for his chokes and joint locks. If Mir finishes, chance are it will be on the ground.
Lesnar (1-0-0) is a wrestler, trained in folkstyle and very athletic. He has two major outs. Lesnar will get into top position against Mir, that's pretty much certain. The question is whether Lesnar will be able to finish and win by groudnpound TKO, or whether he will maintain top position for three rounds and win a decision.
So Mir has one out, Lesnar has two. Having more ways to win is the best way to set yourself up for one.
There are always four major outs: TKO on the ground, KO standing up, submission or decision. Looking at things in terms of those outs, there's one that's missing. Who wins standing up.
Purely on the basis of Lesnar's recent transition and Mir's experience, I'd have to give Mir the edge, but only slightly.
So, with Lesnar's two outs, I'd give him the fight. Personally, I'll be rooting for Mir, as he's been injured recently and had a great first round kimura finish of Anthony Hardonk. Still, Lesnar's athleticism and matchup superiority, I think that Lesnar has an edge in this fight.
I'll go into the B.J. Penn vs. Stevenson matchup later, but that's just an outline of the concept of outs and a look at the outs for the Lesnar/Mir fight.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
