So one of my interests is MMA. I just thought I'd throw up some thoughts about the main card of this weekend's UFC event. I didn't want to bore you with it as my post of the day, but I threw up another one and I probably won't get a chance to put this up tomorrow so here goes.
Josh "The Dentist" Neer vs Kurt "Batman" Pellegrino
Two very solid contenders in the 155 division. Both of these fighters have good grappling skills and are well rounded overall. Honestly, this would be a good pick for fight of the night since both of these guys can fight at a good pace for all 15 minutes.
While Pellegrino looked good in his last fight finishing Rob Emerson, I don't think he'll be able to handle Neer. Neer's been in the cage with some elite competition and arguably has better wins, having beaten Mac Danzig and Din Thomas in two of his last three fights. While Pellegrino has good offensive grappling, Neer's gone the distance with other good submission guys like Nate Diaz and Joe Stevenson so he should be able to stay out of anything Batman throws his way. I like Neer to take a hard earned decision in this one.
Ricardo Almeida vs Kendall "Da Spyder" Grove
It's hard to know what to make of these two guys at 185. Almeida had a four year layoff from MMA and looked pretty lackluster two fights ago against Patrick Cote. Bear in mind that that was for #1 contender status so it was one of the most important fights of his career. Kendall on the other hand, has shown flashes of talent after winning season 3 of The Ultimate Fighter, but KO losses to Cote and Jorge Rivera, decent veterans but nothing special, placed question marks on his chin and desire.
I like Almeida here. While I don't know if he'll show up, his skill set matches up well against Grove's. He's not a threat to KO Grove, but for all of Kendall's length and reach advantage, he generally prefers fighting on the inside with elbows and knees. That strategy will likely get him taken down and Almeida shouldn't have a problem grabbing one of Grove's long limbs and cranking it for a submission.
Amir Sadollah vs Johny Hendricks
A battle between two relative newcomers, this is probably the weakest fight on the main card. After beating CB Dollaway twice to win TUF7, Amir's been sidelined by injuries and eventually dropped to 170, where this fight is taking place. I didn't watch that season of TUF, but from what I've heard, Amir is a scrappy fighter with some submission skills. Hendricks is a 5-0 wrestler with some experience in the WEC.
It's hard to call this one, mainly because we don't really know what Sadollah brings to the table other than a fierce Amirbar. But I'm going to take Hendricks in this one. He's a young stud who hopefully can stay out of Amir's submissions unlike Dollaway and grind out a decision.
Anderson "Spider" Silva vs Forrest Griffin
Now this is interesting. Silva is the reigning 185 champ and top pound for pound fighter in the world. He decimates opponents with his accurate strikes and devastating Muay Thai clinch. He's not known for his ground game, but he's a black belt under the Nogueira's and he does have a servicable defensive guard. Griffin is a former light heavyweight champion and has wins over former #1 ranked Shogun Rua and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. He's a tough guy who can take a lot of punishment, has a decent ground game and doesn't hit very hard.
A lot has been made of Griffin's size advantage and while I do think it will make a difference if it goes to the ground, I think that Silva will be able to finish it on the feet. He will still be just as fast at 205 and carry power and Forrest has been KOed in the past. But Forrest undoubtedly is his biggest challenge to date and a win for Griffin really wouldn't surprise me here. However despite Silva's last two atrocious showings, I like him to bounce back big time with a highlight reel KO.
BJ "The Prodigy" Penn vs Kenny Florian
Penn is one of the most talented fighters of all time but questions about his desire and conditioning have always held him back. In shape and focused though, he's a formidable opponent even to guys outside his weight class. Florian started in the UFC on TUF season 1 making it all the way to the finals before getting mauled by Diego Sanchez. Since then he's grown into a complete fighter with solid kickboxing skills on the feet and effective use of elbows and submissions on the ground.
What impresses me about Florian is that he is so well-rounded and constantly improves and you can see it from fight to fight. He's won his last 6 fights, all against top competition, and finished all of them except his last one against the always tough Roger Huerta (who you will be seeing in Tekken the movie). However, I still think BJ is one of the best martial artists of our time and he is always in shape at 155. I don't hold his last fight against GSP against him and you just need to see his past three lightweight fights against Sean Sherk, Stevenson, and Jens Pulver to see why. He's a force on the feet with quick hands and good head movement and his grappling is world class both in MMA and in the jiujitsu world. Florian is one of those sexy upset picks, but I'm going with my head and will say that BJ will finish him sometime before the championship rounds.
No comments:
Post a Comment